Judas Priest Announce New North American Tour Dates

Judas Priest have added new tour dates to the North American leg of their Epitaph world tour. The band will be supported on these days by Thin Lizzy and Black Label Society.

The trek — which was announced last month during a press conference at the Renaissance Hotel at Highland and Hollywood in Los Angeles, California — will kick off Oct. 12 in San Antonio, Texas, and conclude in early December.

These dates will feature guitarist Richie Faulkner, who replaced longtime priest guitarist K.K. Downing after his sudden departure in April. Speaking about the loss of Downing recently, bassist Ian Hill had this to say:

"We did everything and anything to try and get him to change his mind. And he was adamant. Whether there’s an underlying problem behind that, I doubt, though. But all the arguments you’ve come up with, we’ve gone through with him. We came up with them ourselves and put it to him. But he’s still adamant he’s had enough. We’ll respect that, and like I said, we’ll get on."

Newly added Judas Priest North American tour dates:

• Oct. 27 - Sleep Train Pavilion, Concord, CA
• Nov. 08 - US Bank Arena, Cincinnati, OH
• Nov. 09 - Prairie Capital Convention Center, Springfield, IL
• Nov. 10 - The Family Arena, St. Louis, MO
• Nov. 15 - Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland, OH
• Nov. 16 - The Armory, Rochester, NY
• Nov. 22 - Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ON
• Nov. 23 - Colisee Pepsi Arena, Quebec City, QC
• Nov. 24 - Bell Centre, Montreal, QC
• Nov. 26 - Sovereign Center, Reading, PA
• Nov. 30 - 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre, Tampa
• Dec. 01 - Bayfront Park Amphitheatre, Miami
• Dec. 03 - Hard Rock Biloxi Hotel & Casino, Biloxi