Judas Priest, Scorpions, Gillan salute legendary rock DJ

Written by The Rock Radio staff, April 2006 © The Rock Radio

Friday, March 31st, was a special night for the 7,000 strong rock and metal crowd at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Some of the biggest classic names were there to pay tribute to the late DJ Tommy Vance and help the Teenage Cancer Trust charity raise funds.

Ian Gillan and his band that included Deep Purple's Roger Glover on bass, were the first big name to rock the stage in a performance that concluded with a nice rendition of "Black Night".

In a surprise appearance, Bruce Dickinson paid tribute to the rock DJ in his own unique way: "The only time I didn't listen to [Tommy Vance's] advice was when he told me not to join that band, Iron Maiden".

Next on stage were the Scorpions with their straight-from-an-80s-second-hand-store costumes. The German veterans played several songs froms their latest album, Unbreakable, in a set that also included classics such as Big City Nights, Wind Of Change and Rock You Like A Hurricane. Drummer James Kottak was on fire and showed that he is one of the very best in his field.

After a brief talk by The Who's Roger Daltrey who is patron to the Teenage Cancer Trust, it was time for the last act of the night.

Judas Priest, with their classic line-up and Rob Halford in top form, delivered an in-your-face performance. The fans sang the guts out in anthems that included Breaking The Law, a soft acoustic version of Diamond And Rust, Living After Midnight and Take On The World to end a truly memorable event.

Earlier, priest guitarist Glenn Tipton told us that Vance, who died last year, was important to a lot of musicians: "He championed a lot of metal bands and rock bands in England -- against the odds, you know, because even, even over there, you know, there's a Top 40 hierarchy. So Tommy was really responsible for helping a lot of bands."

Tipton also told us that the band had wanted to do something for the Teenage Cancer Trust previously: "We offered ourselves up last year, but I think they underestimated the importance of metal, and how much metal could contribute -- I'm talking about the audience now -- to a great cause. But this year, they invited us to play."