GUITARIST ANDY SNEAP SAYS IT WAS “INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTING” TO FIND OUT THAT JUDAS PRIEST HAS DECIDED TO TOUR AS A FOUR-PIECE BAND
As previously reported, Judas Priest has announced that when they launch their rescheduled 50 Heavy Metal Years tour in March, they will be doing so as a quartet. as opposed to their known quintet lineup. Guitarist/producer Andy Sneap, will not be joining the band, when they return to the road.
Sneap released a statement about the situation, he tells blabbermouth.net, [singer] Rob [Halford]called me last Monday and said they wanted to move on as a four-piece, which I find incredibly disappointing after this amount of time but I respect his decision as they obviously have a vision how they want this to play out.”
“This always was a temporary situation, and like I’ve said before, I’ll always help the band any way I can, and that applies going forward also,” he continued.
“I’ve been a huge fan of the band since the early ’80s and it was mind-blowing to play onstage with the guys and quite frankly terrifying in the beginning at such short notice.”
“We are moving forward with the new album next month and look forward to making a killer follow-up to ‘Firepower’,” he added.
Judas Priest are scheduled to return to the road for their 50 Heavy Metal Years, with special guests, Queenrÿche. The tour is set to begin on March 4th in Peoria, Illinois and wind down on April 13th in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Judas Priest’s entire 50 Heavy Metal Years itinerary can be viewed, here.
….A very classy response by Mr. Sneap and he does resemble captain obvious… So there’s that.
Elliot,
LOL!!!! Too funny…
A one month 50th anniversary tour…. am I missing something?? Has their popularity died down that much ? As for sneap being disappointed ..so are many priest fans … how the F__k do they even attempt victim of changes without a fake guitar track….
The only way they can pull this off is to get KK back .
Sneap’s magnanimous statement raises more questions than it answers. I’d be curious to know if in the calculus between ticket sales for the tour and Sneap’s salary demand, it just didn’t make financial sense for the band to carry on with him.
…and while no one’s going to like me even asking this question, does the band plan to use backing tracks in place of a second guitarist?
Sneap is most likely just a hired gun. Probably makes more as an engineer than playing on the road. I bet he’s really disappointed.
Personally, I don’t think this has anything to do with money, and everything to do with his love of the band.
When I first heard of this, I originally thought it was because Sneap, who’s originally a recording producer, had a scheduling conflict due to Priest having to postpone the tour, due to Faulkner’s near tragic medical issue last year. Now that I learn more about this, I have no idea what the hell Priest is doing. Like many have stated already, Priest’s music relies heavily on a two-guitar rhythm. As talented as Faulkner is, the guitar arrangement will suffer greatly if he’s playing solo, unless Priest is planning on piping in a pre-recorded rhythm guitar track at its shows, which opens up a whole other can of worms. Hell, I can see now Faulkner pressing down on pedals as he’s playing to trigger the pre-recorded parts. As yes, many have also said bring back KK. Easier said than done folks, and personally it’s never going to happen. That ship sailed a long time ago. Priest is about to give KI$$ a run for its money in futility.