Operation Rock & Roll

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Operation Rock & Roll
Tour by Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, Dangerous Toys and Metal Church
Operationrock&roll1991poster.png
Associated albumPainkiller
Hey Stoopid
1916
Hellacious Acres
The Human Factor
Start date9 July 1991
End date19 August 1991
No. of shows31
Judas Priest tour chronology
Painkiller Tour
(1990–1991) 		Operation Rock & Roll
(1991) 		Jugulator Tour
(1998)

Operation Rock & Roll was a 1991 concert tour featuring Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Motörhead, Dangerous Toys and Metal Church. It ran from 9 July 1991 until 19 August 1991 in the United States and Canada. This tour was in honor of the US forces involved in Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. This would also be Judas Priest's final tour with Rob Halford until 2004.[1]

Judas Priest continued to tour in support of Painkiller, with Alice Cooper supporting Hey Stoopid, Motörhead supporting 1916, Dangerous Toys supporting Hellacious Acres and Metal Church supporting The Human Factor.[2][3]

Rob Halford incident[]

On the 19 August 1991 show in Toronto, the last date of the tour, an incident occurred when Rob Halford collided with the drum riser as he was making his entrance onstage on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle as the band was set to perform, breaking his nose in the process. He was left unconscious as "Hell Bent for Leather" was being performed. Crew members struggled to search for Halford in the heavy induced fog, not knowing where he was. After a short while, guitarist Glenn Tipton stumbled upon him on the ground and Halford was then assisted by the crew members. He regained consciousness afterwards and finished the show with a plaster on the bridge of his nose. After the show, he was transferred to the local medical clinic where he was treated for a concussion.[4]

In the 2004 Reunited documentary, Tipton explained that so much dry ice, smoke and pyrotechnics was the primary factor that the center of the stage got stuck, "Rob went down on the ramp on the bike, and, so lucky, he'd actually just caught the top of his head, you know, I mean it could've literally have killed him. And it knocked him off. So we started the number not knowing what had gone on because there was so much dry ice and smoke, until I stepped on Rob, [Laughs] I actually stepped on Rob, 'What's this? On the stage', you know, 'some Priest prop.' And it was Rob and he was stunned so we played the first song which was, I'm not sure whether it was "Electric Eye" or, without him...anyway true to professional form he rallied around and joined us on stage in the second number."[5]

Set lists[]

Judas Priest setlist

  1. "Hell Bent for Leather"
  2. "Heading Out to the Highway"
  3. "The Hellion"
  4. "Electric Eye"
  5. "Diamonds & Rust" (Joan Baez cover) (Dropped after 14 July 1991)
  6. "All Guns Blazing"
  7. "Metal Gods"
  8. "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll"
  9. "The Ripper"
  10. "Night Crawler"
  11. "A Touch of Evil"
  12. "Painkiller"
  13. "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (Fleetwood Mac cover)
  14. "Breaking the Law"
  15. "Living After Midnight"
  16. "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"

"Turbo Lover" and "Victim of Changes" were also occasionally performed.

Tour dates[]

Date City Country Venue
9 July 1991 Salt Lake City United States Salt Palace
12 July 1991 Irvine Irvine Meadows
13 July 1991 Mountain View Shoreline Amphitheatre
14 July 1991 Sacramento Cal Expo Amphitheatre
16 July 1991 Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre
19 July 1991 Cedar Rapids Five Seasons Center
20 July 1991 Tinley Park World Music Theater
21 July 1991 Antioch Starwood Amphitheatre
23 July 1991 Lakeland Lakeland Civic Center
24 July 1991 Orlando Orlando Arena
25 July 1991 Atlanta Coca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheatre
27 July 1991 Houston The Summit
28 July 1991 Dallas Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre
30 July 1991 Charlotte Blockbuster Pavilion
31 July 1991 Raleigh Walnut Creek Amphitheatre
2 August 1991 Burgettstown Star Lake Amphitheater
3 August 1991 Clarkston Pine Knob Music Theatre
4 August 1991 Merrillville Star Plaza Theatre
6 August 1991 Noblesville Deer Creek Music Center
7 August 1991 Richfield Richfield Coliseum
8 August 1991 Weedsport Cayuga County Fair Speedway
9 August 1991 East Rutherford Brendan Byrne Arena
10 August 1991 Philadelphia Spectrum
11 August 1991 Bristol Lake Compounce
13 August 1991 Old Orchard Beach The Ball Park
14 August 1991 Mansfield Great Woods
15 August 1991 Landover Capital Centre
16 August 1991 Middletown Orange County Fair Speedway
17 August 1991 Montreal Canada Montreal Forum
19 August 1991 Toronto CNE Grandstand

References[]

  1. ^ "OPERATION ROCK'N'ROLL TOUR (1991)". chmetal.info. 5 January 2017. Archived from the original on 6 January 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  2. ^ Rule, Sheila (11 June 1992). "Pop Concerts Shake Off Last Summer's Malaise". The New York Times.
  3. ^ Devil Don. "Remembering Operation: Rock N' Roll". thegreatsouthernbrainfart.com. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  4. ^ "[HQ] Judas Priest - Accident - Toronto 1991 (Halford Falls From His Motorcycle) [Very Rare Video]". YouTube. Archived from the original on 25 October 2018. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Judas Priest - Reunited Tour Documentary 2004 (Part 3)". YouTube. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
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