IDAHO FALLS — As the band celebrates 50 years of performing, iconic heavy metal band Judas Priest embarks on the second leg of its international tour. Invincible Shield tour. Their next stop? Idaho Falls.

EastIdahoNews.com reporter Kaitlyn Hart spoke with the band’s bassist Ian Hill about the tour, their history in Idaho and what concertgoers can expect Saturday night at the Mountain America Center.

Thank you so much for meeting me! So, Judas Priest will be performing Saturday in Idaho Falls for what I can only imagine will be a fantastic show. Can you tell me a little about your new album, Invincible Shield?

It came out in February, I think, so it’s been out for a long time now. This is a step forward compared to Firepower. We did what we always do, which is try to take a step forward with each album. It’s a quintessentially British album, if you want to listen to it.

Have you ever been to Idaho Falls or anywhere else in Idaho?

We have. But it’s been a long time. We usually play in Boise, Idaho, but I think in Boise, I don’t think we’ve been there since…wow. It will probably take at least five or six years. I don’t know why. He’s always been at the top of the touring cycle. This time around it looks like we’re doing Idaho Falls, and we’ve been there before, but again, not in a while.

Well, we are very happy to have you. Idaho Falls has grown a lot in the last five or ten years. Can you tell me a little about the tour? What can people expect?

It will be a typical British show, big noise, big lights and special effects, what have you. You know, motorcycles, parts of trucks move and things like that. And a superb setlist. We try to mix the songs between those from the new album, fan favorites of course, but there are almost 300 songs to choose from. But we like to keep it as familiar as possible. We try to choose songs that fans will know. There’s nothing worse than that tumbling moment when you finish a song and people are like, “What was that?”

That’s actually where I was going next. Obviously people like the classics, “Breaking the Law,” “Painkiller” and those kinds of songs. And you have just remixed and remastered a new version of your first album, Rockarolla, Can you tell me about what it’s like to see this back in the world?

It’s great, actually, because it was with our first record company, and it was only a small label, and I think they were really counting on us to create the record company rather than the other way around. in the 70s. They didn’t really have the financial clout to move us forward. We left them and we signed with CBS, which at the time was one of the biggest entertainment companies, and you know, they didn’t like it that much. So we had absolutely nothing to do with this album until very, very recently when Reach Music bought the rights to it… I haven’t heard the whole thing yet, I’ve heard little bits and pieces. From what I’ve heard, it really modernized the whole thing, and everything cleaned up, maybe breathed a little more.

Wow, that must be such a cool feeling to be able to hear and experience all of that again. Do you have anything else to say before Saturday’s show?

We can’t wait to get there. I don’t remember the last time we were in Idaho, because we were, because I remember the name, but it was a while ago. So it’s always nice to really connect with our friends, you know. We’re really looking forward to getting up there and playing in front of you. We’ll see you then, and be careful in the meantime!

To purchase tickets for the concert, click here.

The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. with the opening act of Sabaton.