What a summer concert season it's been! This past Tuesday night, the Loop brought the "Metal Masters" tour featuring metal/hard rock pioneers Judas Priest, Heaven & Hell, Motorhead and Testament to Chicagoland at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre. As expected the legendary bands all put in stellar sets that saw them mixing their classics with some of their new material. Heaven & Hell was the lone exception in the new music category. Tony Iommi told me when he checked in with me on my show the night prior that they are currently working on a new CD (which they hoped would be ready this fall) but would forgo playing them live until they had been released. Rob Halford of Judas Priest discussed with me their future plans to tour a theatrical version of their latest double disc rock opera/concept album entitled "Nostradamus" to theatres. Don't be surprised if Priest's next stop is in our theatre district with a show of metal power that is to date unprecedented in that world. If any band could make a "metal opera/musical" a primordial success, it would be Judas Priest. On the other end of the spectrum, Lemmy and Motorhead have always been satisfied to consistently churn out what we decided was simply a supercharged and amplified diet of "'50's greaser rock", reflecting his first true love. Lemmy and I spent the rest of our conversation chatting about his time as one of Jimi Hendrix's roadies when he was younger. As you can imagine, there are a few stories there. Keep listening to my show as I will be presenting the highlights of those conversations with Rob Halford and Lemmy soon. Many thanks to all the Loyal Loopers who came by to say hello during the live broadcast of my show from the FMBA. You guys (and gals) are the best!

(See Judas Priest perform "Painkiller" live at the FMBA here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq-IaZGGuhg)

Last Friday during the "Loop On-Stage" I played several tracks from Judas Priest's concert here in 1981.

(See Judas Priest live at the International Amphitheatre in 1981 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLLyNDLvyDw)

Last night, the ever jocular George Thorogood rocked the house... the House of Blues, that is. Yet another light, tight and bright show from George for the capacity crowd. The moment I took the stage to greet the amassed Loyal Loopers, I knew we were all in for a good night. Amped up crowd + first rate entertainer + Chicago-style blues = P-A-R-T-Y!

(See George Thorogood perform Bo Diddley's classic "Who Do You Love" here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYmMhnM-y4Q&feature=related)

All this week on my show, win tickets to see Live... live at the House Of Blues September 21st!