Judas Priest Ignite the Final Flame: ‘Shield of Pain’ Tour Setlist Unveiled in Glorious, Blistering Detail

Rolling Stone Contributing Writer

For over five decades, Judas Priest have marched defiantly at the forefront of heavy metal — leather-clad, fire-breathing, unapologetic. Now, in a tour that marks both a thunderous farewell and a grand celebration, the British metal gods have officially unveiled the full setlist for their much-anticipated 2025 “Shield of Pain” tour.

And if the name alone didn’t send chills down the spines of longtime fans, the details will.

This isn’t just a tour. This is the tour. A monumental goodbye to the stage, and a heart-rattling tribute to their 1990 masterpiece Painkiller, which turns 35 this year. It’s fire and fury. It’s memory and legacy. It’s the final war cry of one of the most important metal bands to ever walk the earth.

35 Years of Painkiller — Celebrated in Full, Loud Glory

When Painkiller was first released in 1990, it was a middle finger to critics who thought the band was aging out of relevance. Instead, Judas Priest delivered a brutal, turbocharged masterpiece — a sonic juggernaut that fused speed metal precision with thunderous heaviness. The title track alone became an anthem of defiance and endurance, its opening drum assault by Scott Travis now etched into metal mythology.

Fast forward to 2025, and the band isn’t just playing the album — they’re performing the entire thing, front to back, every night of the tour.

“You could call this our victory lap,” frontman Rob Halford told Rolling Stone. “But it’s really more like our victory roar. Painkiller is still alive. And now it’s coming for its final run — live, loud, and unapologetic.”

The Setlist: An Epic Dual Act of Metal Majesty

The newly revealed setlist is divided into two grand movements — Painkiller in full, followed by a second act packed with Priest’s most thunderous classics. Together, it amounts to over two hours of molten metal mayhem.

Here’s what fans can expect:

Act I — Painkiller, Performed in Full

1. Painkiller
2. Hell Patrol
3. All Guns Blazing
4. Leather Rebel
5. Metal Meltdown
6. Night Crawler
7. Between the Hammer & the Anvil
8. A Touch of Evil
9. Battle Hymn
10. One Shot at Glory

Rarely has an album been performed with such devotion to its original fury. From the shrieking dual guitars of Richie Faulkner and Andy Sneap to Halford’s eternal scream, the Painkiller half of the show is less a performance and more a reawakening of the metal apocalypse.

“You can feel the rage of that record still pulsing through the amps,” said Faulkner. “It’s not a trip down memory lane — it’s a steel freight train coming right at you.”

Act II — The Legacy Set

After a brief intermission, the band returns to the stage, not to rest on nostalgia, but to reignite it. The second half is a barnstormer of Priest’s most beloved tracks:

• Electric Eye
• The Sentinel
• Turbo Lover
• Beyond the Realms of Death
• Freewheel Burning
• Victim of Changes
• Hell Bent for Leather
• You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’
• Living After Midnight
• Breaking the Law

The encore? A surprise each night, often chosen by the crowd’s roar. Early shows have seen “Desert Plains,” “Exciter,” and even the rarely played “Blood Red Skies” make their way onto the setlist.

It’s a show built to please every generation of Priest fan — from the longhairs who saw them open for KISS in the ’70s to the Gen Zers blasting Screaming for Vengeance vinyl in 2025.

A Tour Forged in Emotion and Fire

But this isn’t just about the music. There’s an emotional weight hanging heavy over Shield of Pain. Judas Priest have called this their final large-scale global tour. Not quite a breakup, but certainly a closing of a grand chapter.

Ian Hill, the band’s steadfast bassist and the only original member since day one, summed it up best: “We never stopped loving this. But after 50 years, it’s time to take a bow, shake the foundations one last time, and thank the fans who’ve kept us alive.”

There’s no drama here. No implosion. Just a band that changed the face of metal, going out the way they came in — with fire, purpose, and an unmistakable scream.

A Spectacle in Steel and Sound

Reports from early tour stops describe the stage show as a visual inferno: flames shooting skyward, mechanical wings extending above the drum riser, and video walls pulsing with archival footage and dystopian imagery. Halford, of course, rides on stage in his iconic Harley during “Hell Bent for Leather,” a ritual fans never tire of.

New lighting tech allows each Painkiller track to have its own themed design — blue-and-silver frost for “A Touch of Evil,” molten red chaos for “Metal Meltdown,” cold steel grays for “Night Crawler.”

“It’s not just a concert,” says tour creative director Liz Zane, “It’s a moving tribute to metal history. It’s part opera, part fistfight.”

Tickets Selling Fast, Emotions Running High

The Shield of Pain tour has already sold out its opening leg across the UK and Europe. North America is next, with stops in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto, and a rumored final date in Birmingham — the band’s spiritual home.

Merchandise booths are offering limited-edition Painkiller 35 vinyl, signed memorabilia, and exclusive “Final Tour” patches and jackets. One fan even proposed on stage at the Glasgow show, telling Halford, “Priest brought us together — now we’re starting forever at the final tour.”

The singer hugged them both and roared, “Let love reign — and let the metal never die!”

The Final Word

As the curtain rises on Shield of Pain, it’s impossible not to feel the significance. This isn’t just the end of a tour — it’s the summoning of five decades of metal glory, distilled into one final assault.

Rob Halford may never scream these songs from a global stage again, but the echoes will never fade.

“People always ask if this is the end of Judas Priest,” Halford mused, standing by the curtain before opening night. “But how can something eternal end?”

Amen, Metal God.

Tickets and Dates: Visit judaspriest.com for full list of cities, ticket packages, and Painkiller 35th anniversary box sets.

Setlist updates and exclusive tour footage to follow in our Rolling Stone Tour Diaries all summer.