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.
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.
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 Judas Priest 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.
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."
Set lists
Metal Church setlist "The Human Factor" "Start the Fire" "In Mourning" "Fake Healer" "Badlands" "Date with Poverty"
Dangerous Toys setlist
"Sportin' A Woody" "Sticks & Stones" "Sugar, Leather & The Nail" "Angel N U" "Line' Em Up" "Gimmie No Lip" "Scared" "Teas'n Pleas'n"
Motörhead setlist
"Doctor Rock" or "I'll Be Your Sister" "Traitor" "No Voices in the Sky" "Metropolis" "The One to Sing the Blues" "I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)" "Going to Brazil" "Love Me Forever" "Angel City" "Killed By Death" "Ace of Spades"
Alice Cooper setlist
"Under My Wheels" "Trash" "No More Mr. Nice Guy" "Billion Dollar Babies" "Love's a Loaded Gun" "Bed of Nails" "I'm Eighteen" "I Love the Dead / Devil's Food / Steven / Black Widow Jam" "Sick Things" "Feed My Frankenstein" "Cold Ethyl" "Only Women Bleed" "Poison" "Go to Hell" "School's Out"
Encore:
"Hey Stoopid" "Elected"
Judas Priest setlist
"Hell Bent for Leather" "Heading Out to the Highway" "The Hellion" "Electric Eye" "Diamonds & Rust" (Joan Baez cover) (Dropped after 14 July 1991) "All Guns Blazing" "Metal Gods" "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" "The Ripper" "Night Crawler" "A Touch of Evil" "Painkiller" "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (Fleetwood Mac cover) "Breaking the Law" "Living After Midnight" "You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
"Turbo Lover" and "Victim of Changes" were also occasionally performed.
Tour dates Date City Country Venue9 July 1991Salt Lake CityUnited StatesSalt Palace12 July 1991IrvineIrvine Meadows13 July 1991Mountain ViewShoreline Amphitheatre14 July 1991SacramentoCal Expo Amphitheatre16 July 1991MorrisonRed Rocks Amphitheatre19 July 1991Cedar RapidsFive Seasons Center20 July 1991Tinley ParkWorld Music Theater21 July 1991AntiochStarwood Amphitheatre23 July 1991LakelandLakeland Civic Center24 July 1991OrlandoOrlando Arena25 July 1991AtlantaCoca-Cola Lakewood Amphitheatre27 July 1991HoustonThe Summit28 July 1991DallasCoca-Cola Starplex Amphitheatre30 July 1991CharlotteBlockbuster Pavilion31 July 1991RaleighWalnut Creek Amphitheatre2 August 1991BurgettstownStar Lake Amphitheater3 August 1991ClarkstonPine Knob Music Theatre4 August 1991MerrillvilleStar Plaza Theatre6 August 1991NoblesvilleDeer Creek Music Center7 August 1991RichfieldRichfield Coliseum8 August 1991WeedsportCayuga County Fair Speedway9 August 1991East RutherfordBrendan Byrne Arena10 August 1991PhiladelphiaSpectrum11 August 1991BristolLake Compounce13 August 1991Old Orchard BeachThe Ball Park14 August 1991MansfieldGreat Woods15 August 1991LandoverCapital Centre16 August 1991MiddletownOrange County Fair Speedway17 August 1991MontrealCanadaMontreal Forum19 August 1991TorontoCNE Grandstand
References