The Return of the Priest Tour

The Return of the Priest Tour

Concert by Judas Priest
Start date	6 March 1971
End date	28 December 1971
No. of shows	56
Judas Priest concert chronology

The Return of the Priest Tour was a 1971 concert tour by British heavy metal band Judas Priest running from 6 March 1971 until 28 December 1971 throughout England and a couple of dates in Wales.

This tour consisted of a differently formed Judas Priest. It featured founding members K.K. Downing (guitar) and Ian Hill (bass) along with John Ellis (drums) and Al Atkins (vocals).

Atkins asked to join the band, in which they accepted his offer, and also suggested to use the Judas Priest name from the original group he fronted, which disbanded in April 1970.

Tour dates

The band would tour with Black Sabbath.

Date	City	Country	Venue
6 March 1971	Essington	England	St. John's Hall
8 March 1971	Edgbaston		Westbourne Club
9 March 1971	Northampton		Shrewsbury Rugby Club
11 March 1971	Stourbridge		Swindon Hospital School
13 March 1971	Nottingham		Moor Farm Inn
15 March 1971	Burton		Hereford Town Hall
16 March 1971	Essington		St. John's Hall
7 April 1971	Bath		Burntwood
16 April 1971	West Bromwich		Three Mile Oak
20 April 1971	Cannock		Cannock Youth Centre
21 April 1971	Walsall		Masonic Hall
1 May 1971	Dudley		Dudley Technical College
8 May 1971	Walsall		Walsall Technical College
21 May 1971	Old Hill		The Plaza
1 June 1971	Birmingham		Henry's Blues House
13 June 1971			Cedar Club
14 June 1971
18 June 1971	Worcester		Coppertops
19 June 1971	West Bromwich		Three Mile Oak
25 June 1971	Old Hill		The Plaza
30 June 1971	Wolverhampton		Club Lafayette
2 July 1971	West Bromwich		Three Mile Oak
5 July 1971	Birmingham		Methodist Central Hall
10 July 1971	Dudley		Technical College
12 July 1971	London		The Gunn Inn
26 July 1971	Chester		Quaintways
30 July 1971	Old Hill		The Plaza
8 August 1971	Derby		Clouds Club
14 August 1971	Coventry		The Village
21 August 1971	Liverpool		Cavern Club
2 September 1971	Birmingham		Kinetic Circus
17 September 1971	Worcester		Coppertops
24 September 1971	Derby		Cleopatra's
1 October 1971	Nottingham		Angel Underground
2 October 1971	Stafford		King's Head
3 October 1971	Birmingham		Kinetic Circus
4 October 1971	Stafford		Borough Hall
6 October 1971	Derby		The Yeoman
9 October 1971	Birmingham		Kinetic Circus
13 October 1971	West Bromwich		Yew Tree Centre
15 October 1971	Newport	Wales	Newport Community Centre
16 October 1971
17 October 1971	Bristol	England	Unknown Venue
21 October 1971	London		La Café des Artistes
22 October 1971			Rose & Crown
27 October 1971
29 October 1971	Merton		Zeppelin Club
5 November 1971	London		The Temple Club
7 November 1971			The Pheseantry
12 November 1971	West Bromwich		Three Mile Oak
24 November 1971	Birmingham		The Belfry
3 December 1971	Bromsgrove		Shenstone New College
5 December 1971	Wolverhampton		The Catacombs
17 December 1971	Burntwood		Distractions at the Bear
24 December 1971	Birmingham		Henry's Blues House
28 December 1971	Manchester		Stoneground