The World Wide Blitz Tour was a 1981 concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest where the band toured in Europe and North America from 13 February to 14 December 1981 in support of the album Point of Entry.

Overview Europe (first leg) For the first European leg of the tour, the band was supported by Saxon, who were promoting their album, "Strong Arm of the Law."

North American leg Savoy Brown supported the band for the first month of the leg until the end of May. Iron Maiden, who were promoting their album Killers, supported the band after that. Humble Pie would co-headline all of the June dates with Priest and Maiden. Whitesnake would then be the co-headliner throughout most of the July dates. Joe Perry opened a couple of the later shows in July.

The only official Judas Priest track recorded during this tour, a performance of "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" from a show at Palladium in New York City, is featured on the "Some Heads Are Gonna Roll" single released in February 1984. The same track is found on the Metalogy box set.

Europe (final leg) The final European leg was supported by Def Leppard, who were promoting their album, High 'n' Dry, and Accept.

Personnel Rob Halford – Lead vocals Glenn Tipton – Lead/rhythm guitar and background vocals K.K. Downing – Rhythm/lead guitar and background vocals Ian Hill – Bass and background vocals Dave Holland – Drums

Setlist The setlist varied throughout the tour. The European leg had a setlist of: "Hell Bent For Leather" "The Ripper" "Diamonds & Rust" (Joan Baez cover) "Grinder" "Sinner" "Breaking the Law" "Beyond the Realms of Death" "Troubleshooter" "Metal Gods" "Hot Rockin'" "You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise" "Victim of Changes" "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (Fleetwood Mac cover) "Living After Midnight" "Tyrant" The typical setlist for the North American leg and second European leg "Solar Angels" "Heading Out to the Highway" "Diamonds ^ Rust" (Replaced by "Metal Gods" on second European leg) "Troubleshooter" (Replaced by "Hell Bent for Leather" after 6 May 1981) "Breaking the Law" "Sinner" "Beyond the Realms of Death" "Grinder" "Desert Plains" "Hot Rockin'" "You Don't Have to Be Old to Be Wise" "Victim of Changes" "The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)" (Fleetwood Mac cover) "Living After Midnight" "Tyrant" Also occasionally played were: "United" (Played on 6 to 8 November and 12 December) "Genocide" (Played on 10 July) "Rapid Fire" (Played on 10 July) "Exciter" (Played on 10 July) in Atlanta

Tour dates DateCityCountryVenueOpening Act(s)Europe 13 February 1981KerkradeNetherlandsRodahalSaxon14 February 1981 AmsterdamJaap Edenhal 15 February 1981 Brussels BelgiumForest National16 February 1981ParisFranceHippodrome de Pantin17 February 198118 February 1981RavensburgWest GermanyOberschwabenhalle19 February 1981Neunkirchen am BrandHemmerleinhalle20 February 1981SindelfingenMessehalle21 February 1981DortmundWestfalenhallen23 February 1981DüsseldorfPhilipshalle24 February 1981LudwigshafenFriedrich-Ebert-Halle25 February 1981HanoverNiedersachsenhalle26 February 1981KasselMessehalle27 February 1981WiesbadenRhein-Main Halle28 February 1981StrasbourgFranceHall Tivoli1 March 1981CambraiPalais des Grottes3 March 1981HamburgWest GermanyHamburg Music Hall4 March 1981West BerlinNeue Welt6 March 1981KielSparkassen-Arena8 March 1981StockholmSwedenStockholm Concert HallNorth America1 May 1981RichfieldUnited StatesRichfield ColiseumSavoy Brown2 May 1981LouisvilleLouisville Gardens4 May 1981ColumbusVeterans Memorial Auditorium5 May 1981SpringfieldPrairie Capital Convention Center6 May 1981IndianapolisIndiana Convention Center7 May 1981South BendMorris Civic Auditorium8 May 1981ChicagoInternational Amphitheatre9 May 1981RockfordRockford Metro Center10 May 1981MilwaukeeMilwaukee Auditorium12 May 1981Des MoinesDes Moines Veterans Memorial Auditorium14 May 1981BloomingtonMet Center15 May 1981OmahaOmaha Civic Auditorium16 May 1981St. LouisKiel Auditorium17 May 1981Kansas CityMemorial Hall19 May 1981Salt Lake CitySalt Palace21 May 1981San BernardinoSwing Auditorium22 May 1981OaklandOakland Civic AuditoriumSavoy Brown, Ranger23 May 1981Long BeachLong Beach ArenaSavoy Brown24 May 1981BakersfieldBakersfield Civic Auditorium25 May 1981San DiegoSDSU Open Air Theater27 May 1981FresnoSelland Arena29 May 1981PortlandVeterans Memorial Coliseum30 May 1981SeattleSeattle Center Arena3 June 1981Las VegasAladdin Theatre for the Performing ArtsHumble Pie, Iron Maiden4 June 1981PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum5 June 1981El PasoEl Paso County Coliseum6 June 1981OdessaEctor County Coliseum7 June 1981LubbockLubbock Municipal Coliseum9 June 1981McAllenLa Villa Real Convention Center 10 June 1981LaredoLaredo Civic Center11 June 1981San AntonioConvention Center Arena 12 June 1981AustinAustin Municipal Auditorium13 June 1981DallasMoody Coliseum14 June 1981HoustonSam Houston Coliseum27 June 1981ClevelandAgora Theatre and BallroomIron Maiden, Whitesnake1 July 1981LandoverCapital Centre2 July 1981Asbury ParkAsbury Park Convention Hall3 July 1981SalisburyWicomico Youth and Civic Center4 July 1981NorfolkNorfolk Scope 5 July 1981HuntingtonHuntington Civic Center7 July 1981PittsburghStanley Theatre9 July 1981Myrtle BeachMyrtle Beach Convention Center 10 July 1981AtlantaFox Theatre11 July 1981Johnson CityFreedom Hall Civic Center12 July 1981MemphisEllis Auditorium 14 July 1981EvansvilleRoberts Municipal Stadium 15 July 1981TrotwoodHara Arena16 July 1981JohnstownCambria County War Memorial Arena17 July 1981BuffaloShea's Buffalo18 July 1981RochesterRochester Auditorium19 July 1981SyracuseLandmark Theatre21 July 1981AlbanyPalace TheatreIron Maiden22 July 1981 New York CityPalladium23 July 198124 July 198125 July 1981New HavenNew Haven ColiseumIron Maiden, Joe Perry26 July 1981AllentownGreat Allentown Fair28 July 1981BostonOrpheum TheatreIron Maiden29 July 1981BaltimoreBaltimore Civic Center30 July 1981Upper Darby TownshipTower Theater31 July 1981 New York City Pier 84 Europe6 November 1981 Kingston upon Hull EnglandHull City Hall 7 November 1981ManchesterManchester Apollo8 November 19819 November 1981LeicesterDe Montfort Hall10 November 1981BristolColston Hall11 November 1981CardiffWalesSophia Gardens Pavilion12 November 1981BirminghamEnglandBirmingham Odeon13 November 198115 November 1981GlasgowScotlandThe Apollo 16 November 1981NewcastleEnglandNewcastle City Hall17 November 198118 November 1981SheffieldSheffield City Hall19 November 198120 November 1981CrawleyCrawley Leisure Centre21 November 1981LondonHammersmith Odeon22 November 198123 November 1981SouthamptonGaumont Theatre24 November 1981PoolePoole Arts Centre Europe27 November 1981WiesbadenWest GermanyRhein-Main HalleDef Leppard, Accept28 November 1981Neunkirchen am BrandHemmerleinhalle29 November 1981FriedrichshafenStadthalle30 November 1981SaarbrückenSaarlandhalle1 December 1981RüsselsheimWalter-Köbel-Halle2 December 1981KarlsruheSchwarzwaldhalle3 December 1981LudwigshafenFriedrich-Ebert-Halle4 December 1981MunichRudi-Sedlmayer-Halle5 December 1981LausanneSwitzerlandPalais de Beaulieu6 December 1981Clermont-FerrandFranceClermont-Ferrand Sports Hall7 December 1981Nogent-sur-MarnePavillon Baltard8 December 1981StrasbourgHall Rhenus9 December 1981LillePalias De Sports11 December 1981BrusselsBelgiumForest National12 December 1981AmsterdamNetherlandsJaap Edenhal13 December 1981EssenWest GermanyGrugahalle14 December 1981HamburgMarkthalle Hamburg

Boxscore +CityVenueTickets soldGross revenue (adjusted for inflation)South BendMorris Civic Auditorium2,274$55,812St. LouisKiel Auditorium5,700$134,466Kansas CityMemorial Hall1,850$41,332San BernardinoSwing Auditorium6,655$168,923OaklandCivic Auditorium4,891$133,367Long BeachLong Beach Arena10,090$238,269PortlandMemorial Coliseum6,831$175,756SeattleCenter Arena6,000$160,163PittsburghStanley Theater3,347$89,261Johnson CityFreedom Hall4,982$114,570MemphisEllis Auditorium3,722$84,256RochesterAuditorium2,574$64,341

References