breaking the law

Heavy metal gods Judas Priest rock Houston on new fall tour

Judas Priest and Sabaton will bring their new tour to Houston this fall.

Photo by Jens De Vos/@jensdepanda

Remember when Beavis and Butthead used to rock out whenever MTV played a Judas Priest video? This fall, Houstonians will get the chance to do that when the heavy-metal legends come to town for a live, certain-to-be-very-loud concert.

On Tuesday, June 11, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees Judas Priest announced a new leg of their Invincible Shield Tour with special guest Sabaton. The all-time greats will take over new markets in North America this fall with an additional 23 performances. All shows will feature music from Invincible Shield, their recently-released, 19th studio album, along with all of their classic hits like Breaking the Law, Painkiller, and You’ve Got Another Thing Coming.

The tour includes three Texas stops:

October 22: Smart Financial Centre in Sugar Land
October 24: Germania Insurance Amphitheater in Austin
October 26: The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving

The metal gods from Birmingham (England, not Alabama) spent over 50 years crafting a legendary career. Despite lineup changes and various challenges, the band's resilience remained unwavering. In 2018, Rob Halford, Glenn Tipton, Richie Faulkner, Ian Hill, and Scott Travis released Firepower which soared as one of their most successful albums, backed by an extensive global tour.

Amid health setbacks and the pandemic, they persevered with a 50th-anniversary tour and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction in 2022. Following a headlining performance at the 2023 PowerTrip Music Festival and the release of Shield, Judas Priest's continues to spread their heavy metal legacy into 2024 and beyond.

Tickets will be available starting with an artist presale beginning Wednesday, June 12. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on-sale beginning on Friday at 10 am at judaspriestinvincibleshield.com.

JUDAS PRIEST: INVINCIBLE SHIELD LEG 2 TOUR DATES:

Fri Sep 13 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
Sat Sep 14 – Niagara Falls, ON – Fallsview Casino Resort*
Tue Sep 17 – Sterling Heights, MI – Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre
Thu Sep 19 – Milwaukee, WI – Miller High Life Theatre
Sat Sep 21 – Cedar Rapids, IA – Alliant Energy PowerHouse
Sun Sep 22 – Sioux Falls, SD – Denny Sanford Premier Center*
Tue Sep 24 – Rochester, MN – Mayo Civic Center Arena*
Wed Sep 25 – Omaha, NE – Baxter Arena
Fri Sep 27 – Rockford, IL – BMO Center
Sun Sep 29 – Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life - Festival^
Tue Oct 1 – Independence, MO – Cable Dahmer Arena
Thu Oct 3 – Billings, MT – First Interstate Arena at MetraPark
Sat Oct 5 – Idaho Falls, ID – Mountain America Center
Sun Oct 6 – Spokane, WA – Spokane Arena
Wed Oct 9 – Everett, WA – Angel of the Winds Arena
Thu Oct 10 – Portland, OR – Alaska Airlines’ Theater of the Clouds
Sat Oct 12 – Sacramento, CA – After Shock Festival^
Sun Oct 13 – Reno, NV – Grand Sierra Resort and Casino*
Tue Oct 15 – Los Angeles, CA – YouTube Theater
Wed Oct 16 – Las Vegas, NV – Bakkt Theater at Planet Hollywood
Fri Oct 18 – Phoenix, AZ – Arizona Financial Theatre
Sun Oct 20 – Loveland, CO – Blue Arena
Tue Oct 22 – Houston, TX – Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land
Thu Oct 24 – Austin, TX – Germania Insurance Amphitheater
Sat Oct 26 – Irving, TX – The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory

concerts judas priest

Movie Review

Shaun the Sheep welcomes spooky season with PG-scary new movie

Photo courtesy of Aardman / Sky UK LTD / StudioCanal 2026

Shaun the Sheep in Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom.

Since his introduction over 30 years ago, the Aardman Animations character Shaun the Sheep has been almost as popular as the studio’s flagship characters, Wallace and Gromit. There is never a shortage of trouble Shaun can get into as he leads his flock and proves to be a thorn in the side of his farmer and Bitzer, the farmer’s loyal sheepdog.

His antics lead everyone down some slightly spooky roads in the new film, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom. At first, things are only slightly awry as Shaun and the flock are growing a secret pumpkin patch to have their own jack-o-lanterns. But when the farmer accidentally destroys the pumpkin patch, Shaun tries to regrow it quickly with a Frankenstein-esque experiment.

However, disaster looms when Shaun uses an old bottle of Hair-Gro as the container for the serum he creates. Naturally, the balding farmer uses it on his head, and everyone soon discovers how truly successful it is, with pumpkins growing out of control and the farmer sprouting hair all over his body. Through a series of mishaps, the farmer becomes the titular beast, creating mayhem while Shaun and others try to stop him.

Directed by Steve Cox and Matthew Walker, and written by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow, the film goes down just as easy as every other Aardman project has. They get the Halloween vibes started from the opening credits, with things like the sheep doing the “Thriller” dance, and continue the fun throughout, referencing everything from Psycho to Friday the 13th in a nice, PG way.

With no script — every character is mute save for reaction noises — the movie relies on sight gags for its humor, and the Aardman team is endlessly inventive in that respect. Sometimes it’s small things like a sheep using toilet paper rolls as binoculars, and sometimes it’s something like forcing the Bigfoot-like farmer to be shaped into a rectangle as he escapes through a window. But there’s a never-ending stream of such moments, so even if one doesn’t tickle your funny bone, chances are the next one will.

The biggest benefit of the characters not talking is that there’s no need for deep character development. The filmmakers do a great job of giving the basic traits of each character, and then use those attributes to color everyone’s actions for the rest of the film. Shaun is the troublemaker, the farmer is a bumbling fool, Bitzer is preternaturally smart, and the town’s vet is empathetic, and the combination of those characters and others makes for a highly entertaining blend.

Like all Aardman creations, Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is a fun lark that doesn’t make its audience think too hard. With just enough references to keep viewers engaged but not so many as to be overbearing, the film puts its well-worn characters to good use once again, delivering a Halloween season story that can be enjoyed by people of all ages.

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom is now playing in theaters.

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