Judas Priestess

They’re not a spot-on imitation of their namesake band, but was that ever the idea? Judas Priestess is plain heavy-metal fun — five gifted women metal-heads who deliver a shot of club-sized Judas Priest. Priestess as a band has been around for close to a decade. And yes, Priest front man Rob Halford knows about them. There’s a press photo of him with the members of Priestess on their web site. Word is that they all met after a taping of VH1’s “That Metal Show,” and that the elder rocker gave them his blessing.

From New York, Priestess bills themselves as “The world’s only all-girl tribute to the metal gods.” But Priestess is by far not the only all-woman metal tribute band. Consider Lez Zeppelin, Misstalica, the Iron Maidens, AC/DShe, and Vag Halen, to name a few. Half of the gig is coming up with a cool fem-name. But make no mistake: the other half of the woman-tribute-rock equation is demonstrating that, beyond any shadow of a doubt, hard rock and heavy metal are no longer exclusively man clubs.

Priestess is: guitarists Rena Sands and Josette, bassist Gyda Gash (from the all-girl Bowie tribute Ziggie Starlet,) with drummer Hillary Blaze. Collectively, they rip through Priest’s catalog. ‘Halford’ is played by MilitiA, who came to rock and roll via roles in musicals such as Jesus Christ Superstar. Prior to that, she was a Boston Conservatory of Music-trained pianist. “I wanted to play rock and roll,” she told a reporter. “That shit was boring.”

MilitiA answered a Craigslist ad. Priestess needed a singer. The rest is history. She calls Rob Halford her heavy metal father. Halford once told me that he resides near Banker’s Hill for part of the year. It’s only fair to wonder if he might be in the audience when Priestess next plays San Diego.

Judas Priestess: Friday, January 18, Brick By Brick, 619-276-3990, 8 pm, $15 (Cowgirls from Hell and 2 Hot 2 Handle also perform).