Richie Faulkner Understands Fans’ Displeasure with Judas Priest Touring as Quartet

In a recent interview, Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner spoke about the band announcing it would be touring as a quartet. You can watch the video below.

On the In The trenches With Ryan Roxie video podcast, Faulkner said when Rob Halford called him up and asked if he could handle all the guitar parts without a second guitarist, he believed he could do it. It would take some adjustments and a couple more pedals, but all in all, he thought it was doable.

"The set we've got at the moment, apart from the rhythm guitar underneath the solos, there's not a lot of harmony stuff going on," he explained (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).

Fast forward to Jan. 10, Judas Priest revealed they would be touring as a four piece without their touring guitarist Andy Sneap. Sneap released a statement to Blabbermouth hours later, saying the decision was "incredibly disappointing" but ultimately something he respected.

Meanwhile, fans online were equally upset, if not more so. Five days later (Jan. 15) Judas Priest announced they would not be touring as a four-piece after all, and would bring back Sneap. Halford also came out and said it was his idea, not the band's, to tour with only one guitarist.

"I understand what the fans were saying," Faulkner says in the podcast. "I think we all understood what the fans were saying in the end. It's not Priest — that's the bottom line. I think if we did a new album, if Glenn, for whatever reason, couldn't play on it, or if we did it for one guitar, and then we toured the album that was one guitar, it would be a different thing… I think everyone saw that we listened and we saw the reaction and we discussed it within ourselves. And I think Rob's come out a couple of days ago and he said that it was his idea and it blew up in his face."