This Day in Metal: June 18th 1984 Judas Priest Fans Caused $250,000 Worth of Damage to Madison Square Garden

Judas Priest were barred from performing at Madison Square Garden after a riot broke out and fans proceeded to rip out $250,000 worth of seating. Incredibly, the ban is still in effect.

Frontman Rob Halford would subsequently quip:

"Very metal. The horrible thing is that if we did play Madison Square Garden, there would be some enthusiast who was there from the original riot with his pen knife out. It would start all over again! So, it's probably best."

Judas Priest had scheduled the highly anticipated performance as part of its tour in support of Defenders of the Faith.

Photographer Bob Leafe was at the show and hired by the venue to take pictures of the damage. Leafe remembers:

"Afterwards, Priest had a party at the Limelight. When I finally walked in, Kenny (former Priest guitarist K.K. Downing), who had seen me half-buried by cushions in the pit, yelled out, 'You've survived!'"

Longtime Judas Priest member Glen Tipton added:

"There's actually quite a funny ending to that. Me and Ken went there to watch [John] McEnroe play tennis in some indoor tennis championship. We went in hoodies, because we had been banned from Madison Square. Halfway through the tennis match, one of the ushers came down and he went, 'Thanks for the new seats.'"