Judas Priest's Headbangers Ball

"Oh, a bsolutely , because I'm as much a fan of Judas Priest as I am in it. I love this band's music and its performances, its personalities, quirks and idiosyncrasies. I love everything about Judas Priest."

And about Black Sabbath, it turns out. On Aug. 26, Halford found himself fronting his fellow Birminghamites at an Ozzfest stop in Camden, N.J. As Halford tells it, "Sharon [Osbourne] called me at my hotel -- I thought she was calling about the real nice birthday gift she and Ozzy sent the day before [beautiful handmade luggage adorned with skulls and crossbones]. She said, 'I'm not really calling about that,' and something went off in the back of my mind, 'It's something about Ozzy; he's not well.' "

Ozzy, in fact, had bronchitis.

"Sharon asked if I would step in, and my first question was when do you want me to do it? 'Tonight. C'mon, love, you're a big Black Sabbath fan, you know all the songs.' "

Halford boned up watching a concert video on the tour bus, got off to do the Priest show, showered and then headed back to the stage. "It was a thrill, and I just went out and did my best," Halford says. He has a bootleg video of the Camden show, "but I can't watch it. It's Judas Priest at the top of my fan list and then Black Sabbath, and it freaks me out to look at myself on stage with Tony [Iommi], Geezer [Butler] and Bill [Ward]."

A video he has watched is "Heavy Metal Parking Lot," the infamous 16-minute documentary by local filmmakers Jeff Krulik and John Heyn. It captured the social interaction outside a 1986 Judas Priest concert at the old Capital Center, where mullet-sporting fans waxed poetic about Priest and metal. VH1 (which is sponsoring the band's current tour) ranked the film No.16 on its list of "100 Most Metal Moments"; Revolver magazine ranked it No. 3 in "The 50 All-Time Hardest Rockin' Movies," and Spin ranked it No. 6 of the "20 Best Music Movies Ever." Director Cameron Crowe ("Almost Famous") has called it one of the greatest rock movies ever.

"It's a microcosm of what goes on, not just a Priest show, but at a heavy metal show even today," Halford says. "It's good satirical sociology there. It's been examined to death by everybody, and it will always be there, won't it?"

Halford doesn't know the half of it: An upcoming DVD has three hours of content, including directors' commentary, parking lot alumni reunions, outtakes and such sequels as "Neil Diamond Parking Lot" and "Harry Potter Parking Lot." And Krulik and Heyn are looking to develop their short into a feature film.

Halford's response: "That'd be cool to see."

JUDAS PRIEST -- Appearing with Queensryche Sunday at Nissan Pavilion.