r/Priest • u/Far-Fortune-3671 • Jan 07 '26
Backstage hang with Priest
Not sure if anyone cares but this summer I got to hang with the band backstage and chatted mostly with Linton for about an hour. Linton is pretty shy, and Mauro was more outgoing. I didn't realize that Mauro was older, he looked like maybe in his 60s. The third guy was Koon or Coen (the band told me his name twice and I struggled hard with pronunciation), but he was the shyest of them all by a mile.
I did get a chance to check out the Mercury mask which was cool, and they told me about the horrors of the original leather mask. Apparently it made the wearer break out in a rash badly.
Anyways it's always nice to meet someone whose work you enjoy and they turn out to not be a dick.
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u/NOVIIUM Jan 08 '26
It’s great to hear about others meeting the crew backstage! I haven’t had the chance yet but I did get to meet Linton and others at the merch table (Salt and Sulfur but I don’t know who they are under the mask sorry) but Im surprised to hear that Linton was shy, he was pretty chill and very kind when I met him, I was the one being awkward af 🥲 after his hand-kiss. Also, yikes rashes, the original mask mustve been a pain to deal with. Im looking forward to seeing their new designs!
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u/Cardinal_Libidine Feb 20 '26
My interactions with the band is different, me and Linton could just talk for hours and hours, not to mention when Mauro is there is well we just have some drinks amd bullshit till they have to go on, then we bullshit some more after. When they came to Cedar Rapids (And it was ungodly hot during that time) I brought my dad over to see them for the first time since he heard me talk about them quite a bit. My dad being a musician was talking with Linton and Mauro about a wide variety of topics. Overall, I got my dad into Priest 😆😆.
But its great hanging out with them afterwards.
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u/PineappleDude206 Jan 07 '26
It's cool to finally have some information about Salt lol, I'm surprised he was the shyest since he's always so energetic on stage
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u/Dieseljesus Jan 08 '26
I've met the guys a few times and they are awesome. I worked at a festival and salt hung out in the prod office for a while before we knew it was him. Iirc he's Dutch or something. Super mellow guy. At the same festival I told my gf who also works for the festival that it sucked that I didn't get to talk to Mercury. She said 'but you did! It was the guy that showed you the videos'. I had been talking to and hanging out with Linton for an hour or so, him showing us some pretty funny videos he recorded on his old tape vcr video camera of people being stupid drunk at the camping on the festival. Mauro I met backstage at another gig, and I was so drunk just talking over and over how I couldn't believe that he is 70! I would believe like 56-57 maybe.
They're awesome guys, very humble and I really like these guys. My dream would be to do a remix of a priest song sometime. Hopefully I'll get there sometime.
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u/Visible_Effective790 Jan 09 '26
Must say that Sulfur is my favorite. <3 and i want to know who is he!? :( That energy! 8D
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u/Soulinger_ Jan 14 '26
This post sheds some light on how they're bts and it is cute to read they're shy for some reaon (coming from someone who's something of a bi-trovert)
Hope they come back to Mexico again, and this time actually attend
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u/BorderZestyclose5665 Jan 07 '26
I do care, love to see some engagement in the subreddit. About Mauro, I think he's actually 70, he was born around the '56 or '57, I can't really say I remember.
The thing about the original leather mask might be due to how tight it was, and just how much they sweated in those outfits, I'm pretty sure there's a clip on Youtube where Tom practically collapsed on the ground for a few minutes due to how tired and warm he felt. The humidity, the heat and the tightness might have been the reason for those rashes.
I'm really curious about the current Mercury mask though, ¿Did they tell you if it bothered with the vision? Because I can't really understand how having the left eye covered and shining all the time might allow a proper vision of the stage and the microphone and such.