New Mexico Metal Mayor Does It Again For Judas Priest

Tim Keller is not only the Mayor of Albuquerque, he's also a true metalhead who loves honoring his favorite bands and when they come to his town, he rolls out the red carpet.

Mayor Keller recently gave the keys to the city to Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, (see 'em live in El Paso here), and some of his band mates. Other bands he's honored include Testament, Possessed and Soulfly.

This time around, it was Judas Priest being honored the afternoon before their show at the Isleta Amphitheater with Alice Cooper. I've seen both those bands, (in several different lineups), many times and met them, (all), several times. They're very cool people and I'm glad they got a little recognition.

READ MORE: Albuquerque's Metal Mayor

Especially from a politician ... they usually avoid anyone or anything "controversial". Mayor Keller's cooler than most though.

I'm not sure why Alice didn't get his own set of keys though. Maybe Mayor Keller doesn't like competition, after all, Alice has run for office too.

Why No Love For Alice?

Yep - once for Governor of Arizona and many times for POTUS. He even wrote one of the best campaign songs ever, "Elected", and then came up with probably the absolute best campaign slogan ever ... "A Troubled Man For Troubled Times".

No matter what, this is very cool of Mayor Keller and it's inspired me to see if I can get El Paso Mayor Renard Johnson to do something similar. Mayor Johnson's a pretty cool guy and he likes rock too. Plus, he makes a tasty tequila.

READ MORE: El Paso Mayor Donates Salary

Maybe we can even "one-up" Mayor Keller - Instead of symbolic "keys" to the city, we can actually let the bands run the 915 for a day or two. Now, THAT would ROCK.