For the residents tucked inside million dollar towers across the street from the Klipsch Amphitheater in downtown Miami’s Bayfront Park — and the well-heeled Art Basel bunch blocks away — the word “Farewell” in Judas Priest’s Epitaph Farewell Tour couldn’t come soon enough.

A mostly male headbanging crowd spent almost five hours engulfed in heavy metal heaven — or hell, depending on your perspective — as opening acts Thin Lizzy, Black Label Society and headliners Judas Priest, the pioneering 40-year-old classic metal act on presumably its final world tour, cranked out material designed to be appreciated on amps that go to 11 (“because it’s one louder” as any Spinal Tap fan can tell you).

A near 15-minute, interminable guitar solo from Black Label Society’s Zakk Wylde was so uninteresting lights could be seen flicking off in some of the condos as the monied crowd fled to quieter places, like a war zone.

Thin Lizzy’s 45-minute set had its moments, such as Jailbreak and The Boys Are Back in Town from the original band’s 1976 heyday, while Black Label Society’s brand of personality-free metal went over like a lead zeppelin. The crowd came to bid a fond adieu to Judas Priest, and the British band had its audience standing for its entire 135-minute, 20-song set.

Despite the recent departure of K.K. Downing, one-half of Priest’s famed twin-guitar sound, newcomer Richie Faulkner handled his parts well in concert with fellow lead guitarist Glenn Tipton. The rhythm section was explosive and diamond hard, especially stellar bassist Ian Hill.

But this was lead singer Rob Halford’s show and, at 60, aided a bit by mixing board knob-twiddling, his patented high shrieks, solid midrange and sustained notes have held up remarkably well as on the pounding opener, Rapid Fire, the lone “ballad” Beyond the Realms of Death, Electric Eye and the pulverizing trip-hammer rhythms of Painkiller.

Halford, the definitive heavy metal vocalist, clad in studded storm trooper coats and, for the recent Prophecy, in an eye-catching silver robe and devil’s trident, proved an amiable front man. He eschewed the usual empty or vulgar stage patter for sincere recollections, helped by the flashing of vintage Priest LP covers on a big screen which occasionally weren’t as quick to flash the proper LP cover image as Halford might have liked.

“Miami, this brings back so many memories,” he said after Blood Red Skies. “We made so many records down the street; we did Screaming for Vengeance in Coconut Grove and Turbo at Criteria and others I can’t remember because I was so [bleep] up.”

Designed as a non-chronological retrospective of its career, Judas Priest reached back to oldies like Starbreaker; Halford brought out the motorcycle for Hell Bent for Leather; and the group delivered its signature covers of Joan Baez’s Diamonds & Rust and Fleetwood Mac’s Green Manalishi (With the Two-Pronged Crown).

Some numbers felt a bit rote, especially during the first half on Metal Gods and Heading Out to the Highway. The band’s decision to treat Breaking the Law, a Priest classic, as an abbreviated afterthought was unpardonable. The group offered the song’s memorable riffs but not vocals — the crowd filled that role — and a pointless drum solo hijacked the great tune altogether.

“This is your last chance with the Priest,” yelled Halford as he rallied the crowd during the thrilling final number, You’ve Got Another Thing Comin’ and, unfortunately, the promise in the song’s title didn’t hold true. Unlike other dates, Priest’s Miami concert came to an abrupt, confused end and its second encore, Living After Midnight, went unplayed because of an 11 p.m. curfew. If Halford hadn’t taken so many backstage breaks after almost every song, which slowed the concert’s pace and momentum, and if the tour had scrapped the unworthy Black Label Society, Priest could have delivered one of its most popular favorites to its Miami faithful.