Iron Maiden

You don't remember the name dan62 from the old forum?

Did anyone seen Iron Maiden back in the day? I can only compare seeing them on the Somewhere Back in Time tour vs Live After Death as an example, and it seems like they're much better now than back then.

Fucking phenomenal longevity. I'm seeing them again in two weeks and can not wait. I guess the point I'm tryna make is that from what I can tell, they're better live now than when when they were at their peak in the 80s.

I've always though new Maiden beats old Maiden and Old Man Bruce beats Young Bruce. But I'm keep to hear if anyone actually saw them way back when, not just on YouTube/DVD.

Since nobody asked figure I'd give my 2 cents on Book Of Souls. I've tried to like it. No luck. I've listened to some live gigs hoping it'd change my mind. Still nothing. Not getting the appeal. Not sure why. I prefer post Reunion Maiden. I love long songs. Maybe I'm just an asshole.

So have you listened to Dance of death yet?

I just recently heard the song Dance of Death for the first time, I liked it, it has a cool vibe.

And "Rainmaker". One of Maiden's best songs that.

While you're at it you should listen to Wildest Dreams, Montsegur, Gates of Tomorrow, New Frontier, Face in the Sand, Age of Innocence and Journeyman.

I saw them on their World Slavery Tour.
I was a huge Maiden fan, they were playing in my city so I was already won over.
Show was fucking amazing, couldn't believe I was seeing them play in front of me.
Watching Eddie come out was surreal, didn't even know they did this.
Were they as great as they are now? Hard to say, I was really young and it was just awesome to be there, but that period was a massive peak for the band.

I wonder whose idea was it to make Maiden more proggy over the last few albums. Smith?

Seventh Son, Brave New World, and A Matter of Life and Death are amongst the most consistently great albums I've ever heard.

In China during the first chorus of Powerslave Bruce sang "Tell me why I have to be a Wicker Man."

I don't think we know exactly what was going on, definitely had something to do with trying to get past the Chinese government's censors. They may have submitted Powerslave for review and it got denied, but Wicker Man got accepted but then they just played Powerslave anyway. Not sure though. Seems like an amusing situation though.

Also Bruce wasn't allowed to carry a flag during The Trooper. He looked like he had no idea what to do with his hands.

Here's some jumbled comments on the show yesterday.

Bit of a rough start - my back was really sore after driving 4 hours in a tiny car, I left my jeans and belt at home, and while walking to the show I realised I'd lost my hotel key card... I ended up tying some socks together to make a belt which worked incredibly well. Anyway...


I lined up for around 3 hours so I made it almost to the front, about two people back. The Ravens Age weren't too bad, nothing I'd follow up and listen to at home but cool for an opening act. The drummer was great to watch.

Maiden, as expected, were fucking insane. The highlights for me were If Eternity Should Fail, Children of the Damned, Powerslave, and The Book of Souls.

Opening with Eternity was incredible, Bruce sounded better than on the CD for the 'Here is the soul...' part. It's my favorite song on the new album and a thrill to see live. You'd never say Bruce sounds for for an ild guy, or sounds good for someone who's toured for thirty odd years. He doesn't need an excuse/exception or anything. He just sounds amazing. I must of just stood there with a stupid grin for most of the show because of him.

I was on Janick's side of the stage and my first thoughts were 'Oh Christ I'm gonna be in front of this nut sack all night', but being 2 meters away form him, seeing his silly kicks and dances etc was actually really cool. And it was great being under him and so close for Blood Brothers. His solo in Hallowed be Thy Name was great to watch too.

Adrian came and stood next to us during Speed of Light. I got closest to getting a little emotional seeing him play that lead part of the prechorus. It was just really special.

I'd made a playlist of their setlist a month or so back, and for some reason I left Iron Maiden off so it was aa cool surprise when they played it.

It was good to hear Bruce talking about Christchurch and New Zealand. He talked about the earthquakes, and how NZ doesn't care about Empires and invading places etc, we just focus on Women, Beer, and Trees - or something like that. He also wore a personalised All Blacks jersey for Blood Brothers/Wasted Years that someone had given him.

I had some photos of my sock belt and Ed Force Once but our internet's being a real slut so may upload them later.

Over all - 10/10 - would watch again. I almost regret not selling everything I own and following them on tour. Bloody good show.

My favourite Maiden solo. Can't think of a better one.

Ed Force One has entered the country..

ja.flightaware.com/live/flight/ABD666

Heading to their Sydney gig Fri night here.

www.setlist.fm/setlists/iron-maiden-3bd6803c.html

Yea, checked out their sets a couple of weeks ago - they're playing the same set every gig, which they tend to do, again by the looks.

Their 2016 gig stats: www.setlist.fm/stats/iron-maiden-3bd6803c.html?year=2016

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