I saw Iron Maiden in Calgary and Edmonton this week on the Somewhere Back in Time tour for the promotion of their live video of Live After Death. When trying to describe it, the first thoughts that come to my head are hhgahboralawfulyiocfvstvba
Firstly, Lauren Harris, Steve Harris's daughter (the bassist from Iron Maiden), was the opening band. Her set was shockingly short at 30 minutes. My initial thought was, "this is cool." Then I thought that something seemed wrong. I felt like I wasn't listening to music. She could sing, and her musicians could more or less (for old dudes, way older than her) play their instruments, but it just didn't sound like music. She is gorgeous though.
Then came Iron Maiden. As someone who has loved Iron Maiden as long as I can recall loving music, this was a big deal. I hadn't really realized what I was doing, even when Churchill's speech started and the music for Aces High came out. It was only when I saw Bruce Dickinson step onstage that I realized where I was and what I was doing. I screamed instantly and almost fainted, collapsing a bit into my date.
I consider, and as far as I know my date concurs, that even if you don't listen to Iron Maiden, or if their music isn't really your thing, you will enjoy their concert. For me, I stood in shock, in a half-twitching/half-rockin
I'm really happy to say these concerts were from the Somewhere Back in Time tour. It's like seeing them back in the day, sans Bruce with long hair. The Rock in Rio pants were exciting to see but it was all songs you would've heard if you had seen Maiden playing after their first 10 years of music, and that is an real treat, as they have so many CDs now that you'd be hard-pressed to hear all you wanted to hear in one show. The set was almost directly off their new best of, minus a few songs. Amongst those heard (along with the above listed) were The Trooper (featuring Bruce in Eddie's jacket waving the union jack flags in the traditional manner), Wasted Years (featuring a commentary by Bruce about how you shouldn't have any regrets, and as a band how they regret nothing), Number of the Beast (with Satan peering over the corner of the stage), Heaven Can Wait, Run to the Hills, Can I Play With Madness, Powerslave (featuring Bruce in a fancy mask), and an amazing rendition of Iron Maiden (which is SO much better with Bruce singing).
Highlights for me included Bruce's intro to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: talking about how the original story is about having respect for God's creations, or in their version, how the song tells you what not to do when a bird shits on you. He made a rather cute/funny comment about how the Saddledome was the last remaining building of its kind (meaning its shape) and he was "concerned" about it being safe, as it was the only remaining one (leading us to jokingly think that the Saddledome is actually an endangered species). It was also an amazing song live... the backdrop was incredibly cool and Bruce wore some sort of fancy robe that seemed very fitting for the song.
Some more highlights included Nicko's birthday during the Calgary show, so Bruce and the crowd got up and sang happy birthday to the drummer. Edmonton highlights involved Bruce telling us that on that night they were supposed to be getting an award but they couldn't be there to accept it so they gave live feed from the concert with the raging crowd screaming for Maiden.
Another big moment for me was in Calgary, when Bruce went to start talking (he's amazing for talking to the crowd, incidentally, making jokes and just generally being interesting/amusing to listen to) and he got so blown away by the screaming that he just stopped talking and looked around with this massive grin on his face - for me, that is something I will remember for the rest of my life.
So the show ended with Iron Maiden (the song) but the encore was really intense. They played Moonchild, a song I NEVER expected to hear live, The Clairvoyant, and to my intense pleasure/joy/ecstasy, Hallowed Be Thy Name was the final song.
The best part about this show, is the expectant Eddie sighting. During Iron Maiden (the song), they actually play through the song once, and then a Powerslave Eddie face on the backdrop cracks open and the mummified Eddie comes out and they play through the song again while mummy Eddie waves his arms around and shakes the snakes in his mouth at the crowd. During the encore (The Clairvoyant), the Somewhere in Time Eddie came out (I can only assume a very talented man in a VERY large outfit) and walked around the stage, shooting people with his gun and playing some of the band members' instruments. Seeing Eddie was just something you HAVE to see if you are any sort of Maiden fan. Seeing two Eddie's is beyond comprehension.
So to summarize, even if you don't really like Iron Maiden... no... even if you don't like them, even if you've never heard of them... go to this concert. They are by far the best live band I have ever seen and more than likely ever will be. They have everything you could want in a concert, a cool stage, great performers (Adrien and Dave soloing and Janick's guitar tosses, as well as the classic Steve Harris style), the music and sound are fantastic no matter where you are in the building (I was in the stands and on the floor), they play as good if not better than it has ever been, Bruce's voice is an experience to blow you away, and generally, you get everything you could ever want out of a concert from them.
Seriously... go see Iron Maiden. Follow them from city to city. You will not be disappointed.
Year: June 2008
Opening bands: Lauren Harris
Who I went with: Ronnie Pendleton, Michael Widmer, Kelton Earl
Location: Calgary (Saddledome), Edmonton (Rexall Place)
Ps - As a last note, I want to give fair warning, not just to little girls like myself, but to pretty much anyone who goes to an Iron Maiden concert. Building up to this show, I had promised myself that I would be front and center on the floor in Edmonton. I got their plenty early and I was front and center with one guy in front of me. There were a good number of people around me that I had been talking to: Ronnie and Kelton were with me, two guys in their 40s-50s (an army guy and his friend) behind me, a biggish guy and his friend to my left along with his short fat wife and her shorter and fatter friend, a scrawny guy in front of me, his scrawny friend beside them, a cool girl from Grande Prairie (Alana) and her stalky friend Nathan (who were incidentally aquainted with the scrawny guys). We were all chatting before the concert and basically, Alana and Nathan were like Ronnie and I, a stalky guy protecting a little girl. However, it didn't turn out so well. After Lauren Harris finished, basically, we were unable to move. We were boxed in uncomfortably, and not so much from behind but from the sides. The more we all thought it couldn't get worse, the worse it got, until I was literally getting crushed to death. Before Maiden even came out on stage (under 30 minutes), I had to give up my front and center place for fear of dying because I was getting crushed. Everyone around us was really cool and the security people were very nice. I was choked that I didn't make it to the first song even, but I was able to linger on the sidelines long enough to see Bruce up close and right below him, which made it entirely worthwhile.
If I recall correctly, the army guy's friend was the next to bail, about 2 songs in, him or the two fat girls. Kelton got out sometime in there too. Then Alana got sent out after about 3 songs, and Ronnie himself bailed after 4 songs because he had someone's elbow in his neck and he was seeing spots.
So I want to give you fair warning - if you want to be front and center for an Iron Maiden concert, be prepared, it is likely to hurt and/or be very dangerous. If you can hold it, good, but be careful.
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