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On the road with Iron
Maiden
Surfacing from a deliciously deep sleep,
I wonder dozily how much longer I've got until the alarm goes off.
Then I realize that my bed doesn't usually vibrate gently - well, not
of its own accord anyway - nor is the bedroom usually filled with the
throb of aircraft engines. Opening my eyes, I remember that I've
fallen asleep sprawled across two seats in the plane, while Iron
Maiden bassist Steve Harris and drummer Nicko McBrain are dozing more
neatly in theirs. Sleep is easy to come by when rocked by the steady
movement of the plane and lulled by the muffled roar of its engines.
BA - Bruce Air - it's Iron Maiden's favourite airline.
While Iron Maiden are touring
Europe, front man Bruce Dickinson has elected to fly himself around
wherever possible, which also gives him, and any band members who
want to join him, the freedom to return home on days off - like
yesterday. Today, we're off to the third show on the tour, in the
Czech Republic capital of Prague.
The day starts with a drive to Luton
Airport, where Bruce's Cessna Golden Eagle is parked - or whatever
the technical term is for an aircraft that's immobilized. For a
passenger, the whole process is fantastically easy, although Bruce
and co-pilot Jim Silvia are kept busy, no doubt completing checks,
filing flight plans and, um, stuff. However, for Steve, Nicko and
myself, there's nothing to do, except present our passports in the
lounge, grab a cup of coffee, order some sandwiches for the flight
and have a quick flick through the morning papers before being
told everything is ready for us.
Once onboard, the pre-take-off
safety procedure is much the same as on a commercial flight -
seats in the upright position, belts fastened and so on. There's
a moment of agonising panic when we realise that the sandwiches
haven't been forthcoming. Do we wait for them and risk losing
our take-off slot, or go for it and travel for three hours
without refreshments? It's a tough call - but just as a general
consensus is reached that we should take off without further
delay, a member of the ground staff is spotted jogging across
the tarmac with the sarnies. Steve opens a window, grabs the
plate - and we're off!
The excitement of take-off over,
there's not much to do for the next three hours. Steve pulls
out a newspaper, while Nicko flicks open his laptop and does
some work on his tour diary for the Iron Maiden website before
settling down with a copy of 'Sharpe's Trafalgar', explaining
that "it's a present from Janick" - which seems
rather generous of the band guitarist, although all is
revealed later...
Bruce and Jim take it in turns
to fly the plane and while Bruce is off-duty, he turns round
for a chat, a sandwich and an explanation of what it going
on at the controls. Looking through the cockpit window at
19,000 feet, there's a beautiful vista of sculptured white
clouds, rising like glaciers out of the blue sky before us.
Despite the noise of the engines, everything feels so
peaceful and far removed from the earthbound world that
Bruce's passion for flying becomes very easy to
understand...
We're hit by a blast of hot
air when the aircraft door is opened on arrival in Prague,
where it's a gloriously hot, sunny day. A customs officer
is waiting to inspect our passports on the tarmac, as is a
mini-bus, to transport us and our bags to the hotel, where
the management form a reception committee, asking the band
to sign the VIP visitors' book before they are handed
their keys.
There's time for an hour's
rest before it's off to the gig and a bit of sightseeing
through the bus windows along the way. On arrival, Nicko
is slightly nonplussed to see a couple of fans waving a
banner which says, 'Happy Birthday, Nicko'. He'd been
keeping it quiet, it being customary for members of
Maiden whose birthday falls on a show day to receive a
cream-pieing, and even Janick, who'd given him his
present a few days earlier, has forgotten what day it
was. Nick is even more aghast to see the banner read
'56' - until he realizes that it was supposed to read
'5/6' in honor of the date, rather than an estimate of
his age! (Mr McBrain is, of course, a sprightly 29 - and
holding!)
The Paegas Arena is a
15,000 capacity indoor sports arena - a cavernous
affair with lots of corridors and consequently, lots
of opportunity for 'Spinal Tap'-ish getting-lost
moments for those of us who decide to explore.
Downstairs, the Production Office is buzzing with
activity, with phones, modems and laptops set up to
form an office environment, as they are at every show,
and has just taken delivery of a mysteriously large
consignment of whipped cream...
Upstairs, things are
more relaxed. This has to be the most boring part of
a touring band's day. With two and a half hours to
kill before showtime, there are interviews to do,
warming up exercises to undertake, guests to meet
and greet - and not much else really, except hang
out in the dressing-room or its adjacent lounge,
with members of the tour entourage. The lounge has
been invaded by a swarm of whitefly, strangely
attracted to its black vinyl three-piece suite, and
in between idly swatting them away and complaining
about the sticky heat, talk turns to the previous
thunderstruck show at the Dynamo Open Air festival,
when the band played in the worst weather conditions
of their career. Someone recalls a gig in America
when a tornado warning had been received and as a
safety precaution, the band were shown a pit into
which they were supposed to jump if it actually hit
the venue, and Janick recounts his adventures of his
Sunday night on the town, when (surprise, surprise!)
he'd bumped into some fellow Geordies in a Prague
club.
As Showtime
approaches, the tension rises both backstage and
front of house, and by the time the band walk down
the ramps from dressing-room to stage, you can
sense the rush of pent-up adrenaline and
impatience to get stuck into the opening song. The
crowd start chanting the band's name, the lights
go up and 15,000 people roar a welcome as the band
launch into 'The Wicker Man'. Fire limits don't
seem too important in Prague, as fans are crammed
so tightly into the venue, it's impossible to
wriggle between them, and the humid heat is
absolutely stifling. Nevertheless, they're wildly
enthusiastic, greeting new songs like 'Brave New
World' and 'Dream Of Mirrors' with as much energy
as the old favorites, such as 'The Trooper' and
'Evil That Men Do'. The band themselves are on top
form and three shows in, at ease with their new
set and firing on all cylinders. All round, the
show runs smoothly, the only minor hiccup being
that some of the house lights come on for five
minutes or so (ironically, just prior to 'Fear Of
The Dark'!), apparently after electrical failure,
due to the thunderstorm which appears to be
following Maiden round Europe at the moment raging
outside.
As the show drew
to a close, if Nicko had been lulled into a
sense of false security by the lack of untoward
incidents, he was badly mistaken! During the
encores, Bruce leads the crowd in a rousing
rendition of 'Happy Birthday To You' before
flinging a cream-pie Keystone Cops style at
Nicko's face and scoring a direct hit. . Nicko
scrapes enough cream off his face and his drum
pedals to complete the final encore of
'Sanctuary', only to have band security man
Wally Grove finish the job with a double-hander
that left the drummer's face and hair caked with
cream.
Backstage, where
the birthday celebrations will continue in a
more decorous fashion, hot food, steaming
showers and chilled champagne are all waiting
for the band. It's the end of another
successful show and there's really only one
thing left to say... .
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