with Halford & Entombed @ The Molson Centre, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, August 2, 2000
(reviewed by Alex R.)
My first Maiden gig. But for some reason on the day of the show I wasn't that psyched up as I usually was in the past when I attented other concerts. Why?? Well, the 2 opening acts didn't excite me at all. In fact, I really don't seem to care for opening acts at shows, to me they are a waste of my time and money. When it says "IRON MAIDEN" on the ticket stub, I came to see Iron Maiden, not other bands. Secondly thanks in part to The Official Iron Maiden Home Page, fans from Europe sent in their concert reports from the Metal 2000 tour and just put the icing on the cake, some fans printed the entire set-list. So know I know what Maiden is going to play. I'm sure I'm not the only one but I like to go into the shows fresh. Finally, I really don't consider myself the "Hardcore" Maiden fan. I don't own all of their albums (but I do have the important ones), I don't have any of their bootlegs, posters etc. Just to let you know I only became a Maiden fan last summer so cut me so slack!
So why did I dish out 50 bucks of my hard earned burger flippin money to go see these guys?? Because they sound AWESOME live. Just go ahead and listen to Live After Death, Live At Donnington or A Real Live Dead One. Pretty fuckin good if you ask me! And since right now Maiden are a 3 guitar attack, I wanted to see if they can cut the mustard live. And since Pat D.'s favorite Metal vocalist Bruce Dickinson is back in the fold, I wanted to make sure if he still had the same energy he had on stage in the past, and not to mention if he can still he those high notes without any trouble at all. But on a personal note another reason why I really wanted to go to the show is because I wanted to sing along with rest of the crowd the moving guitar lines to "Fear Of The Dark". Just listen to the song off a A Real Live Dead One and you'll see what I mean.
To play it safe, I went out the door one hour before the whole thing began. I wanted to take the train because it's easier and it's last stop is Windsor Station which is connected to The Molson Centre, so when I get off I'm right at the door, and not to mention the train that took me to The Molson Centre is only a 10 minute walk from my house. Taking the subway there is a real bitch because when you get off you have to climb thousands and thousands of stairs and that's a real pain in the ass. So anyways when I got to the train station, I got my ticket and then hopped on the train. Around 10 minutes into the train ride I almost ended up passing out because it was sooooo fuckin hot that day ( no, it doesn't snow here 12 months a year and we don't live in igloos!) and there was no air conditioning on the train so I felt kind of woozy. But I didn't let that happen, there's no way that my concert night is going to be spoiled so I stood my ground. When more and more people got on the train, all I could hear them talking about was Maiden, so I ended up listening to the conversations for the remainder of the train ride while enjoying the scenery. After a 25 minute ride I was there!
ENTOMBED
Entombed started their set when I just walked through the door. Of course, I didn't care so I went off to the T-shirt stand and bought myself a nice Brave New World T-shirt that cost me 35 bucks! It's incredible how much people charge for T-shirts at shows! Ridiculous! But it was a nice shirt so it was well worth it and I had to show some of my Maiden pride in front of the fellow Maiden fans. Anyways, so after when I got my shirt I decided to take a peek at the band known as Entombed. And of course I wasn't impressed. Their intros sounded kind of cool but when the drums kicked in and the singer started to sing it all turned to crap. Their drummer is not that great and the singer gave me a headache, but their sound was pretty good though. So after watching these guys for a good 15-20 minutes, I decided to pull out and take a walk around the venue. I saw people wearing Maiden shirts from all era's and that made me feel proud because most people don't really seem to care about the Tom Jone... I mean Blaze Bayley era. So it was good to see some "True" Maiden fans. So when Entombed finished their set I was getting really bored so I decided to get to my seat and watch the next band without any enthusiasm.
HALFORD
Former Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford made his return with his new band called Halford. From where I was sitting (kind of close to the upper deck) I had a very good view of the stage, and behind the drummer there was a huge curtain with the cover of their upcoming album Resurrection. But of course these guys didn't do that much to me. First off, I think that Rob Halford isn't that great of a singer at all. His shriek is not that pleasant, but to be fair the 2 guitarists were pretty good and the band had a great sound. I remember one song being kind of catchy - I don't know the title of the song but I remember Rob singing: "I'm gonna shoot up, I'm gonna shoot up". Or something like that. The band played a couple of Judas Priest songs, one was "Breaking The Law" (I know that song thanks in part to Beavis and Butthead) which got a huge reception from the crowd, in fact the crowd was really into Halford's set. I believe that they played for a good hour. And I was glad because near the end of their set I was starting to get a headache. But when they finished their set they walked off the stage professionally waving to the crowd and they got quite a nice reception.
IRON MAIDEN
Well it's about fuckin time! Everybody in the building was really getting psyched up. A lot of drunk French dudes were chanting MAIDEN! MAIDEN! And there was a nice clap going around that got me into it even more. But the stage set up took FOREVER! And that ended up being a good thing because I ended up going to the washroom twice in half hour! But when I got back to my seat the tension was really building up, when the stage was almost done being set up the crowd got louder and louder each minute. Then after a few minutes, the place went black and the crowd erupted! Classical music was being played on the P.A and then all of sudden the "real" show starts!
IRON MAIDEN TAKES THE STAGE
(Set-List And Commentary Included)
1. The Wicker Man - When Adrian Smith walked onto the stage to play the kick-ass intro-riff, the place went beserk! All of the members followed on one-by-one and the guys were full of energy running around and having fun, even Janick, and boy did he go nuts! But when everybody was headbanging away, I started to notice something that was wrong, the sound wasn't that great, and during the second verse of the song Bruce's microphone died on him. And he wasn't too pleased at all, but he was able to recover. This was one of the many songs that got the biggest crowd ovation. Bruce let the crowd sing the lines "Your time will come" and the "Whoa's Whoa's" at the end of the song. I knew that this was going to be the opening song so my expectations weren't too high from the beginning.
2. Ghost Of The Navigator - The second track off the Brave New World album. I consider this to be a great track off the album but on this night it was different. The lullaby guitar intro by all 3 guitarists was all warbly and out of place thanks in part to the shitty sound. But the band performed the song with great expertise. Janick played the guitar solo in this song.
3. Brave New World - Yet another track off the new album. The real highlight was when Bruce let the crowd sing parts of the chorus and it was well received. Steve Harris was jumping up and down practically during the whole song and I don't blame him. This song has a really catchy chorus.
4. Wrathchild - This time the band takes a trip down memory lane by playing this classic track off the Killers album. The whole crowd erupted when Steve Harris played that kick-ass opening bass line. Everybody including me had their fists raised as we all yelled out the chorus. Great tune.
5. 2 Minutes To Midnight - The excellent track off the incredible Powerslave album. Though I consider this track to be one of the big disappointments of the night. The intro of the song (which was originally played by Adrian Smith) was played by Janick, and I couldn`t hear his damn guitar at all! And to make things worst, Bruce's microphone died on him again during one of the verses (the sound and tech crew fucked up again!) But to be fair it was really damn cool when everybody sang the chorus.
6. Blood Brothers - This was the second best song performed during their set. The band was spot on. Dave Murray played the first guitar solo and Janick Gers played the wonderful guitar solo near the end of the song. But what really pissed me was when the band started playing the song, I saw like 20 people head out to go take a piss! And this is the best song off Brave New World! Go figure! That just goes to show that some of the fans here in Montreal are not as loyal to the band as I thought. I was disgusted.
7. The Sign Of The Cross - The best song of the night and the first of 2 Blaze-era tunes played that night. The band was once again spot on, they played the song note for note. And since Bruce's vocals are far better than Blaze's, it made the song even more memorable. To me, everything worked in that song, Nicko's drums were loud and crisp and during the beginning of the song a cross was raised way above Nicko's drum kit and Bruce was crucified. Excellent!
8. The Mercenary - One Of the songs they shoudn't of played that night. The studio version really gets on my nerves because the mix on that song is just horrible, well it was even worst on stage because the sound is 10 times as bad as the studio version. They should of replaced this song with a classic Maiden tune (there's too many to name) or I would of preffered something off the new album like "The Nomad" or "The Thin Line Between Love & Hate". But this song did answer one question for me which was who played that kick-ass guitar solo in the song?? I was debating between Dave and Janick because when Dave shows off, his solos are nice and fluid played with professionalism, but when Janick tries to show off his solos are fast and out of control, and the solo in that song has a combination of both. Well the soloist in that song turned out to be none other than Dave "Guitar God" Murray. My question has finally been answered.
9. The Trooper - Maiden classic! Everybody was on their feet when the opening notes were heard. The big curtain in the back off the stage was the famous picture of Eddie holding the Union Jack in one hand and a sword with blood on the other. Bruce had a big flag of the Union Jack also and was waving it around most of the time. The crowd had no problem handling the "Wo-oh" parts in the chrous.
10. Dream of Mirrors - Before the start of this song. Bruce started to get the crowd's attention by talking about the new album. I couldn't understand most of what he was saying (thanks in part once again to the shitty sound!!) but from what I understood, he was saying that MTV fucking sucks and Brave New World is a real kick in the ass Metal album, or something like that. This song is another one of my favorites off the Brave New World album. Janick Gers played some nice acoustic guitar during the quiet parts, but unfortunately near the ending of the song, Nicko McBrain fucks up real bad. It was getting close to the ending of the song, it was the part where the band was playing fast and Bruce was singing, "Whoa, Whoa", but when the band was ready to slow down and Bruce was ready to sing the lines in the chorus, Nicko was still playing the fast drum line and this caused the band to stop for a few seconds, and Bruce was on the platform above Nicko's kit telling him to stop. If I can remember correctly I think Bruce tapped him on the shoulder because I don't think he heard Bruce the first time. When this happened laughter just bursted out from me. But the band was able to rebound and finish the song.
11. The Clansman - Another great track from the Blaze era. This time Steve "Bass God" Harris played some acoustic guitar. The curtain in the backround was Eddie in scottish clothing or something like that. The chorus was great when the crowd chanted "FREEDOM!". Great song.
12. The Evil That Men Do - Finally, a track off the superb Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son album. This was when Eddie the mascot makes his apperance on stage. Janick barely played any guitar in this song because he was using his instrument as a weapon to battle the 10-12 foot tall mascot. Adrian Smith really shined on this one.
13. Fear Of The Dark - The moment I've been waiting for. The crowd was really into it. Singing along with those guitar lines was a special moment for me. But for some reason, the band played the song a bit slower than usual. Are they already out of gas?? I was expecting a similar version from A Real Live Dead One. But it was still cool to sing along though.
14. Iron Maiden - This was when the pyro really took off. If my memory serves me right there was was 2 huge flames behind Nicko's kit. And in between the flames there was this huge basket of some sort and Bruce was inside it along with these 4 chicks wearing white robes. When Bruce got out of the basket, the 4 chicks were left trapped inside pretending that they're gonna die because they're right next to the flames...Or something like that???? After that song the whole band got on front of the stage and saluted the fans. Nicko threw a frisbee and his drumsticks at the crowd, then the band went backstage for a few minutes. The encore was coming up.
ENCORE
15. The Number Of The Beast - The classic title track! When the voice in the beginning of the song was heard on the P.A the crowd once again erupted. The curtain in the back was the cover of the Number Of The Beast album. The pyro one again took full charge. After Nicko's drum breaks in the beginning of the song, explosions went off. Once again the band performed the song with great expertise.
16. Hallowed Be Thy Name - Another great song. Nothing much to say here except that Bruce didn't sing that much in the beginning, we did it for him.
17. Sanctuary - What a way to end the show with the most disappointing song of the night. Now don't get me wrong, the version of "Sanctuary" off the first IM album kicks ass because it's speedy and simple. On this version Nicko plays a drum pattern that is diffrent and crappier than what Clive did. And not to mention the sound on this song hit absolute rock bottom. Dave's intro guitar riff was so messy and warbly that it was embarrasing. The band basically joked around during this song. For half the time Janick was in the corner fucking the amps. Everybody was standing and cheering but I was just standing there being dissapointed. Finally the band finished the song and took their final bow and left the stage. The night was over.
INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES
Bruce Dickinson: He kicked some ass but I had a feeling by looking at him he didn't have that much of a great time. Sure he was running around all over the place doing some acrobatics and singing with lots of energy, but when his mic died on those occasions he got super pissed. If my memory serves me right he wasn't there during the final bow. Oh well. But what matters is that he can still hit those high notes. So he gets a thumb's up from me.
Steve Harris: I really didn't pay that much attention to him. But he did a great job as usual. The only time where he caught my attention was when he played some nice acoustic guitar during "The Clansman".
Dave Murray: Ok, the guy kicks ass plain and simple! But what pissed me off was when he was playing his solos, he kept on hiding in a corner of the stage and where I was sitting I could barely see him. But he played with lots of energy and he was practicaly smiling all night. So no surprises there.
Nicko McBrain: Aside from his "Dream Of Mirrors" fuck up, I'd say he did pretty good . But I don't really pay that much attention to drumming at concerts. So nothing much to say here.
Janick Gers: I'd say for a good 50-75% of the time Janick never really played his guitar at all, which is a shame because when he actually played he was impressive. For example, his acoustic guitar work in "Dream Of Mirrors" and the terrific solos in "Blood Brothers" and "Ghost Of The Navigator". One thing for sure is that the guy likes to run around a lot and go nuts. It's like the guy tries to be like Angus Young but he fails miserably.
Adrian Smith: The man who impressed me the most. He took the gig real seriously and it really paid off. He was playing with real expertise and proffesionalism. I used to think that Murray and Harris were the heart and soul of the band but I'd say that Adrian is a really important part also. He's really underrated. When he left Maiden in 1988 it was a big loss for the band. But it's great to see him back!
THE FINAL VERDICT
I actually still have mixed feelings about the show. Like I said before the IM sound and tech crew fucked up really bad! If I were in charge I'd fire their asses right away. I'm not saying that it was a bad show, I'd say it was a good show but it didn't blow me away by any means. The set-list was okay, too many classic songs were missing though. Playing six songs from the new album was a big NO-NO - sure the band might think that they're awesome songs but us fans have different opinions. I would of preffered if they had played 3 songs off the new album and play 3 or 4 classics that were missing that night. Like I said before, the band played with lots of energy but the show could of been soooooo much better.