Friday 2nd September 2005
reviewed by Cars
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It therefore seems even more appropriate that this is the last show for their Early Days tour where they are only playing songs from the first 4 albums the band made.
The support bands were Pig Iron & Voodoo Six so obviously me & my friends prereferd to stay in the bar/sauna paying a small fortune for warm water than to endure either of the bands. Going by the amount of people not inside the arena during their sets I can safely so most people had the same idea. The age range here tonight was incredible. I had a 7 year old behind me in the queue & a man who appeared to be Eddie's Dad walked past me inside.
Now, onto Maiden. I have seen them countless times & I can honestly say I believe this was the best performance by them that I have ever witnessed either first hand or by watching DVDs, videos, etc. They excelled themselves tonight. So before I start gushing too much I'll take it track by track:
Started off with the intro tape being Ides Of March which nearly raised the roof. A great touch being that they used the old fashioned triangle light display as back drop that was used in the "old days"! Since 90% of the audience were geeky fan club members all those little extra touches were noticed! Another great one was the stage wall had a street sign for Acacia Avenue painted on it which of course is a song from Number Of The Beast & where Charlotte The Harlot lives (obviously!).
Band kicked off with Murders In The Rue Morgue which was the first track on the setlist for the Beast On The Road tour in '82 (I did warn you about the geek interest) & followed into Another Life which was great as I'd not seen them perform that in my prescence before!
From there they went into first track from first album Prowler & it sounded as fresh & exciting as it did 25 years ago. Bands of today take note!
The Trooper as ever bought the house down & was first in one of the fantastically over the top moments of the show with Bruce donning an military jacket & as usual waving the Union Jack around. Even a non patriot like me felt a small sense of pride!
Next track was the second biggest highlight of the night for me - Remember Tomorrow. I have always loved this song & tonight with Bruce's voice sounding incredible & the smoke filling the stage (it was meant to - there wasn't a fire!!) it was just magnificant.
Next was Where Eagles dare which started off with a fantastic drum thrashing from Nicko then straight into crowd (yet not Cars) pleaser Run To The Hills.
This was when my mind was well & truly blown - for years I have been waiting to hear Revelations live. Yes I'd seen it via DVDs, yes I'd heard it via CDs but never actually been there to see it. I was 6 years old when they last played it in the UK - overprotective parents wouldn't let me go to gigs then! ;) It was all I dreamt it would be & more. I know that sounds ridiculous for just a song but it moved me to tears. It was breathtaking & 100% the most underated Maiden song ever.
Back to the Killers album after that with Wratchchild & then back to Piece Of Mind was Die With Your Boots On.
Bruce did a little speech before this one where he started talking about American audiences & I thought it would lead into a Sharon Osbourne rant but he was very controlled. The upshot was he introduced Phantom Of The Opera to thunderous applause. Another song which sounded as rocking as it did 25 years ago. Bands of today take more notes!
Fantastically over the top moment number two arrived during The Number Of The Beast where the devil himself arrived onstage looking quite menacing as Bruce ran around him singing!
The brilliant Hallowed Be Thy Name was followed by band signature tune Iron Maiden where the fantastically over the top moments just came thick & fast with inflatable Eddie making an appearance behind Nicko where he had his head ripped off, a brain inserted & then it put back on again - nice! It's all good fun & it's not often you hear real belly laughs at a gig (unless it's Maroon 5 of course!)
Bruce bought Clive out at the end of the main set & once again the cheers went through the roof.
Bruce then decided to stay onstage during the break for an encore ("what's the point of going off then coming back on"?)
Once they were all back onstage they went into Running Free which as always included the crowd sing-a-long & again sounded as impressive, if not more so, than it did 25 years ago. Bands of today just get a notebook yeah?!
Then into Drifter where Eddie made a second appearance this time walking onstage & as usual having a tussle with Janick before strolling back off again (geek fact number 245: it was Piece Of Mind Eddie that was used)
The show finished off with Sanctuary which always goes down well but has never been a favourite of mine. Strangely though tonight I love it, just as I did all the other tracks I don't usually listen to as much (Drifter, Where Eagles Dare, Run To The Hills, Die With Your Boots On, Number Of The Beast). It really didn't matter what they played tonight as they were on top form & when Maiden are on top form it's impossible not to have a great time. This was proved when Janick decided to play the Laurel & Hardy theme & Bruce waddled around straching his head Stan stylee!
At risk of sounding like David Brent they are THE best metal band in the world ever -FACT
(& they always will be)
10 out of 10
