Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
It appears Facebook is down and to kill some time at work I started reading the Commentary again and read an old Rant: http://www.ironmaidencommentary.com/?url=rants/rant08&lang=eng&link=features, about the future of Metal.
In it, Bæleron relates his awesome experience at an Iced Earth show in a small San Francisco Club and how great the intimacy of the small venue was and how much he laments not having that opportunity with Iron Maiden.
While small venue vs. giant arena may have to do with the popularity of the band I argue it is mainly geographical. When I saw Metallica for the first time in '99 it was in Mexico City's Foro Sol, a HUGE venue, my friends and I were so high up the band looked like a bunch of ants. When I saw Iron Maiden in Phoenix (a city of 5 million people, 5th or so largest in the U.S), at the Dessert Pavilion, again I was so far back the band was kinda sorta discernible.
I currently live in Tucson, Arizona, a Town (I think of it more of a village), of about a million people, but it feels like there's only 45,000. We are the second largest urban center in the state. Think about that for a second... It is Phoenix, Tucson... and the rest... scary thought, at least to me. Because we do have that distinction bands visit, usually, both places. For example, I got to see Apocalyptica (in a small club setting) in Mesa, a Phoenix suburb, and the very next day at the Pima County Fair Grounds in Tucson when opening for Metallica, a crowd of 50,000 showed up from all over the Southwest and Mexico making it the largest concert since Elvis in the 70's.
Do to the fact that metal is not what it used to be even Dream Theater performed in a small venue for their ADTOE in Scottsdale (another PHX suburb). Yet many "big" international acts (Opeth, Epica, Gojira, etc) come to tucson and perform in "small" venues. I was 4 feet away from Mikel Akenfeld when Opeth performed at the Rialto Theater, I missed Epica, but they performed at the Rock...twice, a club no bigger than a 10x10 cell. I've seen Megadeth at the Rialto AND at our "big" venue at the Indian Casino's Ava Amphitheater which is a miniaturized version of the Dessert Pavilion in PHX. Even with lawn tickets the band is no more than 50/60 feet away. I saw Heaven and Hell perform there too as well as Alice Cooper.
In other words Small town USUALLY means small venues thus a more intimate setting. So "huge" acts like Opeth perform in small venues. Even the "big" venues we have like the amphitheater or the Tucson Convention Center pale in size to the PHX venues or those in larger cities like New York, Mexico City or Tokyo. At times the popularity of the genre has something to do with it. When I Saw, finally, Rhapsody of Fire in San Diego, I saw them in the BASEMENT of a well known restaurant/club a long with... 200 people at best.
So is the future of metal in terms of performances have anything to do with the size of the band? Possibly, Maiden is yet to tour Tucson, but does the city have the facilities as well....
In it, Bæleron relates his awesome experience at an Iced Earth show in a small San Francisco Club and how great the intimacy of the small venue was and how much he laments not having that opportunity with Iron Maiden.
While small venue vs. giant arena may have to do with the popularity of the band I argue it is mainly geographical. When I saw Metallica for the first time in '99 it was in Mexico City's Foro Sol, a HUGE venue, my friends and I were so high up the band looked like a bunch of ants. When I saw Iron Maiden in Phoenix (a city of 5 million people, 5th or so largest in the U.S), at the Dessert Pavilion, again I was so far back the band was kinda sorta discernible.
I currently live in Tucson, Arizona, a Town (I think of it more of a village), of about a million people, but it feels like there's only 45,000. We are the second largest urban center in the state. Think about that for a second... It is Phoenix, Tucson... and the rest... scary thought, at least to me. Because we do have that distinction bands visit, usually, both places. For example, I got to see Apocalyptica (in a small club setting) in Mesa, a Phoenix suburb, and the very next day at the Pima County Fair Grounds in Tucson when opening for Metallica, a crowd of 50,000 showed up from all over the Southwest and Mexico making it the largest concert since Elvis in the 70's.
Do to the fact that metal is not what it used to be even Dream Theater performed in a small venue for their ADTOE in Scottsdale (another PHX suburb). Yet many "big" international acts (Opeth, Epica, Gojira, etc) come to tucson and perform in "small" venues. I was 4 feet away from Mikel Akenfeld when Opeth performed at the Rialto Theater, I missed Epica, but they performed at the Rock...twice, a club no bigger than a 10x10 cell. I've seen Megadeth at the Rialto AND at our "big" venue at the Indian Casino's Ava Amphitheater which is a miniaturized version of the Dessert Pavilion in PHX. Even with lawn tickets the band is no more than 50/60 feet away. I saw Heaven and Hell perform there too as well as Alice Cooper.
In other words Small town USUALLY means small venues thus a more intimate setting. So "huge" acts like Opeth perform in small venues. Even the "big" venues we have like the amphitheater or the Tucson Convention Center pale in size to the PHX venues or those in larger cities like New York, Mexico City or Tokyo. At times the popularity of the genre has something to do with it. When I Saw, finally, Rhapsody of Fire in San Diego, I saw them in the BASEMENT of a well known restaurant/club a long with... 200 people at best.
So is the future of metal in terms of performances have anything to do with the size of the band? Possibly, Maiden is yet to tour Tucson, but does the city have the facilities as well....