Some of my thoughts after watching bits of Ft. Lauderdale footage:
Stage looks so amazing, one of the best out of recent album tours. Great backdrops. Those hanging jungle vines are a nice detail. Vibe is very nice in general. Eddie looked cool, but some of his obscene gestures didn't fit TBoS at all... I think I'd prefer him appearing on a different song. (I'm wondering if they'll upgrade the big Iron Maiden Eddie later on - I expected him to hold a heart or something like that.) What also didn't fit TBoS IMO was the blue light, but that's a minor thing... I guess they are going for the look of the backdrop artwork with blue background, but I 'imagined the song' in warmer colours. I'm tired of blue, they use it a lot. It's probably just me, though. I love the show's intro, it's epic. I was very surprised that Bruce actually appeared and sang to it. It would probably sound better if he wasn't overdubbed by the tape, but who knows, maybe it helps him keep the tempo since there's no beat. Show-wise it's perfect. And I like the hoodie.
New songs sound great, Bruce nails them for the most part (given his age and illness). Guitars are fantastic (solos sound very inspired), Nicko is still solid. It's interesting to see Janick with a Les Paul but bloody hell - it doesn't fit him!
It's also interesting that apparently it's an Epiphone. I don't like Dave's new Strat with this ugly 70s headstock.
As I had mentioned somewhere before - Bruce sounds like there has never been any cancer. He strains, but not more than we've already seen. I was surprised how well he sang Speed of Light and TBoS chorus exceeded my expectations (lots of straining but overall it was good IMO). TRatB sounds the most difficult for him. Now the question is - will future gigs wear him down or will he keep getting better at some of the difficult moments. Usually it's the latter, let's hope for it.
Setlist is OK, it flows very good. Besides new songs, Powerslave and CotD are obviously the highlights, I'm very glad they picked them. It's interesting (and great!) to see WY as the closer, but I'd like to get something different than BB (ideally, I would replace it with Breeg). I doubt the setlist will change because of how they advertised it on social media. (RIP spoiler-sensitive people).
DVD, PLEASE.
Btw. has anyone posted the full concert here already? You can't see anything, but audio is pretty good.
I don't recall the photographer's name though... If someone else sees these pics somewhere and it mentions them, let me know. I want to give them credit...
