Would you say there a noticeable dip in Blaze's confidence between the X Factour and the Virtual XI tour?

naranja

naranja

Ancient Mariner
I used to be more interested in watching bootlegs of the Virtual XI tour as I thought it would have a wider variety of songs (as it would encompass two Blaze era albums rather than one), would contain some of my favourite Maiden songs such as Clansman and Futureal, and the stage set was very vibrant and colourful.

However I can't help but notice that Blaze seems more disconnected from the other band members on the VXI tour, he isn't right at the front of the stage like he was for a lot of the X Factour, there's no more "Get your hands in the air! You! With the glasses!" etc.

Blaze was actually pretty damn good on a number of the 1995 shows and many of them would be more than good enough for some kind of official release, even if you mainly focused on his own material. Like Austria 1995-


The 98 Brixton gig he mechanically walks back and forth the middle of the stage and doesn't seem to have the confidence to go near the front for long other than some occasional air drumming and pointing. In 1995 he looked like a part of the band. By 1998, he started to look out of place.

His best live shows I have seen were definitely the 1995 shows. Singing the Bruce stuff and pushing his voice out of his range hadn't blown his voice yet and he could still pretty much do quite a good job on some of the Bruce songs like Heaven can wait, Fear of the Dark etc (not trooper obviously) and he nailed all of his own stuff. Eventually it would take it's toll.

His voice was better in 1998 than it was in 1996, purely because his voice was worn out by the end of the X Factour but the confidence still wasn't really there like it seemed to be in 1995.

Do you think the incredibly difficult nature of the job dented his confidence when he realised he was going to struggle?

The main point I'm making is that in 1995 I think they all had something to prove and there was a fire there, they were all together, and Blaze did a pretty damn good job. By 1998 I suspect a lot of them outside of maybe Steve and Blaze realised it wasn't really working out. Blaze also started to look a bit like a roadie on stage with his hat and a little weight gain. He just didn't seem the same guy he was in 1995.

I'm a huge Blaze fan btw and he still sang quite well in 1998, there are some wonderful versions of him signing Clasnman in 1998- especially the Greece shows but I think there is a noticeable dip in his confidence by 1998. What say you?
 
I obviously were not there to see either of the tours live myself, but the video & audio footage I've seen does support the theory that he was maybe a tad bit more... lost on the Virtual XI tour. While he definitely seemed to enjoy being able to move a lot more on stage due to in-ears, you could also tell that he wasn't quite used to as big of a stage show as the one they had on Virtual XI tour and then there's obviously the fact that he doesn't "interact" with the stage set & the show as much as Bruce did and does, although it's also fair to say that the structure didn't allow for that either (lack of walkways on top of the stage set structure etc.). The point being that Blaze, confident as he was at times, just wasn't an ideal frontman for shows of this scale. It doesn't mean that he was bad at it. Vocal performance inconsistencies aside, he definitely had his great and confident moments. He just wasn't a world-class frontman that Bruce was and still is - which is no shame at all. Very few performers out there are at that level.

But yeah, I think the inconsistence of his performances on both tours makes this debate particularly interesting! He has some truly great nights on both tours, like the Vienna 1995 or Athens 1998 mentioned above or e.g. San Diego 1998 where he adjusts even the older material fairly well for his technique & range.

He was full of energy and you can hear a lot of confidence on his 1995 performances in particular, but of course the available footage also supports the fact that he had very tough time especially with the older material in many shows. In 1998, he was probably a bit more lively on stage altogether and of course the experience under his belt sure helped in a lot of ways, but be it the fast tempos, challenging songs and/or technique issues and the obvious fact that the keys weren't in his comfort zone to begin with all put together with a (an attempt, at least) more grandeur stage show kind of made him seem a lot more out of place than in the more intense setting of the majority of The X-Factour.

The X-Factour, to me, seems like an "underdog story" where the band as a whole, despite inconsistency with vocal performances and whatever, battles through and proves themselves to be a strong unit. Virtual XI tour, to me, feels like an attempt to return the grandeur scale of a Maiden show with sheer scale and a long, very intense (in terms of tempos) set but with the vocalist starting one or two steps behind. Sometimes he managed to catch the others, sometimes not. It has often been stated in the interviews and such that they kind of assumed and trusted that Blaze will eventually adjust to it all, but of course it is rather obvious now that they should've approached the arrangements and song choices in a different light and maybe just... rehearsed a bit more.
 
Randalf said:
I obviously were not there to see either of the tours live myself, but the video & audio footage I've seen does support the theory that he was maybe a tad bit more... lost on the Virtual XI tour. While he definitely seemed to enjoy being able to move a lot more on stage due to in-ears, you could also tell that he wasn't quite used to as big of a stage show as the one they had on Virtual XI tour and then there's obviously the fact that he doesn't "interact" with the stage set & the show as much as Bruce did and does, although it's also fair to say that the structure didn't allow for that either (lack of walkways on top of the stage set structure etc.). The point being that Blaze, confident as he was at times, just wasn't an ideal frontman for shows of this scale. It doesn't mean that he was bad at it. Vocal performance inconsistencies aside, he definitely had his great and confident moments. He just wasn't a world-class frontman that Bruce was and still is - which is no shame at all. Very few performers out there are at that level.

But yeah, I think the inconsistence of his performances on both tours makes this debate particularly interesting! He has some truly great nights on both tours, like the Vienna 1995 or Athens 1998 mentioned above or e.g. San Diego 1998 where he adjusts even the older material fairly well for his technique & range.

He was full of energy and you can hear a lot of confidence on his 1995 performances in particular, but of course the available footage also supports the fact that he had very tough time especially with the older material in many shows. In 1998, he was probably a bit more lively on stage altogether and of course the experience under his belt sure helped in a lot of ways, but be it the fast tempos, challenging songs and/or technique issues and the obvious fact that the keys weren't in his comfort zone to begin with all put together with a (an attempt, at least) more grandeur stage show kind of made him seem a lot more out of place than in the more intense setting of the majority of The X-Factour.

The X-Factour, to me, seems like an "underdog story" where the band as a whole, despite inconsistency with vocal performances and whatever, battles through and proves themselves to be a strong unit. Virtual XI tour, to me, feels like an attempt to return the grandeur scale of a Maiden show with sheer scale and a long, very intense (in terms of tempos) set but with the vocalist starting one or two steps behind. Sometimes he managed to catch the others, sometimes not. It has often been stated in the interviews and such that they kind of assumed and trusted that Blaze will eventually adjust to it all, but of course it is rather obvious now that they should've approached the arrangements and song choices in a different light and maybe just... rehearsed a bit more.
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I did write out an adjusted Blaze era set once. Might have helped his confidence. Perhaps some better song choices at the very least if they weren't going to tune down..

Even on his best shows it's quite noticeable how he can move around the stage and sing his own songs with ease but for the Bruce stuff he has to stand stock still and fully concentrate.


Average setlist for tour: The X Factour


Man on the Edge
Wrathchild
Heaven Can Wait
Lord of the Flies
Fortunes of War
Blood on the World's Hands
Afraid to Shoot Strangers
The Evil That Men Do
The Aftermath
Sign of the Cross
2 Minutes to Midnight
The Edge of Darkness
Fear of the Dark
The Clairvoyant
Iron Maiden

Encore:
The Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
The Trooper

The mission, if Maiden won't tune down is to replace a number of the Bruce classics that Blaze couldn't do. Blaze sounded great for a lot of the 1995 portion of the X Factour but the end of every show still had him struggling with stuff out of his range

So I would probably keep one or two of the Bruce songs still but some just have to go. So here goes.

Man on the Edge

Wrathchild

Heaven Can Wait (he could sort of do this one so it can stay)

Lord of the Flies

Fortunes of War

Blood on the World's Hands

Afraid to Shoot Strangers (he nailed this)

Sanctuary (for TETMD- Blaze also sang this well in 1998)

The Aftermath

Sign of the Cross

Prowler (for 2 mins to midnight)

The Edge of Darkness

Fear of the Dark (have to keep a few Bruce ones in)

Phantom of the Opera

Iron Maiden

Encore:

The Number of the Beast (he probably did this better than he did trooper or hallowed)

Wasted Years (i will try and sneak this in. Yeah it's probably out of his range but at least it's not fast so he won't be totally marble mouthed and nearly passing out like when he was singing hallowed, which is what this replaces. If not another Paul song)


Running Free (for trooper)

I'm not necessarily saying he would do a great job on all the Dianno material but this would give him a fighting chance.

He always sang Wrathchild and Sanctuary great. I barely consider 'Iron Maiden' a song but he was fine on it. Running free was in the 96 part of the tour when his voice was shot so it wasn't that good. He couldn't really do Murders in the rue morgue very well. Perhaps he could do Prowler, Phantom etc but we will never know

Also apparently Blaze lobbied for Still Life to be in the set so maybe that could have appeared
 
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I haven't compared any shows but from what I have watched I wouldn't say that there is any really noticeable dip in his confidence. He seems to stand center stage an awful lot on both the 1995 and 1998 tours. Most probably the strategy that gave him the best chance of getting through the set vocally.

The most interesting thing to this is watching Blaze just a few years before joining Maiden and then during his solo career right after leaving Maiden. Much of that old Wolfsbane energy returns. His role was just different in Maiden.
 
naranja said:
I did write out an adjusted Blaze era set once. Might have helped his confidence. Perhaps some better song choices at the very least if they weren't going to tune down..

Even on his best shows it's quite noticeable how he can move around the stage and sing his own songs with ease but for the Bruce stuff he has to stand stock still and fully concentrate.


Average setlist for tour: The X Factour


Man on the Edge
Wrathchild
Heaven Can Wait
Lord of the Flies
Fortunes of War
Blood on the World's Hands
Afraid to Shoot Strangers
The Evil That Men Do
The Aftermath
Sign of the Cross
2 Minutes to Midnight
The Edge of Darkness
Fear of the Dark
The Clairvoyant
Iron Maiden

Encore:
The Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
The Trooper

The mission, if Maiden won't tune down is to replace a number of the Bruce classics that Blaze couldn't do. Blaze sounded great for a lot of the 1995 portion of the X Factour but the end of every show still had him struggling with stuff out of his range

So I would probably keep one or two of the Bruce songs still but some just have to go. So here goes.

Man on the Edge

Wrathchild

Heaven Can Wait (he could sort of do this one so it can stay)

Lord of the Flies

Fortunes of War

Blood on the World's Hands

Afraid to Shoot Strangers (he nailed this)

Sanctuary (for TETMD- Blaze also sang this well in 1998)

The Aftermath

Sign of the Cross

Prowler (for 2 mins to midnight)

The Edge of Darkness

Fear of the Dark (have to keep a few Bruce ones in)

Phantom of the Opera

Iron Maiden

Encore:

The Number of the Beast (he probably did this better than he did trooper or hallowed)

Wasted Years (i will try and sneak this in. Yeah it's probably out of his range but at least it's not fast so he won't be totally marble mouthed and nearly passing out like when he was singing hallowed, which is what this replaces. If not another Paul song)


Running Free (for trooper)

I'm not necessarily saying he would do a great job on all the Dianno material but this would give him a fighting chance.

He always sang Wrathchild and Sanctuary great. I barely consider 'Iron Maiden' a song but he was fine on it. Running free was in the 96 part of the tour when his voice was shot so it wasn't that good. He couldn't really do Murders in the rue morgue very well. Perhaps he could do Prowler, Phantom etc but we will never know

Also apparently Blaze lobbied for Still Life to be in the set so maybe that could have appeared
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In 1996 leg they changed edge of darkness for another classic maybe sanctuary i remember horrible screams lol.
X factor the whole band,presence and stage was really different than the great stages during 88s and 90s. In mine they didnt use backdrop because of the wind.Blaze singing i dont remember all the details but the whole show wasnt the mighty maiden i watched on the videos.

Virtual xi i think his singing and presence was almost the same but at least maiden looked closer to what maiden was.
 
My take has always been that he never found an identity as singer of Iron Maiden. He was great as the howling mad frontman of Wolfsbane, but clearly Steve didn't want that. Without that persona to fall back on, I imagine he must've felt a bit lost as to what his identity was in the mix of the band.

Once Bruce was gone and Blaze was in, the band was much more Steve's band again, IMO. He was doing co-interviews with Blaze for much of the press for those albums, whereas Bruce did a higher percentage alone, if I recall. During the X Factour, Blaze was locked midstage in front of the drums because that's where he could hear the monitors (according to At the End of the Day), and during the Virtual XI tour he had in-ear monitors, which let him move much more freely. He did, but I agree, he still wasn't front of the stage nearly as much. He was kind of "another member of the band," not a frontman. If anyone was up front, it was Steve, which brings to mind, of course, the early rows between Bruce and Steve about who got to be front and center.

I still love the era and Blaze and would've loved to hear that hypothetical third album, but I can't make any arguments that the band would've moved an inch further in retaking ground with him at the helm. He was still too green despite his years with Wolfsbane, and needed to have the confidence to assert himself against Harris the way Bruce had the cajones to do. I get it though. It was the offer of a lifetime, and he didn't want to rock the boat.
 
CA Bryers said:
My take has always been that he never found an identity as singer of Iron Maiden. He was great as the howling mad frontman of Wolfsbane, but clearly Steve didn't want that. Without that persona to fall back on, I imagine he must've felt a bit lost as to what his identity was in the mix of the band.

Once Bruce was gone and Blaze was in, the band was much more Steve's band again, IMO. He was doing co-interviews with Blaze for much of the press for those albums, whereas Bruce did a higher percentage alone, if I recall. During the X Factour, Blaze was locked midstage in front of the drums because that's where he could hear the monitors (according to At the End of the Day), and during the Virtual XI tour he had in-ear monitors, which let him move much more freely. He did, but I agree, he still wasn't front of the stage nearly as much. He was kind of "another member of the band," not a frontman. If anyone was up front, it was Steve, which brings to mind, of course, the early rows between Bruce and Steve about who got to be front and center.

I still love the era and Blaze and would've loved to hear that hypothetical third album, but I can't make any arguments that the band would've moved an inch further in retaking ground with him at the helm. He was still too green despite his years with Wolfsbane, and needed to have the confidence to assert himself against Harris the way Bruce had the cajones to do. I get it though. It was the offer of a lifetime, and he didn't want to rock the boat.
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I feel the same. I love the guy he gave us a really weird and unique album that fits for his voice 100% but he was horrible live. I dont agree with some of you with his live versions of bruce songs better than bruce but he helped maiden to get his way to reunion and he was in the band when metal nearly disapeared. So,dificult times. I think now he sings without pressure and sings better and the fast tempo of the songs didnt help. Btw the weird screams were during running free i just saw buenos aires bootleg 1996 and did the same in my show and i was like WTF is he doing?
 
CA Bryers said:
He was great as the howling mad frontman of Wolfsbane, but clearly Steve didn't want that.
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How is it clear Steve didn't want that?

He didn't have the bottle to do it, plain and simple. Steve has consistently said down the years that he likes the band to go out and give it socks, guys who were quiet on stage in the early days got kicked out. He's talked about how the support act on a tour needs to go out and steal the audience from the headliners. He's talked recently about how he personally picked The Darkness because of the show they put on. When Bruce butted heads with him on the Number of the Beast tour over who was centre stage, it was Steve who backed down. There is nothing to suggest anywhere that Steve wanted Blaze to stand still in the middle of the stage and not be himself the way he was in Wolfsbane.

I'm not having a go at Blaze for not having the bottle. I was there in the front row on the X Factor tour. 95/96 was a bad time for Maiden style metal, people were ready to write them off. People were shouting "bring back Paul Di'Anno" at the gig I was at. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
 
srfc said:
How is it clear Steve didn't want that?

He didn't have the bottle to do it, plain and simple. Steve has consistently said down the years that he likes the band to go out and give it socks, guys who were quiet on stage in the early days got kicked out. He's talked about how the support act on a tour needs to go out and steal the audience from the headliners. He's talked recently about how he personally picked The Darkness because of the show they put on. When Bruce butted heads with him on the Number of the Beast tour over who was centre stage, it was Steve who backed down. There is nothing to suggest anywhere that Steve wanted Blaze to stand still in the middle of the stage and not be himself the way he was in Wolfsbane.

I'm not having a go at Blaze for not having the bottle. I was there in the front row on the X Factor tour. 95/96 was a bad time for Maiden style metal, people were ready to write them off. People were shouting "bring back Paul Di'Anno" at the gig I was at. He had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
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"Clearly" was a poor choice of words. I should have said it was an assumption. My main reasoning is that when you look at Wolfsbane's studio recordings, Blaze's wildman persona shines through. Now take The X Factor. Blaze gave the performance Steve wanted as producer: very reserved, very controlled, where the only glimmer of the old Blaze is in a "woo!" in I Live My Way or a "yeah, yeah!" in Judgment of Heaven.

But you're probably right. Steve liked what he saw in Wolfsbane, so maybe he did want some of that persona onstage. And yeah, it's 100% plausible Blaze never got the confidence to be that powerful of a presence when he's getting flak from the crowd.

And also, remember that if it was up to Steve, Bruce would've been fired. It was Rod that made him back down. Side note: I've always been curious as to that shift in dynamics as the years went on between Steve and Rod. I would assume during the Blaze years that Rod became more passive and let Steve have his way, unlike in those earlier days.
 
CA Bryers said:
I would assume during the Blaze years that Rod became more passive and let Steve have his way, unlike in those earlier days.
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Well until late 1998 anyway. I think by then Rod realised it wasn't working out and Maidens only chance of being huge again was with Bruce (and H), and worked on convincing Steve during the VXI tour.

Also I read somewhere that later Rod admitted he wasn't happy Steve produced the Blaze albums. Neither am I tbh!

Absolutely kills me to say all this btw, Blaze is my hero.

I still think Blaze did some cracking live performances for Maiden in 1995 too.
 
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