The Official Book of Souls Tour 2016 Thread (Warning: Spoilers within!)

Am headed up to Detroit in the morning for the show. My first time seeing them live but have been a fan since TNoTB. I even talked the wife into it, she has no idea. Her concert experience is mostly pop stuff from the 80s. I'll either be divorced or in a better place after this is over.

First time? Man, you are in for something great. :) Enjoy! I think I've seen Maiden 12 times now. First time in 1985. This current tour is a special one. Don't think anything can top the Flight 666 (Somewhere Back in Time) tour for me, but this one comes close.

Tell us about your experience, please!
 
Maiden man.

This was my 3rd time seeing, to paraphrase Bruce, "Iron Maiden, Eddie... and the boys". This tour is something to see, and right now I'm all but about to beg to hear they are recording a DVD of this tour. It's fucking special man. In terms of a SHOW, this was by far the most put together I've seen from them (out of this, Maiden England and TFF leg 1). I could tell SO much thought was put into every little detail. Bruce hitting the cauldron in time with pyro at the beginning of IESF, TBOS Eddie, Hallowed's hangmans knot, etc. The new songs were great, the old songs were given new life and the band honestly looked happier than I had ever seen them. Finally, before my personal highlights, Bruce is the king. Bless him and his beautiful, epic, inspiring, and still soaring air-raid siren of a voice. Fuck cancer.


Highlights:
1.) If Eternity Should Fail- Great great opener, the drama Bruce created before the band joined him was brilliant.
2.) Children of the Damned- the moment Bruce soared through the first chorus I knew he was firing on all cylinders tonight
3.) The Red and the Black- the instrumental portion was close to the most jaw dropping part of the night.
4.) Powerslave- Fucking Powerslave
5.)Death or Glory- The "Climb like a Monkey" lyric is officially a meme, you guys. Bruce snatched a sign in the crowd, a picture of him saying "I don't always climb, but when I do, I climb like a monkey."
6.) The Book of Souls- The solos were great and the time Eddie was on stage was so brilliant
7.) Hallowed- Arguably the best I've heard them do it/Bruce sing it.
8.) Number of the Beast- Strong as ever
9.) Wasted Years- A surprisingly great closer. The band looked like they knew they kicked everyone's ass during it too.

I hope they come around again, as it seems like they will according to Bruce, but if they don't they were fucking brilliant. Love them love them love them.
 
There was something weird going on with the Powerslave intro. Sounded like someone accidentally played the Number of the Beast tape or something. Could anyone else tell what was going on?
 
There was something weird going on with the Powerslave intro. Sounded like someone accidentally played the Number of the Beast tape or something. Could anyone else tell what was going on?

I heard something. I don't think it was the Beast intro, I think Bruce was singing some tune. No clue what it was though because he sang it quietly but I don't think it was NOTB.
 
I still find real novelty in seeing Maiden perform the new music live. We've been listening to it and poring over it for months, forming our own ideas on it based on recordings, and finally, we get to see the band and the music in the same picture.
 
I still find real novelty in seeing Maiden perform the new music live. We've been listening to it and poring over it for months, forming our own ideas on it based on recordings, and finally, we get to see the band and the music in the same picture.
I know what you mean. Ill take live Maiden over recorded any day. Im impatient now, I dont want to listen to the album, just a full new show with decent audio, which I am yet to find. The album is a good second choice though
 
I think it's just that I thought of the new songs in the context of the recordings, being at the studio listening party at all. Putting it together with the more familiar image of Maiden on stage is putting it in a different context. Whether I'll get a different feel for the music when I see them in person, I don't know. IESF live turned out almost as I'd imagined it from the outset, going by the videos.
 
I know what you mean. Ill take live Maiden over recorded any day. Im impatient now, I dont want to listen to the album, just a full new show with decent audio, which I am yet to find. The album is a good second choice though

Well, there isn't a pro shot yet, but there are some shows with decent audio on YouTube.
I said it earlier here, but i've downloaded a mp3 of the concert i went. It isn't a En Vivo audio, but, neverthless, you can hear the whole show very cleanly
 
I hear ya. I go through phases with new material. Phase 1 is normally listening to nothing but Maiden in the lead up, then upon release, not listening to anything else except the new album for a week or two (or 4) and then going back to previous albums for a bit. But once I hear/see/youtube the new material live, I struggle to get back into the recorded stuff.

I'm just hungry for the Live Beast!
 
I think someone mentioned a while back about hearing different playing from Adrian in parts of DOG, I definitely heard some cool parts from hi that were new to me that I dont pick up on CD. I have the vinyl and assume I will hear it there with the extra mastering but my fuckin record player is bolloxed so havent heard it yet :dancinggeek:
 
I think someone mentioned a while back about hearing different playing from Adrian in parts of DOG, I definitely heard some cool parts from hi that were new to me that I dont pick up on CD. I have the vinyl and assume I will hear it there with the extra mastering but my fuckin record player is bolloxed so havent heard it yet :dancinggeek:

That would be me, and i'm still sure that the Amigos played DOG in a slightly different way. But i weren't able to pick that different melody on any of the live videos. I'm glad that i wasn't the only one to hear it, though
 
That would be me, and i'm still sure that the Amigos played DOG in a slightly different way. But i weren't able to pick that different melody on any of the live videos. I'm glad that i wasn't the only one to hear it, though
I heard it in a vid I saw today, one someone posted somewhere recently, this thread maybe...somewhere, somehow. Think it was the part before Adrians slide solo...maybe...
 
Just got back earlier tonight from Detroit. Drove a little over 500 miles each way and it was totally worth it. Wife is a committed fan now after her first taste of Maiden. I am still pumped up after 24 hours and finally, after more then 20 years trying to see them in concert I did it.
I loved all of it. I tried to take it all in, every last bit.
I thought IESF worked really well and was surprised by how well Speed of light worked.
 
Caught the Chicago show! Of course, when I bought the general admission tickets, I didn't realize I was going to get a hernia and would need surgery to fix it. Shit happens, I guess. The surgery was a week ago, and I was in a good amount of pain, but I held my ground. I stayed against the boards in the back, and had a great view. Maiden put a pic up on Instagram where you can "see" me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BD4hgmHQMv1/

I'm not sure what hurt more, the surgical pain or the fact that I couldn't be up close for a Maiden show. What I do know is that the show was fantastic. Bruce sounded great, which was something I worried about since he had tongue cancer; if he has any lingering issues, he sure as hell wasn't showing any. The setlist was a nice mix of old and new with a few surprises thrown in. I quite like the new album and felt that those tracks went over very well. The title track, in particular, sounded great.

There was a Chicago-specific t-shirt, which I just had to buy. It's a gangster version of Eddie bootlegging barrels of Trooper beer; they had a cooler one in 2008, but I still liked it. The only problem? A much older and very drunk lady grabbed me from behind in line. She went for my penis, but she groped my scar instead. I... wasn't very happy. It's a good thing Maiden allowed me to forget everything for a few hours.

Oh, and I only caught the last song from the Raven Age. The arena had a hard time with the credit-card only admission, so the GA line was a few blocks long. I heard the song I knew from YouTube. Can't say I'd see those guys by themselves.
 
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