Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
Stage set looks alright. Nicko's drums are surprisingly smaller than normal. I wonder if he was forced to downsize on that tour due to the smaller venues?
Iron Maiden video interviews / shows
- Thread starter Forostar
- Start date
Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
Didn't they have to cancel the NA tour because Blaze was having problems or was that the X-Factour?
Christopher Baines
Educated Fool
Ive seen some of these venues in the U.S and the defo don't hold a few thousand.
TheTalisman
Ancient Mariner
The venues (or the stage show) were not smaller than in 1995/1996, in which he had a bigger drumkit.
Just compare these:
They didn't fall further down touring with Virtual XI, even though the album sold considerably less than The X Factor. The North American part was still very weak just as the tour before though, and even having Dio as a support act didn't help much.
And they were signed to an independent label for this market, CMC International, as no major label in the U.S wanted to take them on. Bruce Dickinson was signed to the CMC label as well, for Skunkworks, Accident of Birth and The Chemical Wedding, which didn't really boost sales for him either.
But wasn't just the smaller drum kit a part of his artistic style back then? As Virtual XI didn't have much advanced drumming (and not some of the left over tracks either - The Mercenary and Dream of Mirrors on Brave New World).
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Lego
Ancient Mariner
No, for most of the X Factour Nicko played a white Premier Signia kit in his usual setup (6/8/10/12/13/14/15/16 toms, 18 floor, 24" kick) but would sometimes leave off the 6 and 8" toms.The venues (or the stage show) were not smaller than in 1995/1996, in which he had a bigger drumkit.
Just compare these:
Wasn't just the smaller drum kit a part of his artistic style back then? As Virtual XI didn't have much advanced drumming (and not some of the left over tracks either - The Mercenary and Dream of Mirrors on Brave New World).
For most of the VXI Tour he played a red Premier Signia Marquis in his usual setup (6/8/10/12/13/14/15/16 toms, 18 floor, 24" kick).
For the Istanbul gig it looks like he's using the same smaller Premier Signia kit in black lacquer with shallower toms that he used for this date on the Real Live tour:
I've often speculated that this smaller, shallower tom black Signia kit is what he actually used to record X Factor, given there's very little tom work on the album and there are some promo shots of him at Barnyard Studios in 1995 with what appears to be the 12" or 13" tom from that kit on his lap: https://www.gettyimages.in/detail/n...brain-nicko-mcbrain-posed-news-photo/85222594
Randalf
Ancient Mariner
Wasn't that very same backdrop used on Brave New World(/Metal 2000) tour shows when Sign of the Cross returned to the set after Ed-Huntour?
TheTalisman
Ancient Mariner
I missed that. Cool!
Randalf
Ancient Mariner
Yeah, maybe it wasn't used in all of the shows! The quality of the footage available from that time (excluding RIR, of course), along with the lighting, makes it a bit hard to spot.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
They canceled some shows in NA during both tours.
Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
Do tell.and not because Blaze was having problems
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
Ah. So it went a bit Spinal Tap.Maiden might have had problems selling enough tickets...
srfc
Ancient Mariner
If you scroll up and down you can see other years.
The crossed out dates are cancelled shows. It's quite conspicuous that if Blaze was having problems in that era, he only really seemed to have those problems in the US. It's likely that poor sales contributed to some of these cancellations.
EDIT: those dates were verified by the site owner to an academic standard. He refused my confirmation of 23rd May 1993 Maiden gig in Dublin, as my being present at the gig wasn't good enough
Only proper primary sources counted.
Spaldy
Ancient Mariner
Yeah some big chunks of that tour just cancelled outright. That must have irked Steve somewhat.
If you scroll up and down you can see other years.
The crossed out dates are cancelled shows. It's quite conspicuous that if Blaze was having problems in that era, he only really seemed to have those problems in the US. It's likely that poor sales contributed to some of these cancellations.
EDIT: those dates were verified by the site owner to an academic standard. He refused my confirmation of 23rd May 1993 Maiden gig in Dublin, as my being present at the gig wasn't good enough
It's interesting that three US dates on the Ed Hunter tour were cancelled.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Oh he broke it that way? I did not know they did that TNOTB routine after Dickinson came back.
D
Deleted member 7164
Guest
Maiden might have had problems selling enough tickets...
Known theory, certainly valid, but why go there then? The audiences have been diminishing since 1986, and in ten years they can't sell out 1000 people clubs. I'm not saying avoiding US but going there as a full tour leg does not have logic to me. Why they didn't try with 3 or 4 shows with a good lineup and full Euro stage FX, maybe on the east coast for logistics reasons.
srfc
Ancient Mariner
Yep just for the first few gigs until the fall. They found out the hardway that Dave had put on a few pounds and Bruce wasn't as strong as he used to be
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Christopher Baines
Educated Fool
They hadnt done that since 88