Recent content by Helmuth Von Moltke

With you here except for the Apparition - yes, it sucks musically but I like the lyrics and their message. One of the few Maiden songs where the lyrics keep me coming back and not the music. More common its the other way round (eg From Here to Eternity - awful lyrics, nice solo!).

I saw two shows in 2025, Birmingham (very hot!) and London Stadium. Loved them both and the crowd at West Ham genuinely made it feel like a homecoming. I really liked RFYL but I wasn't compelled to see more shows last year like earlier tours. What's different? If you are a casual fan, or...

Fabulous performance - but my god, Bruce's belly! He's clearly loving life and good for him.

Just my feelings as well in the transition from 2024 to 2025. The usual reasons (No Nicko, screens, set list from 40 years ago...). Plus the band reaching their 70s. More importantly, (and I posted this on the official forum recently), the main messages used by the band since 1999 are running...

Sorry to hear that. It is a different phase for Maiden. No matter what we each feel about it, and no matter what they do next, it is the sunset phase. The last shows of Future Past (which I saw in Australia in 2024) closed a chapter that began in 1999. We are in a new chapter now and they still...

Senjutsu is a maddening track. For nearly two minutes at the end it just loses steam, runs out of energy, and trails off like an unwelcome fart. This has to be one of Maiden's most lacklusture song endings. That 8.20 could have been closer to 6.30 right away without the terrible ending. It also...

You are right, and I think it was a mix of things: - not doing any real history or hits tours until 1999 and 2003 (Real Live Tour was really 'FOTD part 2' with a few early classics) - being committed to 5, 6 or 7 news songs on each album tour - losing Bruce for five years

You have taken me back... lots of fans were joking about X Factor Eddie's pubes!!! o_O

Infinite Dreams + Alexander and Athens crowd will lose its mind (and I'll got to more shows this year!)

With pleasure! This is from the Virtual XI fan club convention, around the Brixton show I wasn't allowed to attend! I had to wait till Portsmouth towards the end of 1998 for my first show (my mum had come round to the idea by then...)

The Skunkworks haircut was the moment of truth. I remember in 1996, one of my non-metal female classmates said 'oooh, he looked really nice', after Bruce's TV appearance on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Bearing in mind this was a 13 year pop fan who routinely mocked Maiden. I shouldn't mock it, I...

True! A sceptic may also point out the chap who said the line in the film probably wasn’t a fan / old enough to follow in 1995.

I recall a metal hammer live review from 1998 in which they speculated “Maiden’s future will look like Motörhead’s, where the albums become less important but live remains vital.” Or words to that effect. I agree with you it wasn’t rock bottom in all territories yet. But a third and even fourth...

I watched the film for the second time this weekend. Three packed showings in a row interestingly. When I saw it during the razzmatazz of the London premiere, I drank 3 complimentary trooper beers and a glass of Iron maiden darkest red beforehand! :edmetal: So I wasn't exactly objective, plus it...

Yes: put simply, if there are positive setlist changes I'll go to more shows. The supply of tickets is relatively vast for the mainly non sold out shows outside the USA. So it is much easier to make last-minute decisions to see shows this year. Conversely, if the set list is identical to...