RUN FOR YOUR LIVES 2025 Tour Thread *SPOILERS INSIDE*

Magnus said:
Here, it is pre-recorded, according to research by @Luisma and has Paul Cairns on guitar (ditto).
But it was played live indeed in 1978.
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Luisma said:
I corrected my original post about the origin of the mystery session after checking my notes. The version was recorded at a pre gig rehearsal at the Ruskin Arms on April 1979 and polished during the Running Free single sessions. The line up should have been Paul Di'Anno, Dave Murray, Paul Cairns, Steve Harris, Doug Sampson
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So probably this will be the merch I'll buy from this tour. I don't really like the rest, maybe I'll get the Powerslave/Rime or the Clairvoyant one, too.
 
Belshazzar said:
totally disagree. Trooper was always Maiden's most loved track, well before the beer.
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Not even close.

RTTH and TNOTB were always their iconic songs. Trooper was an also-ran up until probably 15 years ago. I’m not sure why. The theatricality with the flag waving maybe?
 
BludBrutha said:
Hell On Earth
Drifter
Journeyman
Moonchild
Blood Brothers

They often do a (by comparison) lesser known song in the encore.
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That is true. But the point was and is, Trooper was never an "also ran"

My thoughts:

Hell on Earth, widely regarded as the best song on Senjutsu.
Drifter, concert staple thru their first 3 albums.
Blood Brithers, done on multiple tours and a fav of BNW
Moonchild, used as the opener on a couple tours as well. Song off what many consider their masterpiece.
Journeyman, got me there. But this is song that was perfect for an encore
 
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Iron Lurker said:
Moonchild, used as the opener on a couple tours as well. Song off what many consider their masterpiece.
Journeyman, got me there. But this is song that was perfect for an encore
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And even in those cases, the reason why both were in the encore was due to the unique circumstances wih the acoustic guitars.
You made a good case for Moonchild. Journeyman had the guitarists sit on stools, mimicking an unplugged show. That's not something you put up quickly in the middle of the main set.

Back to the original point:
The Trooper has always been one of the most popular songs by Maiden. Easy top 5, with RTTH, FOTD and TNOTB. The fifth would probably be something like 2MTM.
 
Magnus said:
Here, it is pre-recorded, according to research by @Luisma and has Paul Cairns on guitar (ditto).
But it was played live indeed in 1978.
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That sounds live there, the guitars are still feeding back when the bass for Wrathchild starts and there's no noticeable difference in tone between the Ides of March and Wrathchild as you would expect between a tape and the live band.
 
Because we talked about Bruce changing vocal lines recently:


This was pretty interesting. Not sure what the background for this gig was, if he was sick or something, but for the second half of the first chorus he changes the lines and stays low. So this is essentially a decades old tradition at this point :D

Edit: Okay, this show is actually fascinating. Go to 7:30-ish onwards to hear altered vocal lines for the prechorus in 2MTM.

I think I'll keep adding stuff to this comment, because it's actually pretty neat hearing a burnt out and possibly sick Bruce (5th night in a row in NYC) navigating such a challenging setlist. From 12:30-ish onwards we have The Trooper, which he sings almost exclusively low. Instead of the constant B4s he centers the melodies around the root note and the D below (which he also does on the "and as we race towards the human wall" on multiple live albums, here he does that for the majority of verses). Funnily enough this would've been a way for Blaze to get consistently and rather easily through this song.

16:50 (time stamps are always around the start of the vocals, not the song) sees Revelations with altered and lowered vocal lines. It's even more noticeable in the other verses. All the audience interaction inbetween is missing as well (the "New York, can you feel it?" shouts and so on).

After Losfer Words we get Flight Of Icarus, where Bruce around 27:05 starts an altered verse (he tries for some of the higher notes, but ends up abandoning them). He also gets the lyrics wrong, by singing the second half of the second verse during the first verse.

If you wanna hear a version of Rime without soaring vocals go to 31:40 onwards. I'm a baritone with a horrible high range, but I'd probably be able to get through the entire song with those vocal lines, which is actually kinda neat. On this one you can hear that this was mostly improvised, because there are plenty of parts where Bruce could've adjusted some of the notes by a step higher or lower and it would've fit perfectly with the harmony of the song. Instead he sang against the harmonic structure at multiple parts. Not the most pleasant experience.
Oof, poor Bruce. The ending of the song (42:45) is particularly rough for him. Powerslave right afterwards has very few changes compared to the previous songs, but you can hear how Bruce is struggling. This show must've been hell for him.
 
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Vaenyr said:
Because we talked about Bruce changing vocal lines recently:


This was pretty interesting. Not sure what the background for this gig was, if he was sick or something, but for the second half of the first chorus he changes the lines and stays low. So this is essentially a decades old tradition at this point :D

Edit: Okay, this show is actually fascinating. Go to 7:30-ish onwards to hear altered vocal lines for the prechorus in 2MTM.
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Isn't that the infamous Radio City Music Hall with 4 dates in a row, after which Bruce wanted to kill Rod because of overbooking and went borderline insane?-
 
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