DAWSON 1 YEAR ON

After finally hearing Simon live, my takeaways were
-His playing is perfectly fine imo
-his style is a blend of Nicko and Clive's
-had a few simplified fills I noticed(passively, not trying to nitpick him and ruin my enjoyment)
-most of the issues I had were with the drum *sound*, not his playing. Nicko's tuning seemed to stay in the pocket better, Simon's is more booming and stands out a bit more. It works better for some songs than others, at least for the whole one show I've seen.
He's not a Nicko, he's not a Clive, he's Simon. Expecting him to be Nicko 2 or Clive 1.5 is silly, but I understand the comparison.
 
IWishIHadAdriansDT300 said:
After finally hearing Simon live, my takeaways were
-His playing is perfectly fine imo
-his style is a blend of Nicko and Clive's
-had a few simplified fills I noticed(passively, not trying to nitpick him and ruin my enjoyment)
-most of the issues I had were with the drum *sound*, not his playing. Nicko's tuning seemed to stay in the pocket better, Simon's is more booming and stands out a bit more. It works better for some songs than others, at least for the whole one show I've seen.
He's not a Nicko, he's not a Clive, he's Simon. Expecting him to be Nicko 2 or Clive 1.5 is silly, but I understand the comparison.
Click to expand...
Agree again. I think the issues is about the sound. Nicko sounded "extended" or what someone call snare or something like that. Simon sounds short harder and fat. For ex the intro of powerslave sounds like s metal barrel falling from staird
 
MrK said:
This is solid logic, but I don't think anyone in the band is currently at the top of their game. The only argument that could be made is for Adrian, who is the only member of the band who has continued to evolve and learn new things throughout their career.
Click to expand...
Adrian is somewhat lazy in his playing as well at times.
 
He added a roto-tom over his hi-hat recently. Something similar that Anika does with Rush, excep that she is using a timbale in that place (and 3 additional concert toms).
 
snarf said:
Well, except the one I saw in Southampton where they were both pissed off and Richie made them rage quit with no encore because the crowd sucked!
Click to expand...

Are you sure that was the reason? Why would the crowd at that one concert have been so different from the rest of the concerts?
Besides, a lot of concerts would probably be cut short if the musicians always left the stage whenever the audience wasn't enthusiastic enough, in their opinion.
 
I took a look at what live reviews in metal magazines say - written by people that aren’t particularly huge fans of Nicko or Iron Maiden and weren’t penned by a certain Mr. Lazerus either :D.
Both Metal Hammer Germany and Rock Hard Germany express satisfaction with Simon, though Rock Hard notes that he wasn’t quite as good in 2025 yet.
(That refers to the European leg of the tour, not the current shows.)
 
Melony said:
I took a look at what live reviews in metal magazines say - written by people that aren’t particularly huge fans of Nicko or Iron Maiden and weren’t penned by a certain Mr. Lazerus either :D.
Both Metal Hammer Germany and Rock Hard Germany express satisfaction with Simon, though Rock Hard notes that he wasn’t quite as good in 2025 yet.
(That refers to the European leg of the tour, not the current shows.)
Click to expand...
I told you. But we dont need to read the magazines. During the shows people were enjoying and nobody "care" apart from the different sound. When blaze was in the band people enjoyed but there was "that chat" about blaze wasnt able to replace bruce. Becuase was evident
 
Melony said:
I took a look at what live reviews in metal magazines say - written by people that aren’t particularly huge fans of Nicko or Iron Maiden and weren’t penned by a certain Mr. Lazerus either :D.
Both Metal Hammer Germany and Rock Hard Germany express satisfaction with Simon, though Rock Hard notes that he wasn’t quite as good in 2025 yet.
(That refers to the European leg of the tour, not the current shows.)
Click to expand...

I see it similarly. He initially improved in 2026 compared to 2025.
But strangely enough, judging by the videos, he seems to have regressed a bit now.
 
Melony said:
Are you sure that was the reason? Why would the crowd at that one concert have been so different from the rest of the concerts?
Besides, a lot of concerts would probably be cut short if the musicians always left the stage whenever the audience wasn't enthusiastic enough, in their opinion.
Click to expand...

Hahah I'm absolutely certain it was the reason, both Adrian and Richie referenced how quiet the crowd was on multiple occasions. Richie said something like, "damn, you guys make Japan look like a riot" trying to laugh it off. And then Richie called a brief discussion before the last song of the main set and Adrian said "well, I guess this is the last song then". The encore was on the printed setlist too, we checked, and they finished well ahead of curfew.

And the crowd was really utter shit, they literally were not applauding or cheering or doing pretty much anything at the end of any of the songs. It wasn't just "oh the crowd was a bit quiet" it was "the crowd is literally giving them nothing". I genuinely felt like my group were the only people in the entire venue showing any appreciation, it was SO bleak.

They posted on social media after every tour stop EXCEPT that one, they literally have not acknowledged it since.
 
Oh, come on, don't be so naive. When musicians get carried away and start berating the crowd and punish them, they were definitely already in a bad mood for other reasons. Otherwise, they would have just gone through with it like pros.
I go to concerts all the time, and in situations like that, the band cheers you on.
And as if Richie usually only plays concerts where people go wild.
 
I haven't seen them yet (still a month or so away from the concert) but I do want to say that Maiden have been on a downward trajectory when it comes to live performances. A couple of factors are combining on a major point: they're old. They're 70 or in the vincinity, and Nicko was older than them. Even with a fully healthy Nicko they were going to sound slow. Up to Book of Souls they were golden, it's what came later than makes me scratch my head. The band knows this might be their "first last" tour as well. They can't pretend not to face it like that.
 
wizardry said:
I haven't seen them yet (still a month or so away from the concert) but I do want to say that Maiden have been on a downward trajectory when it comes to live performances. A couple of factors are combining on a major point: they're old. They're 70 or in the vincinity, and Nicko was older than them. Even with a fully healthy Nicko they were going to sound slow. Up to Book of Souls they were golden, it's what came later than makes me scratch my head. The band knows this might be their "first last" tour as well. They can't pretend not to face it like that.
Click to expand...
I think this is pretty much spot on but I do believe they have aged gracefully. The naysayers tend to exaggerate. The slower tempos don't bother me at all. Some songs actually benefit from it. Especially Wasted Years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top