I didn’t think I would get to see this show.
Before I start this review, I need to express gratitude to the people who made it possible for me to go. Finances have been a bit tight lately (life happens, nothing too serious thankfully.) Last time I flew to Charlotte for a show, I made real friends. These friends, a father and son, offered me a completely free ticket to the show, “if you can get here!” Wow. I still can’t believe they made such a kind, generous offer. This, plus my father letting me use his extensive hotel points made this a much more budget friendly trip. I just have to express this gratitude to my friends and family again before the rest of the review.
Eddie’s Dive Bar was fun. I do wish they’d done what AC/DC did with their popups and displayed some cool memorabilia and props though.
Megadeth was really good. I’m not super into them, but their performance was solid. I enjoyed the few songs of theirs I know.
This story can’t be told without the rain. It started raining before Megadeth, and I foolishly didn’t think to buy a cheap poncho before the show. An overpriced, thin poncho from the venue was my only solution. There was a brief reprieve midway through Megadeth, but it slowly returned as Maiden’s crew set up. By the time we reached Doctor Doctor, it was absolutely pouring. Maiden’s performance of the first few songs made the rain bearable. By the time ROTAM started, ironically and thankfully the rain had stopped.
This was my sixth Maiden show, but my first time seeing Simon with the band. My musician ears were definitely focused on him through a lot of the night. I’ve seen plenty of YouTube videos of this tour, but in person is different. I feel like he played the Clive songs more Clive-ish, and I was really impressed by his playing on the Nicko songs, with one exception. Powerslave was the one song that made me think “yeah, he’s not Nicko.” It wasn’t bad, his playing just had a different feel on that particular song. It didn’t make me not enjoy the song at all. So, as a whole I was impressed and glad he’s in the band and able to keep it going.
Bruce was really great most of the night. I thought he did really well on Aces High, and I was expecting it to not be the best. I think the moral of the story is you can’t fully trust the YouTube videos. The rest of the encore was great.
He did seriously screw up the first chorus of Seventh Son. I kept thinking “Bruce, stop for just a moment so you can follow the guitar melody” and he took until the “ohs” to do that. He went to a different spot on the walkway for the second chorus and it was better. He needs a monitor near the front of the stage. Or in ears. Anyway otherwise I thought he was nearly flawless the whole night.
All the guitar players and Steve were really good. Dave did Dave things, and Adrian improvised a little more than I expected. It’s unfortunate that Janick doesn’t get to do much this setlist, but the extra texture of that third guitar was great through a lot of the night. As for his rare solos, I particularly liked his solo on Phantom.
The screens were a cool change, but I did not care for the big Eddie on the screen during Iron Maiden. It didn’t have the same visual impact as the inflatable. I don’t know if they ever go back to the drapes, but I do hope they bring back the big Eddie.
Having only been a fan since 2016, the greatest hits nature of it all was nice because I’ve never seen them play Phantom, Rime, and Murders. All in all, this was a great show, a great trip, and a great night. I’m glad to see Maiden still firing on all cylinders and performing at such a high level. Can’t wait for the next tour!
