AMOLAD tour memories and opinions

I hitched a ride with a couple friends from Minneapolis down to Chicago to see the show. My buddy was more of a classic Maiden fan, had never seen them before, and wasn't all that psyched upon finding out they were playing the whole album. He played it twice I think on the way down and got into it, and in the end was glad the show was the way it was and ended up being a big fan of the album.

I didn't watch the show with them--his girlfriend was an alt model at the time and liked to stay back from the front and just watch. I first saw Maiden in 1996 in a Minneapolis club, and it was a blast being right up front in the thick of it, so that's how I always did shows. In 1998, my then-girlfriend left the show with some bruised ribs and wasn't eager to be up front again a year later on the Ed Hunter tour, so we hung back and it was cool to watch, but the excitement was definitely missing. So when pretty girl and my buddy hung back, I figured, "eff that, I'm going up front," and it was a great show. At the end of it, Nicko's wristband sailed right into my hand as if pulled by a magnet. Pretty cool night, definitely worth the 6 1/2 hour drive.
 
I hitched a ride with a couple friends from Minneapolis down to Chicago to see the show. My buddy was more of a classic Maiden fan, had never seen them before, and wasn't all that psyched upon finding out they were playing the whole album. He played it twice I think on the way down and got into it, and in the end was glad the show was the way it was and ended up being a big fan of the album.

I didn't watch the show with them--his girlfriend was an alt model at the time and liked to stay back from the front and just watch. I first saw Maiden in 1996 in a Minneapolis club, and it was a blast being right up front in the thick of it, so that's how I always did shows. In 1998, my then-girlfriend left the show with some bruised ribs and wasn't eager to be up front again a year later on the Ed Hunter tour, so we hung back and it was cool to watch, but the excitement was definitely missing. So when pretty girl and my buddy hung back, I figured, "eff that, I'm going up front," and it was a great show. At the end of it, Nicko's wristband sailed right into my hand as if pulled by a magnet. Pretty cool night, definitely worth the 6 1/2 hour drive.
What's an "alt model?"
 
It’s great reading all these memories. Thanks for sharing.

One can only hope that a live album will surface one day. We can hear Steve mixing ‘Longest Day’ on Flight 666. Also I seem to remember there being an unreleased live album with an acronym that could be linked to AMOLAD on Shirley’s website. This was about 10 years ago.
The Stockholm bootleg is great though!

 
It was my first Iron Maiden show, I got the tickets for my 13th birthday and the album was the first iron maiden I had listened to, it was in the charts because I bought it in a supermarket. I think by the time I went to actually see the show the only other album I had was A Real Live Dead One, I'd probably listened to AMOLAD a couple of times per day, every day leading up the show and sang along to every word.

I've seen Maiden on every tour since except for the Somewhere Back in Time tour and it could be nostalgia for that time and having burned the album into my brain during my formative years but I think it's still my favourite maiden show, I loved the dark atmosphere and there was something very purposeful and powerful about the band playing the whole album because they wanted to.

Certainly, if I could relive any maiden gig it would be that one.
 
I loved the album and therefore enjoyed the setlist, so I went to see them in Oslo, my first Maiden gig. It was an great night both on the show and the travel to the gig. Went with one friend and stayed at a other friend of us there, interesting night in the city…great memories from my early 20’s
 
My first Maiden gig, after many years of loving them, was the Clive Burr 2005 Hammersmith fundraiser. I was 19 and just lucky enough to buy tickets from some fellow fans in the seating area.

For some reason I didn't go to this tour. I recall it being announced in March '06 but money must have been a factor. I sort of regret this. On one level I know the decision to play AMOLAD in it's entirety was devisive for many fans and to this day I read of many accounts of fans who did not like this. So to have been surrounded by grumpy and disinterested individuals would have seriously killed the moment for me. On the other hand, listening to the infamous bootleg from Stockholm and hearing just how on point they were during that run, does indeed make me regret not seeing the shows.


AMOLAD is a fantastic album, "earthy" production and such superb songs. What I would do to get the chance to hear The Pilgrim and Out Of The Shadows live!
 
So to have been surrounded by grumpy and disinterested individuals would have seriously killed the moment for me.
It just wasn't like that. The audiences loved it and went right into it, I haven't seen any grumpy people. The enthusiasm among the crowd was just the same as it's always when Maiden play. Many people complained about the concept of that particular tour but everybody seemed to love it. Funny.
 
It just wasn't like that. The audiences loved it and went right into it, I haven't seen any grumpy people. The enthusiasm among the crowd was just the same as it's always when Maiden play. Many people complained about the concept of that particular tour but everybody seemed to love it. Funny.

Yeah, the grumpy people were all in the back. I saw one in Dortmund flipping the finger at the band all the time, but even his friends just laughed at him.
 
It just wasn't like that. The audiences loved it and went right into it, I haven't seen any grumpy people. The enthusiasm among the crowd was just the same as it's always when Maiden play. Many people complained about the concept of that particular tour but everybody seemed to love it. Funny.
Fair play then! I am glad to hear this.
 
It was my first Maiden show. My father took me to see them. The date was 6/6/2007, in Ostrava, I remember seeing Lauren Harris for the first time and being kinda underwhelmed.

As it was my first Maiden show, I was torn between loving everything and being terribly disappointed by the fact they switched from the full AMOLAD album (I had a special relationship to it even then, in time it became my favourite album by them altogether) to the NOTB anniversary leg, considering the fact NOTB is my second least favourite Bruce-fronted record (only No Prayer and the two Dianno albums are below), I wasn't all that happy by the fact it was so overrepresented in the setlist.
 
It was my first Maiden show. My father took me to see them. The date was 6/6/2007, in Ostrava, I remember seeing Lauren Harris for the first time and being kinda underwhelmed.

As it was my first Maiden show, I was torn between loving everything and being terribly disappointed by the fact they switched from the full AMOLAD album (I had a special relationship to it even then, in time it became my favourite album by them altogether) to the NOTB anniversary leg, considering the fact NOTB is my second least favourite Bruce-fronted record (only No Prayer and the two Dianno albums are below), I wasn't all that happy by the fact it was so overrepresented in the setlist.
That is a shame being disappointed at your first Maiden gig. To be honest, I think the album is still too heavily represented at their gigs.
 
That is a shame being disappointed at your first Maiden gig. To be honest, I think the album is still too heavily represented at their gigs.

Well, to be fair, a lot of people were probably really happy, because the full AMOLAD tour had diverse reaction and you could say it was a bit controversial, whereas NOTB is very much beloved among the fandom (and especially the casuals, IMHO), I know I'm in the minority... and the concert was still really great. It's just seeing e.g. The Legacy live would be beyond awesome.
 
Well, to be fair, a lot of people were probably really happy, because the full AMOLAD tour had diverse reaction and you could say it was a bit controversial, whereas NOTB is very much beloved among the fandom (and especially the casuals, IMHO), I know I'm in the minority... and the concert was still really great. It's just seeing e.g. The Legacy live would be beyond awesome.

Actually, what annoyed me back then was that Maiden had announced they'd play five NOTB songs and five AMOLAD songs on what they dubbed the "A Matter of the Beast" tour, but they only played four. It was the regular 2007 AMOLAD setlist with only one extra song (Children of the Damned) added. Without that previous announcement it would have been cool, but with that announcement it actually became a cheat.
 
Actually, what annoyed me back then was that Maiden had announced they'd play five NOTB songs and five AMOLAD songs on what they dubbed the "A Matter of the Beast" tour, but they only played four. It was the regular 2007 AMOLAD setlist with only one extra song (Children of the Damned) added. Without that previous announcement it would have been cool, but with that announcement it actually became a cheat.
Oh yeah! I even remember thinking at the time, ‘why didn’t they play 22AA? They only played it in 2003’. That would have been so easy for them.
 
So... let me get this straight, they managed to disappoint both the NOTBers and the AMOLADers? :D
 
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