The opening act Bullet For My Valentine was good but not great. If they had another singer it would be much better. The best parts were the instrumental sections. Good drummer and the guitars especially before the solos. The crowd respected the band, but clearly we all wanted Iron Maiden.
Iron Maiden played the same songs as before. All of 'A Matter of Life and Death' songs plus Fear of the Dark, Iron Maiden. Then encore was 2 Minutes to Midnight, The Evil That Men Do and Hallowed Be Thy Name.
Bruce botched the lyrics to Different World. Janick did not look like he was doing much during this song and Iron Maiden. He was great otherwise. I love this song anyway.
These Colours Don't Run was amazing live. It is so much better. The adrenaline was high from the crowd and Bruce got the crowd into during the chorus. The solos were beautifully executed with the live feel. I would not be surprized if this song is played after this tour.
The crowd was even more into Brighter Than a Thousand Suns. I love the bass on this song and the heavy guitars that accompany it. This went well live. I was apprehensive after watching earlier footage on YouTube. I thought that complex songs as this would not work well live. But, it was fabulous.
It was amazing how little I knew the lyrics to The Pilgrim. Bruce was singing them too fast for me to keep up and they were not loud enough for me to hear them so I had trouble following. Bruce got the crowd again into it during the chorus.
The Longest Day did not fare well live as I'd hoped. Still it was pretty good.
Bruce gave a long speech here about Out of the Shadows. Basically, he said the song is about dreaming and waking. I wish I could relate it all, but it is hard to recall. It did sound very much like he was describing the same themes that run through Number of the Beast and Infinite Dreams.
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg. This is where the crowd started to get REALLY into it. I was pleasantly surprized that people were loving this song, as I'd expected differently judging by past shows of this tour.
For the Greater Good of God. Once again people were into it -- quite a lot, especially the chorus, pre-chorus and solos. People really loved the solos.
Lord of Light sounds so much better live. Wow! The speed is well-suited for a live environment. People were into it, especially the parts before the solos. There are plenty of head-banging parts to the song.
People went crazy during The Legacy. Once again, this was a surprize! I was wrong about the third section of this song. It is great. I think it just needs a live environment to make it special.
As soon as Fear of the Dark hit, people went totally nuts. As much as the crowd appreciated the new stuff, they were so much more familiar with old favourites such as this one. What can be said about this song that has not been said before?
Iron Maiden. The riffs were great and the band took in a bit longer. Eddie popped out of the tank here, as before.
2 Minutes to Midnight. Great vocals Bruce. On some songs that are fast Bruce does not enunciate (bad word?) his lines, but here he did and it went well.
The Evil That Men Do was great as well. Soldier Eddie came out here. Great crowd reaction. I loved it, too especially the riffs and the opening two verses.
Hallowed Be Thy Name. Bruce's mic was away from him at some points so some lines were not heard. But still this is one of their best songs ever and the guitars were amazing. Personally, I think they played this song better during their last tour.
The top songs I enjoyed the most: For the Greater Good of God, These Colours Don't Run, The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, The Evil That Men Do, Lord of Light, Brighter Than a Thousand Suns, The Legacy, and Fear of the Dark in that order. All of them were great, though.
Some things about the show and other stuff:
- NOBODY complained about the whole album being played. In fact, when Bruce announced the band would play it all, people clapped, cheered, whistled, etc.
- Bruce complimented how GREAT the crowd was. He was pleased that people were singing the choruses and the crowd was, except the only person that was singing during The Longest Day was me, at least in my section. He'd often encourage hand-clapping during certain times. During The Pilgrim though, when the solos came, he'd insist on clapping, yet I'd rather have listened to the solos. The crowd obliged him.
- Bruce said that the Canadian crowd is getting bigger and bigger each year
. I think he said that the band needs to tour in the west [in Canada] but I'm not too sure. He specifically said that our crowd was better than that of USA.
- Bruce made his typical rant about how the fans made the band and not the radio, T.V., reality shows (ouch Ozzy!
), etc. And of course we made AMOLAD #2 in Canada
. Apparently the album has sold over 1 mil. copies to this point -- "it hit platinum and it'll reach higher and higher" said Bruce confidently.
- Funny thing is two guys behind me got kicked out for smoking weed during Out of the Shadows. Suckers! Then 4-5 guys get thrown out during the next song. I wasn't sure why but I wouldn't be surprized if it was due to weed smoking as there was a definite smell of it in the air.
- The hockey jersey with Killers on it was a whopping $120.00 and I thought that the Rock N' Tees stores' $60.00 was too much!
There were no low points. The crowd loved it. The only bad reaction was after the lights went on there were some boos. I guess some people were hoping for a second encore
.
-- 2 Thumbs Up!
Up the Irons!
I'll see them in 2008.
