A
Anonymous
Guest
What a great gig! I was really blown away by pretty much everything there, from the individual performances to the crowd reaction. But let's start at the beginning...
I went to the gig with Freaky, whom I picked up "somewhere in the middle of Paris" (La Madeleine, to be precise). He quickly got rid of the bag, we had something to eat and then we already had to run. We had first to the barrier wristbands and had to be at Bercy at 17.00, which we barely made because, well, we were in France- and the Metro was on strike (right at the Bercy station, incidentally...). We finally arrived at the advanced acess gate at about 17.05 but had to wait till 17.45 to get in. We were right in the front row, which we didn't leave anymore till the end of the gig (except for Freaky, who ran to the merchandise stall to get our T-shirts, thanks again).
Afterwards, I had the pleasure of meeting syl, N°5 and Lib, and we had a nice time down at a local pub. Many, many thanks also to Owly who hosted me again. And of course it was great meeting Freaky again. Greets to all of you!
The bottom line: I can't wait for the Dortmund gig!
I went to the gig with Freaky, whom I picked up "somewhere in the middle of Paris" (La Madeleine, to be precise). He quickly got rid of the bag, we had something to eat and then we already had to run. We had first to the barrier wristbands and had to be at Bercy at 17.00, which we barely made because, well, we were in France- and the Metro was on strike (right at the Bercy station, incidentally...). We finally arrived at the advanced acess gate at about 17.05 but had to wait till 17.45 to get in. We were right in the front row, which we didn't leave anymore till the end of the gig (except for Freaky, who ran to the merchandise stall to get our T-shirts, thanks again).
First up was Lauren Harris with her grandpa band. Her music was some sweet girlie hard rock, rather nice but nothing special. Lauren herself, though, was very cute. 
Trivium was boring as hell, the only reason why I didn't fall asleep was because I had to prevent getting crushed, so I'll just skip them.
When Maiden finally came onstage at about 21.00, everyone went wild, and I nearly got crushed again. There were a lot of people at Bercy, and the place was really packed. The performance was great, but if I had to make complaints, it would be that I didn't really hear much of Nicko -which was a shame, because I was really looking forward to hearing his outstanding drum performance on the album live- and Bruce wasn't in top form, because he was apparently a bit ill. As a matter of fact, he lost his voice on a few lines here and there, but that wasn't too bad because the crowd was singing along anyway.
I was standing right in front of Davey (whose wristband I caught later on). He got frequent visits from Steve and H, and I had the impression that they made much more contact with the audience than Bruce did.
The entire show was a single highlight, so I really can't name any particular ones- though I thought 'Out Of The Shadows' was really, really great.
The reaction to playing the entire album was surprisingly good after all the criticism I heard before, and I was really pleased they did it, because it really is a great album. Maybe the stage set was a tad militaristic for my taste, but the show was enjoyable nevertheless. And of course the classics -and 'The Evil That Men Do' in particular- complemented the set wonderfully.
Trivium was boring as hell, the only reason why I didn't fall asleep was because I had to prevent getting crushed, so I'll just skip them.
When Maiden finally came onstage at about 21.00, everyone went wild, and I nearly got crushed again. There were a lot of people at Bercy, and the place was really packed. The performance was great, but if I had to make complaints, it would be that I didn't really hear much of Nicko -which was a shame, because I was really looking forward to hearing his outstanding drum performance on the album live- and Bruce wasn't in top form, because he was apparently a bit ill. As a matter of fact, he lost his voice on a few lines here and there, but that wasn't too bad because the crowd was singing along anyway.
I was standing right in front of Davey (whose wristband I caught later on). He got frequent visits from Steve and H, and I had the impression that they made much more contact with the audience than Bruce did.
The entire show was a single highlight, so I really can't name any particular ones- though I thought 'Out Of The Shadows' was really, really great.
The reaction to playing the entire album was surprisingly good after all the criticism I heard before, and I was really pleased they did it, because it really is a great album. Maybe the stage set was a tad militaristic for my taste, but the show was enjoyable nevertheless. And of course the classics -and 'The Evil That Men Do' in particular- complemented the set wonderfully.
The bottom line: I can't wait for the Dortmund gig!
) 