Back in 1993

AncientMariner_Essex said:
I think when Blaze joined Maiden there was a combination of him being super nervous about fronting a massive band like Maiden and having to fill the shoes of a legendary vocalist plus I bet Steve and Rod gave him very specific instructions on what to do which in wolfsbane he wasn’t used too.

I saw Maiden on the X-factor tour and I had no problems with blazes voice on any of the tracks he sang but I did notice he literally planted himself in the middle of the stage and didn’t move for practically the whole gig and his only movement was constantly fist pumping. He looked very nervous and was nothing like the wild man of wolfsbane.
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I remember and interview saying that he would love to sing aces high seventh son wasted years and many others.
 
dickinson1978 said:
Sad years for sure. X factor when i first heard the album i thought that was like a bad version again and again of afraid to shot strangers. Now i like it a lot. Virtual xi for me its now one of their worst. But bruce was not doing great albums. Balls and skunkworks not bad albums better than tattoed but those years for an iron maiden fan were difficult.
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Agreed. Thankfully, I had Gamma Ray, Stratovarius and Running Wild to get my fix of heavy metal during Maiden's dark times.
 
I love the story on how White found out he was going to audition for Maiden:

White had sent his tape in to Maiden’s management in the spring of 1993. Then, one Friday night several months later, as he was preparing to go to Scotland, he had a knock on his door in London. He opened to find Maiden’s production manager Dickie Bell on his doorstep with a cassette. “He said, ‘What are you doing?’ I said, ‘I’m going to Scotland.’ He said, ‘No, you’re not, you’re auditioning for Iron Maiden on Monday.”
 
Eddie's Uncle said:
Can you elaborate on this? I know that Steve refused to accomodate Blaze needs, but I dont know about the roadie..
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This was in At the End of the Day, which is the biography of the Blaze Bayley Band, covering Blaze from the Wolfsbane days up until Promise & Terror. If I recall correctly, the roadie in charge of the stage monitors refused to change the monitor setup from the way Bruce liked it. For whatever reason, that positioning didn't work for Blaze at all, and meant there was one spot onstage where he could hear the guitars to help him stay on key. That spot was pretty much right in front of the drum riser, which, if you've seen any boots from the X Factour, that's where Blaze spends a fair portion of the set.

This wasn't fixed until the Virtual XI tour when Blaze got some in-ear monitors, and hence, became a LOT more mobile during the show and his singing overall improved as well, IMO. I don't remember him saying whether he brought up this little feud to Steve and/or Rod or not, but since it went unresolved throughout the entire tour, I imagine he either kept it to himself or Steve/Rod ignored it.
 
Man, it's gotta suck to be Doogie White if the only reason people ever bring him up is that he auditioned for Maiden.
 
CA Bryers said:
This was in At the End of the Day, which is the biography of the Blaze Bayley Band, covering Blaze from the Wolfsbane days up until Promise & Terror. If I recall correctly, the roadie in charge of the stage monitors refused to change the monitor setup from the way Bruce liked it. For whatever reason, that positioning didn't work for Blaze at all, and meant there was one spot onstage where he could hear the guitars to help him stay on key. That spot was pretty much right in front of the drum riser, which, if you've seen any boots from the X Factour, that's where Blaze spends a fair portion of the set.

This wasn't fixed until the Virtual XI tour when Blaze got some in-ear monitors, and hence, became a LOT more mobile during the show and his singing overall improved as well, IMO. I don't remember him saying whether he brought up this little feud to Steve and/or Rod or not, but since it went unresolved throughout the entire tour, I imagine he either kept it to himself or Steve/Rod ignored it.
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I think Blaze mentions that Janick spilt tea or something on them?
Perun said:
Man, it's gotta suck to be Doogie White if the only reason people ever bring him up is that he auditioned for Maiden.
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If I had the chance to sing the A Real Live Dead One set with Steve Harris, Nicko McBrain, Dave Murray, and Janick Gers, it would be the only thing I'd talk about for the rest of my life.
Poto said:
That was Graham Bonnet.
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Well..
 
07-SMS:A1L said:
I think Blaze mentions that Janick spilt tea or something on them?
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Our recollections of it are both close to what happened:

"They were trodden on in a bizarre dressing room tea-making accident in Greece: somebody decided to make a cup of tea after the gig, turned on the kettle, fused all the dressing room lights, somebody knocked into the table and knocked my in-ear monitors--which cost about 1500 pounds to get made--onto the floor, Janick staggered, trod on them, and that was it. I never had another pair that fitted as well. And you know, that bloody night in Greece Steve had just said, 'you sang really well tonight Blaze.' And all I could think was...bugger."
 
CA Bryers said:
Our recollections of it are both close to what happened:

"They were trodden on in a bizarre dressing room tea-making accident in Greece: somebody decided to make a cup of tea after the gig, turned on the kettle, fused all the dressing room lights, somebody knocked into the table and knocked my in-ear monitors--which cost about 1500 pounds to get made--onto the floor, Janick staggered, trod on them, and that was it. I never had another pair that fitted as well. And you know, that bloody night in Greece Steve had just said, 'you sang really well tonight Blaze.' And all I could think was...bugger."
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I always remember that story from the Patterson book.
And it makes me sad that Blaze's confidence and ability to deliver was dependent on such specific things as this.

That, and the story recounted in the book when his solo career started to flop... His stint working at the Halfords retail store when he loses his shit an attacks and annoying customer! Really unique book.
 
Helmuth Von Moltke said:
I always remember that story from the Patterson book.
And it makes me sad that Blaze's confidence and ability to deliver was dependent on such specific things as this.

That, and the story recounted in the book when his solo career started to flop... His stint working at the Halfords retail store when he loses his shit an attacks and annoying customer! Really unique book.
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It's probably the most "pull no punches" biography I've read where I'm surprised Blaze allowed some of the stories to be published, because some of them--especially with the original Blaze lineup--are not flattering at all. Like the Halfords thing, that's the sort of stuff most bands would NOT want their fans to know about.
 
CA Bryers said:
It's probably the most "pull no punches" biography I've read where I'm surprised Blaze allowed some of the stories to be published, because some of them--especially with the original Blaze lineup--are not flattering at all. Like the Halfords thing, that's the sort of stuff most bands would NOT want their fans to know about.
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Agreed and made me realise the depths his life dropped to just a few years after Maiden. A very good and underrated book. Wonder what happened to Patterson? He wrote some books on submarines (!) and seems to have ceased being in bands after being in Blaze
 
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