What's terrible is that only a clique of Metal fans give a crap about Blaze. Hardly any Maiden fans that aren't diehards seem to give a rats ass. That's why he can't afford to tour with a proper band, which I suppose you might even pay a wage or whatever inbetween tours? I've seen Blaze two times. First time there was about 50 people, the second time where he played with Paul there was 100. You can't support a full band on that crowd attendance. Blaze is doing what he has to do in order to make a living as a musician.
Besides, Blaze is unlike Paul, all about the fans.
This is very true, and Blaze is acutely aware of that fact. I read an interview with him last week or so, and the sentiment he got across when talking about his fans was "there aren't very many of them, but they're extremely loyal."
The thing is, the guy's 50(ish) years old now, and Silicon Messiah was probably the best shot he had at really making a new career out of it. It didn't happen, and his crowds and profits have continued to dwindle to the point where the most he can do is support his family since then. Anyone hoping for him getting a new solid lineup together isn't looking at this situation with any sort of realism. That, and while Blaze did have a full band together, it's little secret that he had a day job as well (building wheelbarrows, I think it was) in order to keep things afloat. So in essence, he's giving us the best product out of what little resources he has.
He hasn't had an easy life (clinical depression, alcoholism, widower, won the lottery with Maiden only to be largely rejected by its fanbase, etc.), but he's never really complained about any of it, and maintained a pretty positive attitude. And despite the teensy turnouts at his shows, he still gives 1000% at every show. So for that he'll always get more admiration out of me than I have for even Bruce, whose talent with singing and all the other things he's brilliant at is absolutely monstrous in comparison to Blaze's.
Speaking of Bruce and Maiden, I do wish Maiden (especially on the BNW tour) would have thrown the guy a bone. They gave him a raw deal when Bruce and Adrian came back, so the least they could have done is given him an opening slot on their tour. Yeah, Steve lets him use Barnyard Studios every now and then (probably for a reasonable rate or even free), but come on. Especially in those first few years after the split, Blaze was still putting out strong material that would have quite possibly opened a lot of eyes on the BNW or DoD tours and given him a real shot at getting some of those fans.
Well at least he still has that to draw on from time to time, I mean if they've not totally disbanded. He needs to get out as a support act for some bigger band!
