British Lion 2013 Tour

Yeh, that ain't happening. I'll still be in Glasgow on Saturday morning (hopefully not still rolling around the streets) & probably not back home until later. By that time you'll not give a damn about reports, as you'll be in the company of Mr Steve Harris! :D
 
Just thinking, harrisdevot, you're at the Paris show this Sunday, right? We can get a report, hopefully, the beginning of next week, from you first.
 
Yes Cried, Paris show is tomorrow, and you can definetely expect a report on monday evening. All this time waiting is just killing me. See you :) .
 
harrisdevot said:
Yes Cried, Paris show is tomorrow, and you can definetely expect a report on monday evening. All this time waiting is just killing me. See you :) .
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I should have seen this earlier and told you to try to get your book signed! :D
 
Yes Ranko, and you would have been right. But I promised a full report, so here it is.
The venue in Paris is a small club, a 500 people capacity. I was immediatly surprised by how close the audience could be. I chose a particular place, approx. 5 meters from the stage, and a little higher, because I am not particularly tall and had noticed that the stage itself was really low (circa 50 cm). The place was sold out, but a lot of people didn't bother to come on time to see the opening act (nothing wrong to say on those guys : high energy set, they are trying really hard to get the crowd's attention, but their songs have nothing special to me, except one with a lot of keyboards, which sounded way better). After 30 mn, British Lion hits the stage. I was completley shocked to see how close I was from Steve ; I have already been at the very first row of Maiden shows, but there was the pit and the height of the stage. Here, it was really close. Steve and the guys really delivered a very energetic set. Steve and the singer, on particular, never stopped stalking the stage, encouraging the crowd. Steve headbanged quite a lot. When I last saw Maiden in Paris, back in 2011, I noticed that he took a few pauses, playing towards the drum kit for two songs. This time, he was active for the whole concert. The reduced size of the stage was a lot less demanding I guess. He was looking at the audience in the eyes, singing all the lyrics, and we were machine gunned half a dozen times.
The rendition of the songs was good : the drums parts were better than on record, the bass lines were really tight, and the singer did allright. One of guitarists (Leslie, the tall one) is really a lot of fun watching, but the other guy is more precise and plays the best solos in my opinion.
So I LOVED the show, sang along all the songs, including, the fantastic cover of UFO. They also played five new songs, three of which I was able to get familiar with throught Internet videos. The Burning is definetely my favorite one, but Do you Want it is good too.

But the big thing for me was the after show. It was approx. 10 PM, and I had to leave at 11 PM, to get my train at midnight. I had noticed from the start a bunch of guys from the Maiden French forum, and had decided to follow them. I hanged around for 30 minutes in the club after the show, 'till we were asked to leave by the security. After that, I followed the French forum guys, who headed to the tour bus, parked behind the club. Then, they processed further, to the club's backdoor, which I would'nt have been able to find on my own. We were around 80 guys (and women). Another 30 minutes in a freezing cold. I didn't really expect anything : too many vain attempts in the past, but I thought that I would have to wait at the train station anyway, and that I'd better try my luck here. Then came a huge bearded guy (I've learned since that he is Steve's bodyguard ; he is quite impressive, but nice), who explained to us in English that "He will sign your stuff, but not here. If you follow me to the main door, you will be able to get your stuff signed", or something like that. And my great luck was that no-one, except me and a girl, understood what he said ! Me and this girl just began to follow him, who was walking quickly. Before the other ones reacted, we were ahead, and the others couldn't do anything than following, 'cos they didn't know where we were heading to ! The girl told me she wanted to be first, because she was the first at the club's backdoor, so I let her and her boyfriend be first. Then, at the door, two big black security guys, very nice and comprehensive, a short wait, and here he was : Steve looked very tired and was accompanied by the drummer. We were told by the security guys that we wouldn't be allowed more than a few seconds. At this point, I was like mesmerized. My time came quickly. I handed down my British Lion booklet to him. He signed it. I said "Thank you Sir" (I've had 31 years to think about what I could say, and here is the stupid result). "You're welcome" he replied. He gave my booklet to the drummer, who signed it and gave it back to me saying thank you. And it was done : I was out. And then (I will know I will get ironic comment for that, but nevermind) I cried for a good 15 minutes. I never thought I would have such a reaction, and it came all of a sudden.
From what I've understood, he signes stuff at every venue, just after his shower, so it's really worth waiting.
Nothing to add, really. A fantastic night. I had a 7 hours trip, to get back home, a shower and then to work. I didn't think much about my work today.

Oh yes : the merchandizing is pretty basic : tee-shirts, grey or black, three different kinds (15 or 20 euros).

To the English and Scottish ones (Brigantium, Cried, Sixes and Wizard), I hope you enjoy the show as much as I did, and that you get the chance to meet the man. It was really nice to have someone the share the wait with.
 
Cheers harrisdevot! :D

Thanks for taking the time with all that. And pretty cool to hear you actually "met" Steve & exchanged a few words. Something you'll remember forever, I'm sure. Well, I'm really looking forward to seeing BL & Steve. The Garage in Glasgow is tiny so hopefully I can get pretty close, just like you did. Should be fun...
 
Great story man. Glad you enjoyed it.
I can't say how jealous I am of you Euros.

That story convinces me that any Maidenfan skipping the gig because they aren't a fan of British Lion will probably regret it.
 
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