chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
Like you're thirsty or...thirsty. Also yea, bodies make heat. Ask Bruce what he thinks about advances in modern air conditioning technology, then point at the thermostat. Has he said any interesting shit yet?
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
Ask him if Iron Maiden will ever do a co-headline tour with Judas Priest. Go on. Do it.
Magnus
Pica Serdica
Have a Trooper.
No, be a trooper!
Black Abyss Babe
CriedWhenJanickCutHisHair
He'd probably tell you it's very important in modern aircraft, and then talk about that for the rest of the evening ...
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
"Great input Bruce! Say, if this room were an airplane...how would you lower the temperature? Can you demonstrate?" Points aggressively at the thermostat.He'd probably tell you it's very important in modern aircraft, and then talk about that for the rest of the evening ...
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
Ask him if it's part of his business to provoke heat to sell more Trooper beers on his Tour 
Black Bart
Ancient Mariner
Can somebody who is going ask Bruce how much progress he has made on his rock opera on the life of Paganini (evoked in Metal Hammer in 1988)?
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
It’s probably in the same drawer he keeps the demos of the songs he wrote with Jimmy Bain back in 1987.
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
Who's Jimmy Bain?
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
Well, if you do bring up the issue of bleed air and fume incidents....He'd probably tell you it's very important in modern aircraft, and then talk about that for the rest of the evening ...
chaosapiant
Ancient Marinade
Full confession, with the exception of the once in a while song by Dio, I don't listen to any of those bands.
Black Wizard
Pleb Hunter
I am Steve Beer
Magnus
Pica Serdica
Saw this somewhere, might be the answer to your question:
Here's the life of Paganini
Just like some kind of panini
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of ham's construction
In the fields, ciabattas burning
As the warming grill is turning
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
Could you tell more about this. For the first time I hear that he wrote some songs with Jimmy Bain (in 1987). What was the occasion?
GhostofCain
Ancient Mariner
They just worked on some songs together and recorded some demos at the end of the Somewhere in Time tour. Apparently the material had a Procol Harum-ish vibe.
The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
Maybe he has been use the lyrics in some Maiden songs or solo stuff
Ruflux
Ancient Mariner
Alright, so. Let me preface this with a "I kind of really regret not missing that Q&A". Yes, there were a few funny questions, but the longer answers were all stuff I'd already heard of plus the mandatory Revelations bit at the end. Which, I might add, was strange and abrupt as hell. One minute he's answering questions, then he sings a bit of Revelations (or technically I guess it's O God of Earth and Altar since he specifically mentioned the charity gig) and then it's "thank you, good night" and he's off the stage. Now, I knew that was it but I think a lot of people were caught totally off guard.
I think a better ending would be if he didn't pretend to be answering a question and instead said that he's out of time and then said oh but I'll sing just a little bit for you if that's okay, and then does so and leaves. That way it'd make it obvious to the audience the show's nearly over, but also provide a bit of audience interplay. First, there's a bit of a letdown since it's over, but then he goes but maybe there's enough time for me to sing something for you, raising the mood right back up again and makes the crowd feel a bit special. I dunno, just an idea. Somebody tell him that's what he should do.
Anyway, the real reason I wish I'd left early were the goddamn buses. Apparently some well entertaining bus driver decided to just blow through all the stops despite being closer to ten minutes early (I know, because I never even saw the bus I missed despite seeing the road it should've been on for quite a long time) and so I ended up wandering the city for an hour. Didn't feel like going for a beer, I just bought a sandwich and a soda at the 24/7 convenience store and by the time I was done with that I didn't have to wait for very long at the bus stop. I ended up getting home at around 11.40pm dead tired but the caffeine from the soda kept me from properly falling asleep until 7am. Not a very good time, all in all.
---
Well, that's enough of my whining. The show itself was alright. Bruce's style of presentation is of course very entertaining, although I do think the content may be a bit lacking in direction, shall we say. It's basically just anecdotes with some connecting tissue, and a collection of funny trousers. All stuff you'd already know about if you read his book, but obviously presented in a more entertaining way. That kind of adds to a general problem I had where I don't really know who these spoken word gigs are aimed at. The general public might find it amusing, but you kind of have to have some interest in Bruce Dickinson, the person, to really have a good time. But then if you're already a fan, wouldn't you have most likely read the book already?
Bruce brags about not having a script (despite there very obviously being one, or did he just pick what photos to show on the screen at random?) but it's not always a good thing. I think having some greater point to be made here would help add some meat to the presentation, without turning it into a full-on lecture. Some narrative device, beyond the "why?" and the awful mustache. As it stands, people have described it as a sort of a motivational speech but really it's just Bruce telling funny stories without much else going on. Obviously it's not a bad, unsuccessful formula by any means but I did hear people sort of go "eh" on it after the show. And that's kind of it; if you know what to expect, you won't be disappointed but there will absolutely be no surprises or surpassed expectations either, and that's a bit of a shame to me.
---
To get to the interesting bits, here's what I recall:
So yeah, nothing particularly revelatory but entertaining nonetheless. I'm still not sure it was actually worth the price of admission, but it was an early Christmas present anyway so it's not like it's a great loss for me personally.
I think a better ending would be if he didn't pretend to be answering a question and instead said that he's out of time and then said oh but I'll sing just a little bit for you if that's okay, and then does so and leaves. That way it'd make it obvious to the audience the show's nearly over, but also provide a bit of audience interplay. First, there's a bit of a letdown since it's over, but then he goes but maybe there's enough time for me to sing something for you, raising the mood right back up again and makes the crowd feel a bit special. I dunno, just an idea. Somebody tell him that's what he should do.
Anyway, the real reason I wish I'd left early were the goddamn buses. Apparently some well entertaining bus driver decided to just blow through all the stops despite being closer to ten minutes early (I know, because I never even saw the bus I missed despite seeing the road it should've been on for quite a long time) and so I ended up wandering the city for an hour. Didn't feel like going for a beer, I just bought a sandwich and a soda at the 24/7 convenience store and by the time I was done with that I didn't have to wait for very long at the bus stop. I ended up getting home at around 11.40pm dead tired but the caffeine from the soda kept me from properly falling asleep until 7am. Not a very good time, all in all.
---
Well, that's enough of my whining. The show itself was alright. Bruce's style of presentation is of course very entertaining, although I do think the content may be a bit lacking in direction, shall we say. It's basically just anecdotes with some connecting tissue, and a collection of funny trousers. All stuff you'd already know about if you read his book, but obviously presented in a more entertaining way. That kind of adds to a general problem I had where I don't really know who these spoken word gigs are aimed at. The general public might find it amusing, but you kind of have to have some interest in Bruce Dickinson, the person, to really have a good time. But then if you're already a fan, wouldn't you have most likely read the book already?
Bruce brags about not having a script (despite there very obviously being one, or did he just pick what photos to show on the screen at random?) but it's not always a good thing. I think having some greater point to be made here would help add some meat to the presentation, without turning it into a full-on lecture. Some narrative device, beyond the "why?" and the awful mustache. As it stands, people have described it as a sort of a motivational speech but really it's just Bruce telling funny stories without much else going on. Obviously it's not a bad, unsuccessful formula by any means but I did hear people sort of go "eh" on it after the show. And that's kind of it; if you know what to expect, you won't be disappointed but there will absolutely be no surprises or surpassed expectations either, and that's a bit of a shame to me.
---
To get to the interesting bits, here's what I recall:
-I like how Bruce talked about proper hydration and avoiding talking after having a three hour long presentation and walking on stage with a beer in each hand.
-His favorite Duran Duran song is A View to a Kill. Yes, somebody asked. Apparently it had something to do with a funny headline involving a yachting accident and the lead singer.
-As you'd expect, somebody asked about if they were gonna play Alexander the Great. He pointed out it's been asked before. "Probably" was the answer.
-As mentioned before, more solo stuff with Roy Z is on the way, but not next year. They've got some songs written, but are planning to write more.
-He actually took his daughter on a trip to Lapland when she still believed in Santa Claus to see the man himself in his village. There was a funny anecdote here about that whole event but honestly I don't remember it well enough to relay it back. That's the one time he's been to Rovaniemi outside of when he was still flying airplanes professionally. Apparently it was damn cold, too.
-Somebody asked about Steve's vocal lines and he reiterated the point that they're sometimes an absolute fucking pain to sing. He used To Tame a Land as an example, curiously enough. I was surprised to see he still remembered the lyrics to that. Anyway, apparently the real reason the vocal melodies are the way they are is because Steve wants them to follow the bass lines exactly, which means having a bunch of words that could be taken out to make actually singing the lines easier.
-Somebody in the audience was at Rock in Rio. Bruce mentioned once again that he was very sick and was really unhappy with his performance.
-For him, singing is 50/50 talent and training.
-As you'd expect, even after two and a half hours of speaking, he had absolutely no trouble pulling off Revelations and it was quite amazing to see in person because you really can't quite get across how powerful his voice is and how well it projects in a recording. It's absolutely insane.
-His favorite Duran Duran song is A View to a Kill. Yes, somebody asked. Apparently it had something to do with a funny headline involving a yachting accident and the lead singer.
-As you'd expect, somebody asked about if they were gonna play Alexander the Great. He pointed out it's been asked before. "Probably" was the answer.
-As mentioned before, more solo stuff with Roy Z is on the way, but not next year. They've got some songs written, but are planning to write more.
-He actually took his daughter on a trip to Lapland when she still believed in Santa Claus to see the man himself in his village. There was a funny anecdote here about that whole event but honestly I don't remember it well enough to relay it back. That's the one time he's been to Rovaniemi outside of when he was still flying airplanes professionally. Apparently it was damn cold, too.
-Somebody asked about Steve's vocal lines and he reiterated the point that they're sometimes an absolute fucking pain to sing. He used To Tame a Land as an example, curiously enough. I was surprised to see he still remembered the lyrics to that. Anyway, apparently the real reason the vocal melodies are the way they are is because Steve wants them to follow the bass lines exactly, which means having a bunch of words that could be taken out to make actually singing the lines easier.
-Somebody in the audience was at Rock in Rio. Bruce mentioned once again that he was very sick and was really unhappy with his performance.
-For him, singing is 50/50 talent and training.
-As you'd expect, even after two and a half hours of speaking, he had absolutely no trouble pulling off Revelations and it was quite amazing to see in person because you really can't quite get across how powerful his voice is and how well it projects in a recording. It's absolutely insane.
So yeah, nothing particularly revelatory but entertaining nonetheless. I'm still not sure it was actually worth the price of admission, but it was an early Christmas present anyway so it's not like it's a great loss for me personally.
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The_7th_one
Ancient Mariner
Thanks a lot for the review!!!