I was also there last night, and it was the first time I've ever seen Maiden live. Bloody awesome it was too. I'll run through it.
We (I went with three friends) got there about quarter to 6, which I think was about the right time. There was already quite a sizeable queue but we joined it and were going inside in no time at all. First of all we bought merchandise - I got a cool tour T-Shirt priced at £20 and a sweatband for £6. Then we went through to the standing area, and to our amazement there were hardly any people there, just a few rows congregating at the front, which we joined. I thought we'd be waiting there for ages, but within about 15 minutes, Lauren Harris and her band took to the stage.
Although not really my cup of tea, they were all decent musicians and I did enjoy their music. Lets just say the scenery wasn't too bad to look at either. Aside from Lauren, the bass player, who was nearest to me most of the time was very good, and the drummer was nuts and enjoyable to watch too. At this stage, people were just standing enjoying the music and it was all very civilised, which got my hopes up for the rest of the show - I hoped there'd be less moshing/pushing than I'd heard about before, especially due to my central forward position.
Well, I guess that was bound to change when Trivium came on, after building up their entrance with copious amounts of introduction music and the like. I'd liked their music for quite a while, but I was quite apprehensive about what the crowd would be like. I'd heard they were a very weak band live, but they really must have sharpened up their act, because they were on top form, and sounded great. I really enjoyed most of their songs, especially 'Detonation', from their new album, which sounded fantastic live. Being a drummer myself, I always tend to focus on the drummer at live shows, and Travis Smith was excellent. Really tight and technically able. Naturally during Trivium's set there was a lot of pushing, which I coped with OK, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I kept out of the moshpits as well - not my thing. Frontman Matt Heafy said many times the the audience were much better than those last night, although in fairness, that's probably because on the 22nd he was barraged with piss bottles. (
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbe ... emID=64263)
Then, after what seemed like a long wait, the curtain was dropped, Nicko's "Iyeee!!" was heard, and the band launched into 'Different World'. At this point the pushing and squashing became intense and I was worried whether the rest of the show would be like this. Thankfully, though, it wasn't, and by the end of that song the pushing died down as everyone started to really get into the music. One thing during Different World that I should mention is that Bruce actually told people on the left to stop with the moshing - "you don't want to get hurt now" (meaning 2 days before Christmas I presume), and I thought that was dead on. I respect him for that. Well anyway, Maiden blasted through the entire AMOLAD album, and I can tell you, it sounded great live. Although they all looked somewhat jaded due to their extensive touring, they were still on top form and handled the relatively complex album spectacularly. By the time they completed their album, I was slightly suffering from not having eaten anything beforehand, and the claustrophobicness of being in the center, so I went to the side for while. It was actually much better there - more room, and a better view of the stage. The next song on the list was 'Fear of the Dark' which of course is ever the crowd favourite and caused everyone to go wild, and sing along. The effect of the whole audience singing that melody was immense. Then was Iron Maiden which is one of my favourite live songs and sounded fantastic. The encore consisted of 2 Minutes to Midnight' and the 'Evil That Men Do' which also sounded really good. Ending the show was 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' which heralded a last minute attempt at moshing, but was performed flawlessly and excellently by the band. It was probably my favourite song of the night.
Also, at some part of the show (I can't remember when), Bruce announced that it was Dave's birthday, and got us all to sing a "raucous" Happy Birthday to him, which was fun. Dave's embarrassed thanks and Steve's mouthing "50!" made me laugh. Another was when a Sooty (of Sooty and Sweep) doll was thrown up onto stage, and Bruce grabbed it and talked about Nicko's appearance on the show (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nV-21pDxjic), and asked us, if we remembered it so well, to sing the theme tune, which none of us could do. Hilarious stuff.
I known I haven't added anything new or unknown by writing this review, but I thought I would anyway, to let people know what an awesome live band I think Iron Maiden are.
Up the Irons!
Here are a few of the best pictures that I took. I might post some more soon, if anyone's interested:
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