General fan vibe during the Blaze days

Must have been really hard for Steve to go from playing to 10s of thousands to playing to hundreds. But I doubt he ever would have given up on or shut down Maiden. It's his life.

I'm glad they never quit in the 90s. 21st century Maiden has been such a miracle, a blessing.

Janick gets a lot of flack from some fans, but he was there holding it together during the tough days. Blaze just never really fit.
 
Operations666 said:
Must have been really hard for Steve to go from playing to 10s of thousands to playing to hundreds.
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This was only true for the US, though. Most other countries remained in the thousands, even if the venues were smaller than before. In South America, they headlined stadia and major festivals. Let's not make this more dramatic than it really was.
 
I saw the two Blaze tours, it was certainly mostly all die hards at the show .. it was a bit depressing the places they were playing in compared to before.

I think the band was playing and working hard ... and I think the people who attended enjoyed it .. I did .. but it was just not the same to me ... I think a fair amount of people (especially in the US) thought Maiden were on their last legs ... and probably would have been here if they did not make the change
 
It was very small venues in the U.K. Too. Leeds Town & Country club held only a few hundred.

Bruce relegated himself to playing these kind of places too though.
 
I saw Maiden in Belfast in Feb 1996 X Factor Tour. The venue was a leisure centre that would hold maybe 500 people and it wasn't even half full. Last I looked, it wasn't even on the official website gig list. Yet they played big gigs elsewhere. So UK/USA isnt the be all and end all so its hard to judge but it is undeniable that the guys went from playin 1000's to 100's in some places which must have had an effect on them and this is why, for me, they get so much kudos. They kept goin and got better. Fair play lads. Although I'm sure Dave didnt give a fuck, he seems stoned to the dick at all time.
 
Perun said:
This was only true for the US, though. Most other countries remained in the thousands, even if the venues were smaller than before. In South America, they headlined stadia and major festivals. Let's not make this more dramatic than it really was.
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Your right, I can only speak for how the vibe was here, west coast United States. They went from very respected metal gods, to, these guys have basically broken up and have no future.
What a drag that was for us here. But it made the reunion all the sweeter! And as has been stated before, turned out to be a blessing....
 
fekso2017 said:
I lost your point mate :) sorry
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What I was saying is British Lion is a side/fun gig for him ... somewhat of a hobby

Maiden is his baby

So now he has his fun side project ... that he can drop tomorrow if he wants and still go play with Maiden to packed crowds in big places.

During the Blaze tours ... Maiden was all he had music wise .. that had to be depressing
 
bearfan said:
What I was saying is British Lion is a side/fun gig for him ... somewhat of a hobby

Maiden is his baby

So now he has his fun side project ... that he can drop tomorrow if he wants and still go play with Maiden to packed crowds in big places.

During the Blaze tours ... Maiden was all he had music wise .. that had to be depressing
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Fair enough, point taken!
 
I went to Birmingham NEC to see Maiden in 93 on the real live/dead tour and the areana was 3/4 full. So with Bruce (albeit he had announced he was leaving) at the helm popularity was on the wane. In 96 I saw maiden at Newport leisure centre. You could smell chlorine from the pool next door! Couple of 1000 fans max. So was it just a bad time for the band and metal generally? Was it just bad timing for Blaze?
 
I saw Maiden on both the blaze album tours in London. Both times they played the Brixton academy which was a come down from the bigger arenas but it still has a capacity of over 4000 and both times the place was rammed. There were a few hardcore fans chanting being back Bruce, even one loud mouth I remember kept shouting bring back Dianno lol.

In fact over the years I've met some strange Maiden fans at gigs where I don't understand why they bothered buying a ticket and turning up. I remember talking to a guy at a death on the road gig who was adament that the 1st two albums were the only real maiden albums and he hated all the albums since. I asked him why he was even at this gig and he said to get pissed!!! Well fuck off down the pub then I said to him.

Anyway back to Blaze. I remember loads of promotion during the blaze years too. Big magazine articles (U.K.) and loads of stuff on MTV's headbangers ball. Whilst it was obvious maidens star was fading they certainly didn't seem like a band that was about to call it quits. I thought blaze sang really well both times I saw him although I did think his stage presence as a front man was severely lacking. I don't remember much in between song banter and he seemed stuck on the spot singing, hardly moving except to keep banging his fist in the air.

I always remember thinking that whilst Bruce would always be the best frontman and singer for Maiden I really did like blazes voice and as a fan I was more than happy to see Maiden carry on with Blaze. Heck, the X factor remains in my top 5 maiden albums I think it's a brilliant album. I was being spoilt at the time. Bruce was making great solo albums (skunkworks aside which was hideous) plus Maiden were still cracking out great albums.

To answer the guy above (fekso2017) who says popularity and album sales are not the be all and end all and that music should be made for fun only I have to disagree. With Maiden being as big as they are they have complete artistic freedom to whatever they like. No record label pressure for a hit single, no one telling them they don't have the budget to put on the tours and shows they want to do. Arguably the bigger you become as a musician the more real and honest the music becomes. It's when your a pub band or a struggling artist trying to sell records and put bums on seats at gigs are you more likely to compromise your integrity as an artist as your chasing the dream.

Whilst I cannot say for sure I highly doubt that anyone whose ever played in a band in a small scale hasn't dreamed of headlining a major festival and having thousands of fans screaming their name and singing along to their songs.
 
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Wayne Bond said:
to answer to guy above...
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I get your point, but I have to disagree with that part about success gives you freedom. I cant see how Maiden compromised with anything as a pub band. They stayed true to their idea regardless. It might be true in some cases, but not with Maiden.

If anyone would like to discuss this subject further with me please start a thread, I'll be there ;) a bit of topic here.

Anyway very intresting post regarding the Brixton gigs. Always wanted to attend a show at that venue.
 
fekso2017 said:
I get your point, but I have to disagree with that part about success gives you freedom. I cant see how Maiden compromised with anything as a pub band. They stayed true to their idea regardless. It might be true in some cases, but not with Maiden.

If anyone would like to discuss this subject further with me please start a thread, I'll be there ;) a bit of topic here.

Anyway very intresting post regarding the Brixton gigs. Always wanted to attend a show at that venue.
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To be fair your right about Maiden not compromising as a pub band but they are a rare example of a band that had a vision and stuck to their guns. Having said that would the band have got away with the albums that have been released in the reunion period back in the early days. I can't imagine them turning up to EMI with the double album book of souls as their first or second album. I'm sure the label would have told them to fuck off and come back with a shorter more accessible album.

At this point in their career and for a very long time actually Maiden are wealthy beyond anything they ever imagined when they were a pub band. They could have retired decades ago as millionaires so why keep writing albums and doing tours? It's not for the money it's for the love and enjoyment of what they do so when bands get into the position Maiden is in I'd argue that the music becomes more real and honest. look at Judas Priest as an example. They could never have done Nostradamus I'm in the 80's.

I won't go into this any further as I'm getting way off topic but think this is an interesting subject for another thread. I'd start one myself but I'm typing this on my phone and about to get off the train for work in a second :)

Back on topic I know that the buzz around Maiden went through the roof when it was announced Bruce and H were returning. Luckily I got to see the warm up tour with them back promoting ed hunter. Sadly the tour never hit the uk but luckily the fan club (which I was a member of at the time) put an awesome package together and I saw them in Paris and Rotterdam. Now when BNW was released they had gone from the Brixton academy to Earl's Court for the metal 2000 gigs which is like upgrading from playing football in my garden to Wembley stadium lol however I saw them with Bruce on the BNW at the Shepherd's Bush empire in London. This was after the main tour and I remember thinking how can they be playing there it has a capacity less than half of the Brixton academy. Plus I saw the Clive benefit gigs at the Brixton academy. My point of this is that during the blaze years it didn't feel like the band were on the verge of quitting it felt like a transitional period where I kept thinking once they have done 3/4 albums with blaze and he settles in they'll be back to the big arenas. As I said in my previous post Maiden were getting loads of press and tv coverage during the blaze years. At least that was my perception from the uk. It's funny how everyone writes off the 90's for Maiden yet in the uk they had their first ever number one single, fear of the dark was only the third time they had a number one album plus they headlined donnington again. They still pulled decent crowds in London for the blaze gigs plus x-factor I remember reviewed very well at the time. The 90's were never as bad as people make out and sometimes when I hear people dismiss the 90's I wonder if they actually lived through this decade as a Maiden fan as I see so many younglings on forums saying they only got into Maiden during the reunion years yet slag off the 90's.
 
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fekso2017 said:
The 1995 Gothenburg show was attended by 800..
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It wasn't. Kåren in Gothenburg is a 2000 capacity venue and it was sold out. They played Cirkus in Stockholm as well, which can take 1800 people.

In 1998 though they were back at a bigger venue when they sold out Johanneshov in Stockholm - 8 000 tickets. http://www.dn.se/arkiv/teater/musik-jubel-for-iron-maidenstjarna/
I think that was the biggest headline show during the Blaze years, excluding festivals.
 
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TheTalisman said:
It wasn't. Kåren in Gothenburg is a 2000 capacity venue and it was sold out. They played Cirkus in Stockholm as well, which can take 1800 people.

In 1998 though they were back at a bigger venue when they sold out Johanneshov in Stockholm - 8 000 tickets. http://www.dn.se/arkiv/teater/musik-jubel-for-iron-maidenstjarna/
I think that was the biggest headline show during the Blaze years, excluding festivals.
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Do you have any sources for that? Ive been to the venue myself and 2000 seems much. Not to put you down or anything, when I think about it, 800 might been a bit to small.
 
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