Iced Earth

supersonic said:
That must have been a great show. Turisas is a great band, quite cheesy like you said, but their music more than makes up for it.  B)
Ive heard of Annihilator a lot, I have to listen to a few of their albums. 

Thats a damn good setlist, apart from
Melancholy- Holy Martyr, I personally find it quite cheesy, and I would have killed to see Dracula
.
There's still hope for fans in places like India to see bands like them, as Ive read on the net quite a few times that Symphony X are planning a trip to India, Russia, and the Middle East as part of their Paradise Lost tour.  :yey:

As per your request, check Perun's setlist again, you'll be pleased. I thought it was a good setlist, but frankly I still feel they are on a downhill. I missed their Horror Show tour in which they did the three sets thing... you can't top that honestly, and with Barlow gone and Schaffer having back problems only compounds their poor choices for songs as of late...
 
Onhell said:
As per your request, check Perun's setlist again, you'll be pleased. I thought it was a good setlist, but frankly I still feel they are on a downhill. I missed their Horror Show tour in which they did the three sets thing... you can't top that honestly, and with Barlow gone and Schaffer having back problems only compounds their poor choices for songs as of late...
Sorry I don't think I wrote that properly, what I meant was I didn't like the first song and envy Perun for seeing the second song live.
 
Thanks Perun, I'm glad you enjoyed it. I have to control myself to NOT see the spoiler part. ;)

Perun said:
Iced Earth rocked, in my opinion, but you'll never get a crowd without Barlow nostalgics and Glorious Burden-haters, so at times, the mood was a bit low. Fortunately, I stood at the barrier, so I didn't really notice, but my mate who stood a bit more at the back told me.

Maybe this was the same mate who told you this stuff (see the Ian Gillan (Deep Purple): Classic Rock Radio is Death Sentence to Old Bands topic) 16 August 2007?:

Interestingly enough, I had a discussion with a mate of mine just a few hours ago, and we basically came to the same conclusion. He'd seen Iced Earth at Wacken, and told me they sucked donkey balls... not because of the Ripper, not because the music they were playing was that bad, but because they failed to get the audience going, as they played so few classics. He said he wouldn't have minded that sort of setlist at a regular album tour (he actually considers going to see them again in October), but at a festival like Wacken, where the smallest part of the audience consists of die-hard fans, and most of them will only know the band from their classics, the best way to get the audience going is to play mostly classics and then one or two new songs. In his words, the Iced Earth gig really dampened the general mood of the audience.
He also said that Iced Earth have become significantly worse during the last few years, but that... is part of a different discussion.


At the back you'll often find the most critics. Also, at the back you'll often find people who didn't follow a band for a while. Some of them might have trouble to get into the band again.

I am also not a big fan of Glorious Burden but if they would play e.g. Declaration Day I'm a happy man! One of the best Ripper vocals on that album! There are always people at concerts who don't like something. When Maiden plays, there might be people who dislike Lord of the Flies or Futureal, because it was from that period. If this spoils the complete gig for them, that's their problem.

Now on Matt Barlow. I can really understand that people prefer him (even I do!), but Matt Barlow left in 2003. I guess most people in the audience were aware of that! It's not only about taste or nostalgia, it's also about accepting a new situation, in order to enjoy a concert. Technically speaking, Ripper doesn't make many mistakes, he doesn't sing off key like Blaze did all the time. He has one of the strongest voices in metal, so he's a decent replacement and he keeps the band going.
If I want Barlow, I'll see this stuff: http://forum.maidenfans.com/index.php?topic=13640.0 :)
 
I just woke up with a sore neck, and a thirst for more!
Of course, I would have loved to see Iced Earth on the Horror Show tour, even without that gargantuan setlist Forostar mentioned (I have a bootleg from the Montreal gig which has a "normal" setlist, but still contains most of my favourites), but so what? I enjoyed this gig a lot, and I'm not complaining. I met another fan in the metro later on, and we both agreed (to the dismay of my mate) that Barlow isn't coming back, so you should put up with it. Owens is a great singer in his own right, and he really adapted to the band well.
I watched a video from the Glorious Burden tour where Ripper does "Dracula" on Youtube, and I thought it was terrible. So I paid special attention to him doing my second favourite IE track (after "A Question Of Heaven") last night, and he vastly improved- he was really, really good.

Forostar said:
Maybe this was the same mate who told you this stuff (see the Ian Gillan (Deep Purple): Classic Rock Radio is Death Sentence to Old Bands topic) 16 August 2007?:

Indeed, it was him. He said he enjoyed this gig more, though, because they played a lot more classics (and he also got used to the new material by now).

Some more information: The venue held about 1,000 people. It's part of a three-venue complex including Columbiahalle (the biggest one), Huxley's Neue Welt (Maiden played there a couple of times in the nineties) and Columbia Club, which is where IE played. There was another gig by some commercial band going on simultaneously in the Columbia Halle, and in both cases, quite a few people were queueing to see the wrong band!
Schaffer apologised for not coming to Berlin for five years, and when somebody in the crowd screamed "come here next year!" he quite liked the idea. He also really seemed to enjoy the gig and making contact with the fans (he kept teasing the guy standing next to me until he finally gave him a pick at the end of the show :D). Same with Ripper. The other guys... well, Seele stood at the other end of the stage so I didn't see very much of him (he played well, but of course he didn't make as much of a show). Hayes was always in the background.
During the long instrumental interludes early in the gig and in "Gettysburg", when the others took a dramatic pose, he always stood in the background looking around or to the ceiling, which was quite funny to see.
There was an after show party in a local metal pub, but my mate was too tired and we both were out of cash, so we decided not too go... shame, actually.
 
I think I've been spoiled by watching Bruce on stage on DVD.  Quite frankly, watching Ripper pace back and forth over and over again is extremely boring.
 
LooseCannon said:
I think I've been spoiled by watching Bruce on stage on DVD.  Quite frankly, watching Ripper pace back and forth over and over again is extremely boring.

It's not much of a problem when you see him live. ;)
 
I didn't think it would be, when you're all caught up in the music and stuff, but you have to admit, he is a little stationary - even though his voice is obviously in tip top shape.
 
LooseCannon said:
I didn't think it would be, when you're all caught up in the music and stuff, but you have to admit, he is a little stationary - even though his voice is obviously in tip top shape.

Well, he was moving around quite a lot when I saw him... as much as the tiny stage would allow anyway.
 
Oh, I believe it.  My point is more that Bruce is a fantastic frontman, you get the feeling he could get a crowd inflamed with a microphone and a milk crate, and that it's kinda hard to watch other musicians without Bruce's incredible talent up front.  I mean, not to say Ripper sucks - god knows I love the new Iced Earth, but it's just, there's a significant difference in stage presence, based solely on the 5 recorded Maiden videos I have watched and a smattering of YouTube videos.
 
Brent Smedley talking about the Berlin gig (part of his tourdiary from the official IE site):

..The next day we traveled to Berlin, Germany a city steeped in history. We played a place called the Columbia club. It was the first time for the band to play this club, we have played many places in Berlin before...most of them are stories in and among themselves, but stories for another time. Back to the current tour...The catering (food) here was probably the best on tour so far, Kudos to the cook (sorry I didn’t get his name). The show was very good here as well, a couple of minor set backs…the lighting system was some what dysfunctional (Swiss Chris made the best of it) and it was quite cold on stage as well until the Metal began to flow and heat the place. Some of the fellas went to an after party which was held at Club Halford, which is run by a Rob Halford look alike, where they played some old Iced Earth videos and every one was said to have had a good time. With this show we are now 1/3 of the way through Chapter 1 (Europe) of the Worldwide Wicked tour...
 
ICED EARTH will be IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson's guests on Friday, November 30 during Bruce's weekly BBC 6 Music radio show, aptly named "The Bruce Dickinson Friday Rock Show". Listen to the program live via the Internet between 10:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. U.K. time at BBC.co.uk.

According to a posting on ICED EARTH's official web site, the band is planning on hitting the road in the U.S. in March/April 2008, to be followed by tours in Australia, Canada, Japan and Russia, among other countries. More details will be announced soon.
 
ICED EARTH drummer Brent Smedley has posted another couple of entries in the "Road Rage Reports" section of the band's official web site. An excerpt follows:

"The next day we traveled to Manchester to play at the M.E.N., which stand for The Manchester Evening News. Another massive venue, as I believed they all would be for the remainder of the tour. Soundman Chris's father was in attendance at this gig.

"The venue is located right down the street from a Hard Rock Café which some of the guys were able to visit after the gig. The nightlife was alive and well in this area. There was also another rock club in the area, which supposedly stayed open until 7 a.m. and had 5 rooms with live bands. None of us were able to venture out to this place, maybe next time.

"The show was a good one for us, once again increasing the number of ICED EARTH fans in the U.K. Biff Byford from SAXON was in attendance, and, of course, backstage on this night.

"The following day we played in London at the historic and quite famous Wembley Arena. It was quite an honor and a privilege to play this place that so many of the greats have played. Jon's wife and daughter were able to attend this night. Pretty cool first concert for his daughter to see at the age of 2. The band played exceptionally well this night, playing a flawless show with enormous energy, intensity, and emotion. I would have to say this was the best show of this part of the tour, both performance-wise and also crowd-wise. It was probably the biggest crowd so far and definitely the most enthusiastic.

"As we left the stage the crowd was calling for more...There were some other extra special guests in attendance this night — Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith from IRON MAIDEN. What a great night to have our best show yet!

"The very next day we played in Brighton at the Brighton Centre. An interesting venue located inside a conference center. This is located a mere block from the Sea, The English Channel to be exact. I was able to take a walk on the boardwalk and the seashore and sample the sites and take many pictures. The Brighton Pier is a small amusement park in its own right; complete with several arcades, a carousel, bumper cars, a haunted house, and many, many more amusement park style rides. There were also several tarot card/fortune tellers up and down the boardwalk. For blocks and blocks there were all sorts of shops. Seems like it would be a nice play to take a vacation.

"So onto the show...This night we were plagued with technical difficulties. I broke a bottom snare head (which is an extremely rare occurrence); we had problems with the wireless transmitters, and several other things. Some nights these things happen, it is amazing how much can go wrong in a half-hour. But much to the band and crew's credit, we persevered and gave it our best. I think all in all it was still a great show and moved us ever forward in our goal of gaining new fans and exposing new people to the music of ICED EARTH."
 
Forostar said:
ICED EARTH will be IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson's guests on Friday, November 30 during Bruce's weekly BBC 6 Music radio show

The interview can be heard here (for a week).

It starts from 03:12

Unfortunately it's not Bruce interviewing IE. Instead, it's Owens interviewing Schaffer. Still a nice interview. Schaffer also talks briefly about Maiden, and that he's a gigantic Steve Harris fan.
 
Forostar said:
The interview can be heard here (for a week).

It starts from 03:12

Unfortunately it's not Bruce interviewing IE. Instead, it's Owens interviewing Schaffer. Still a nice interview. Schaffer also talks briefly about Maiden, and that he's a gigantic Steve Harris fan.
MEH! Realplayer's fucking with me. Could someone help me? Save it as a mp3 file for me or something?
 
LooseCannon said:
I think I've been spoiled by watching Bruce on stage on DVD.  Quite frankly, watching Ripper pace back and forth over and over again is extremely boring.
I saw Iced Earth support Heaven and Hell a few weeks back, and was very much impressed by them. It was also my first exposure to Ripper Owens, and I thought that he was really quite good, and the pacing didn't bother me that much. ;) He got the crowd going well, but you're right, not a patch on Bruce.
 
Well, this is my point.  I've been spoiled by watching Bruce, who is simply in a class of his own with other amazing frontmen like Freddy Mercury and Rob Halford.
 
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