I know this is a longshot, and I'm not sure if it's allowed so delete if necessary.
I'm visiting Stockholm from the United States and just found out Maiden is playing during my stay. Obviously tickets are sold out. I'd love to get my hands on a ticket for the show. Does anyone have an extra they can sell me at a reasonable price? Please PM. I'm in the Oslo airport right now waiting for my flight to Stockholm so I'll be there this evening.
Seriously much thanks if anyone can come through!
If you're at Facebook, the event page (Iron Maiden @ Stockholm or whatever it is called, you know, the official page by the promoter) is worth checking out too, people tend to sell tickets there too if something unexpected happens etc.
Well, I saw the first three shows and here's some thoughts:
- Everything about the stage show has been said, but yes, it IS spectacular.
- Nicko and Bruce are on BEAST MODE right now. Bruce absolutely nails Aces High and Where Eagles Dare in a way I honestly didn't expect.
- The setlist is great. Like Maiden England set, it's pretty unrelenting when it comes to flow, but with a bit more interesting overall approach; "best of tour" done right! I could always complain about some obvious live staples, but then again, they're the reason for many people to attend the concert in a first place. While I'd gladly replace some of them, I have to say that the added theatrics really work very well. FOTD hasn't been this good for ages. If only they dropped it for either TBOS or ME tour, this would have been quite a way to bring it back. Oh well.
- The encores work pretty well too, though the unrelenting classics feast is also the biggest problem of the set, from a hardcore-fan perspective; while the pace is great and the band, especially Bruce, really delivers even when it comes to most overplayed stuff and songs like Hallowed and RTTH sound REALLY GOOD, after Icarus there just isn't that much to be um... excited for. I mean, I really enjoyed all of the songs, some of the classics sounded better than they have for a long time, but after rather adventurous encores of the SBIT, ME and TBOS tours, this felt a bit underwhelming first... but after you kind of accepted that after Icarus the surprises were pretty much done, I find the rest of the set very enjoyable. And I can't praise Bruce enough here: he really, seriously makes the whole bunch of songs sound surprisingly fresh. That's something.
- For the Greater Good of God seemed to receive a little warmer crowd reaction in the first Helsinki show than in Tallinn or in the second Helsinki show, but since the first Helsinki show was the only of the three shows where I had a seated place, it's a bit hard to compare. Just a feeling. Anyway, it DOES kinda slow the set down, but it also works very well live, Bruce's delivery of the song might be even better than it was in 2006. The Wicker Man works very well right after it. Judging by the crowd reactions after seeing it live in 2011 and now, it really is another "modern classic." While I wouldn't change it's place in the set now, I could definitely see it as a possible future encore opener. Just a thought - I think it could work very well there.
- Sign of the Cross... Wow. I mean, many of us expected Revelations, The Clansman, Icarus and FTGGOG to be played, but I honestly didn't expect them to play this one. I almost had some tears of joy when I heard the intro tape in Tallinn. And the way it was delivered... Wow. Bruce really seems to love the drama in The Clansman and Sign of the Cross. If you look at the videos without the sound, you can tell just by the look of his performance that he really loves to sing that stuff. I always knew that The Clansman is a brilliant live piece, but having finally experienced the power of it myself... wow. That chorus is just MASSIVE live. And Sign of the Cross, followed by Flight of Icarus was perhaps the highlight of the whole show. I mean, as I said, you can always nitpick about a song or two, but this setlist has a great flow and the band's - and again, especially Bruce's - level of intensity when doing even the most obvious songs really makes this a very special show.