LEGACY OF THE BEAST WORLD TOUR 2022 - **CONTAINS SPOILERS**

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By the way, now that @Zvonimir mentioned Bruce's behaviour on the recent Zagreb show.
Of course he didn't perform the best Real Live Tour before he quit from the band but there are probably some other shows too.
I remember seeing that clip from Oslo, Norway 2011 from The Final Frontier World Tour where Bruce stands pretty much still and somehow it really makes awkward feeling from watching him perform. Was there anything going at that time or was he sick/tired or something?
 
By the way, now that @Zvonimir mentioned Bruce's behaviour on the recent Zagreb show.
Of course he didn't perform the best Real Live Tour before he quit from the band but there are probably some other shows too.
I remember seeing that clip from Oslo, Norway 2011 from The Final Frontier World Tour where Bruce stands pretty much still and somehow it really makes awkward feeling from watching him perform. Was there anything going at that time or was he sick/tired or something?

As far as I remember, Bruce was sick in Oslo in 2011. His voice did not recover and some of the UK shows at the end of the tour were pretty substandard.
 
That show in Zagreb just didn't feel right at all and left me a sour aftertaste.

Why open with a dull piece of music (not really a song) that works basically as a background for too many ok-ish but not brilliant guitar solos, and with zero singalong potential? Nothing dramatic about it live. I took a quick glance around the arena - can you remember last time you saw Maiden and people remained in their seats during the opening song? Likewise, Bruce says TWOTW is a great singalong song, but when actually performed live we're talking Journeyman sort of "greatness". Folky mid section with 2 amazing solos is all nice but cannot really save it live. By the time Revelations kicks in, excitement levels are zero, and then straight we go into another slow hand-clapper, Blood brothers. Other than that, classics like TNOTB and FOTD are played at such slow tempos they feel alien and unfamiliar. I instinctively as always started to sing along to those but gave up because I couldn't follow and it just felt wrong. And then the only real fists-in-the-air pumpers in the set (Trooper and Clansman) are played as encores. Whail Oil Beef Hooked, right?

The entire show never really takes off and the ballsier stuff towards the end feels like belated tries of making-up for never really delivering the goods. And on top of all that, when one thinks this mistake has finally come to an end, we get a "surprise" 2nd encore in the form of sped-up ZZ-top boogie tune served as Aces High. People around us in the front, likewise senior lifelong fans, were jokingly bouncing and dancing to it. When Bruce went into "Bandits at 8 o'clock" line, sounding like severely constipated grand-grandmother, after already butchering Hallowed and Icarus and just about every other non-Blaze and non-Di'Anno song played, my wife and I just looked at each other and I think for a moment we felt like that elderly couple from WTWWB. Sadly and unintentionally, never has the Monty Python song at the end felt more appropriate.

Too bad really because not all is wrong. The 3 amigos are each on top of their game. Dave really shines on SOTC, TWOTW (a bit overshadowed by H in that song but still a killer solo) and Blood Brothers is pure Maiden Magic. Jan is on fire, his best performance I've seen, he even did Hallowed solo with class. If they played exactly the same tunes but in a proper running order (even the slowest of the slow can realize Aces High is useless as a show closer without actually having to try and see) it could have been great, and had they played Rainmaker or SITSL or Hell on Earth instead of Icarus or TNOTB or Senjutsu, it could be magical.

One more thing, tempos were dreadfully slow on TBOS tour already, and "hitting the notes" in classic songs has been painful for a looong time, but all was forgiven because it was Maiden, it ain't all too serious and has not to be perfect, and camaraderie was felt between Dickinson and the boys and the relationship with the audience was strong. This time I haven't seen goofing with Janick, removing the mic stand from Adrian, joking with Nicko and the usual Bruce stuff on stage. It was an act and it felt exactly like one, very fake and you could tell straight away that he's not into it. The super-short speech prior to Blood Brothers was just plain dumb and even the trademark scream-for-mes were few and unconvincing. Just drop the ego thing already and sing those classics in the lower octave, stop butchering those songs night after night FFS. I applaud Steve for refusing to tune down for him, those songs are best sounding in their original keys and Bruce is the one who should adapt to HIS age, not the other 4. He might be The Voice of Maiden, but the soul of it is stage right, in the hands of Davey and H.

The writing's really on the wall, sadly. Don't believe me and go witness it yourself.

Thanks for taking the time to write that review.

I wasn't at the gig and it is highly unlikely that I will see them live on this leg of the tour, but I find the setlist surprising, and not in a good way. Too many mid-tempo songs to kick off a Maiden show? It could go down like a lead balloon at festivals.
 
Setlist opinions aside, I think it's important to cut the band some slack on the first night of the tour, especially after 3 years of no gigs. I've only ever been to one tour debut show (TBOS 2016) and though the energy was immense being Bruce's first post-cancer show, this seems to be the exception to the rule... and it was far from perfect performance-wise.

Based on what I've seen on YouTube, the first gig of the tour is typically rife with mistakes (*cough Belgrade 2009 cough*) and Bruce is never anywhere near as interactive as presumably he's still getting comfortable with the set.
 
I think one song from Senjetsu would be enough, surely no one wants to hear 3 songs from it over Where eagles date/ 2 mins 2 midnight.

Also, slightly off topic but does anyone know how contracts work with guitar/drum techs? When the band isn't touring are they being paid or is it up to them to find alternative employment? Or maybe the work they do for the band is enough that they don't have to work in between tours ect.
Since I've seen Eagles and 2 Minutes multiple times, and I love Senjutsu, give me the new songs...
 
This tells me whatever the Senjutsu tour will be next year won't be as extensive so this could be the only chance some get to see the new songs/ setup. So at least people will get to see it and not be as disappointed when the 2023 tour goes nowhere near them
This 100%

It reminds of when the US only got eldorado and nothing else from the final frontier tour.

It makes me think they have definite plans to tour the whole album but know the US and certain other territories would go ape shit if they did this so are giving some places now a little taste of Senjutsu as these are the play classics crowds.
 
Nope. They did that in the early days. Here's one example:

They had more than on encore on the Beast on the Road tour when I saw them do a headline date. Was such an awesome show!
 
Setlist opinions aside, I think it's important to cut the band some slack on the first night of the tour, especially after 3 years of no gigs. I've only ever been to one tour debut show (TBOS 2016) and though the energy was immense being Bruce's first post-cancer show, this seems to be the exception to the rule... and it was far from perfect performance-wise.

Based on what I've seen on YouTube, the first gig of the tour is typically rife with mistakes (*cough Belgrade 2009 cough*) and Bruce is never anywhere near as interactive as presumably he's still getting comfortable with the set.
Hear hear.

Getting a little bored of all the negging on here tbh. You'd think it was the worst gig they'd ever performed judging by half the comments.

Although I suspect that even if they had played a blinder there would still be a ton of complaints because "they didn't play XYZ song".
 
This 100%

It reminds of when the US only got eldorado and nothing else from the final frontier tour.

It makes me think they have definite plans to tour the whole album but know the US and certain other territories would ape shit if they did this so are giving some places now a little taste of Senjutsu as these are the play classics crowds.
I was perfectly okay with that, because we didn't have to sit through 2 Minutes, Trooper, TETMD, etc. for the millionth time, got multiple AMOLAD songs, AND Ghost of the Navigator!
 
Hear hear.

Getting a little bored of all the negging on here tbh. You'd think it was the worst gig they'd ever performed judging by half the comments.

Although I suspect that even if they had played a blinder there would still be a ton of complaints because "they didn't play XYZ song".
Yep, these days folks everywhere just dwell on the negative, it seems.
 
Hear hear.

Getting a little bored of all the negging on here tbh. You'd think it was the worst gig they'd ever performed judging by half the comments.

Although I suspect that even if they had played a blinder there would still be a ton of complaints because "they didn't play XYZ song".

Yup. Give them time and they'll settle into a groove as always. They're not going to get any younger and some songs may be a bit slower, but this is nothing new and they can still deliver a great performance unlike many of their peers.
 
You're right it would be much more interesting on here if we all blindly lapped up everything they do.
No one's implying that. I have plenty of criticisms about LOTB 2022 - I don't think Aces works well as a set closer, the transition from TWOTW to Revelations is awkward and overlong, Revelations>Blood Brothers>SOTC is one too many long songs in a row, and I really miss FTGGOG, WED, and Wicker Man.

All I'm saying is that maybe give them a few gigs to shake the dust off before jumping to the conclusion that they have serious performance issues.
 
Belgrade 2009
Yep, that's the one. I remember when this was starting show for the 2009 leg of Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, still have this among my collections:
10.2.2009 Beogradska Arena, Belgrade, Serbia

Little synopsis of the mistakes and happenings (Im not totally sure if the youtube version is the same as mine):
-H starts 2MTM instead of Wrathchild, the band carries on and plays it.
-Nicko randomly counts The Trooper at 21:15. Band reactions are hillarious. Then he proceeds to fuck up Phantom at 22:20.
-And my favourite, H starts playing WY instead of Trooper. Bruce tells him to get his eyes fucking checked (28:57).
-After HBTN, Bruce thinks it's the end of the show. He says goodnight, see you later, while the band just stands there like, WTF is he doing? After he gave so much shit to Nicko and H during the show, he fucked up in the end too. HBTN was the last song of the set on the previous years leg of the tour, that's why Bruce must have thought that it was the last song of the evening.

:D
 
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No one's implying that. I have plenty of criticisms about LOTB 2022 - I don't think Aces works well as a set closer, the transition from TWOTW to Revelations is awkward and overlong, Revelations>Blood Brothers>SOTC is one too many long songs in a row, and I really miss FTGGOG, WED, and Wicker Man.

All I'm saying is that maybe give them a few gigs to shake the dust off before jumping to the conclusion that they have serious performance issues.
Was more of a reply to Spaldy and Lurker not you
 
Yep, that's the one. I remember when this was starting show for the 2009 leg of Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, still have this among my collections:
10.2.2009 Beogradska Arena, Belgrade, Serbia

Little synopsis of the mistakes and happenings (Im not totally sure if the youtube version is the same as mine):
-H starts 2MTM instead of Wrathchild, the band carries on and plays it.
-Nicko randomly counts The Trooper at 21:15. Band reactions are hillarious. Then he proceeds to fuck up Phantom at 22:20.
-And my favourite, H starts playing WY instead of Trooper. Bruce tells him to get his eyes fuckinging checked (28:57).
-after HBTN, Bruce thinks it's the end of the show. He says goodnight, see you later, while the band just stands there like, WTF is he doing? After he gave so much shit to Nicko and H during the show, he fucked up in the end too.
HBTN was the last song of the set, on the previous years leg of the tour, that's why Bruce must have thought that it was the last song of the evening.

:D
I love rewatching this whole show every once in a while for all these little moments! This and that 2008 gig where Adrian sneezed right before Can I Play With Madness :lol:
 
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