Maiden fans...the best?

To answer the original question: probably. While I don't have much experience with fans of bands other than Maiden, last concert I went to was a fantastic experience. I remember especially one guy much taller and bigger than me (well that's not hard in and of itself) who made sure I had space to breathe and even offered to let me sit on his shoulders so I could see. And somehow I get the feeling a guy like that would only be at home at a Maiden concert.
 
Maiden's fans are certainly among the very best and most enthusiastic, if not at the top of the list.  I'm always impressed by how friendly they are to one another at shows, too. 

The only existing band I know of that inspires the same near-religious devotion from a sufficiently large number of fans to sell out large venues is Radiohead.  Yet those fans are very different, because the music is very different:  they sometimes dance, but mostly listen quietly to the music -- which, when the band is playing rock music and not electronic noise, is pretty damn good. 

Rush also seems to have some ridiculously devoted fans, but that's based solely on the "Beyond the Lighted Stage" film.  After next Wednesday, though, I'll be able to report based on first-hand experience. 

I don't know much about the Deadheads, but at least they have a well-known nickname, so they've got that going for them, which is nice. 
Black_Thunder94 said:
That's where Justin Beiber fans come in.
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That's not fair -- Justin Beiber fans are 11 years old.  ICP fans are grown adults, yet more stupid and less well educated than the 11 year-olds. 
 
Hate to be the buzzkiller here, but my first Maiden show was in San Bernardino last month, and I had a pretty poor experience with the other fans.  While I'm sure this isn't the norm for a Maiden fan, there were some kids (19-20 years old or so, if that) in front of us who snuck into the section with their friends and stood on the seats, directly blocking our view.  We asked them to get down and they just stared at us like they didn't understand.  That and the gangja-smoking they started engaging in by the second song (not that they knew anything except Number of the Beast / Hallowed be Thy Name) almost killed the experience for me.  By the third or fourth song I think they calmed down a little (perhaps the ganja?) and sat back down though.

On the other hand, there was a 40 year old guy with his 13 year old daughter next to us, and a whole Indian family (dot Indian, not feather) including mom, grandpa, etc. singing every word.  That was goosebump-inducing.
 
Now, before I even get into this, don't get me wrong: Maiden fans are great people. But...

I think it's more than Maiden. Metal fans in general are a great community. It's because metal isn't mainstream, so we've all had to endure the same shit. Even before we meet, we have experiences we've shared.

Even more, it's not that metal is special. Metal is just a non-mainstream subculture. cfh mentioned Deadheads, and they were (are) the same with each other. To some extent, every subculture has this kind of tighter community.

However, Maiden seem to be a special sub-subculture within metal. One experience we've all had: wearing a Maiden shirt and having some total stranger start a conversation because of it. Other band shirts may cause that sometimes, but Maiden does it all the time.
 
HallowedBeMyName said:
This. Justin Bieber fans are practically brainwashed by the mainstream media, and whoever they promote is "cool".
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Judging musicians by their coolness, not music  -_-
cornfedhick said:
That's not fair -- Justin Beiber fans are 11 years old.  ICP fans are grown adults, yet more stupid and less well educated than the 11 year-olds.
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I don't think that there's a single ICP fan.
 
Black_Thunder said:
I don't think that there's a single ICP fan.
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If only...

Denver, for reasons no one can explain, is a huge city for ICP. It's something like the #2 city nationwide for record sales, ticket sales, fan club membership, etc. You can't live here and not see those weirdos from time to time.

I assure you, they exist. But there is hope! Like using crosses to ward off vampires[sup]1[/sup], wearing Maiden shirts keeps the ICP weirdos away.


[sup]1[/sup] Classical vampires, that is. Real vampires. Not this modern "romantic vampire" shit. Go to the source: Dracula wasn't Casanova, he was Vlad The Motherfucking Impaler.
 
Maiden's fans are certainly among the very best and most enthusiastic, if not at the top of the list.  I'm always impressed by how friendly they are to one another at shows, too.
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Hmm, I would very much like to believe that was true everywhere in the world, but apparently... It's great to hear from others that their concert experiences were good ones. For me, both Maiden shows I attended were blown by the other fans. I'm not the tallest guy and I was with my girlfriend at the time, and all the pushing and moving was unbearable. You couldn't breathe or stand still, let alone see anything of the stage. Fighting for air all the time wasn't gonna do it, so we backed out and sat down on the side, which ruined the experience for me. You simply can't see a lot with Maiden's stage setup if you're at the sides.

I HOPE I will have a good experience where I can stand on my own the third time around!
 
Mostly, yes.  But there's always a couple of idiots who think that they are entitled to front-row places while arriving at the last minute, and proceed to take those places by pushing their way to the front.  That usually pisses me off, especially as most people just let them do it.  It happens more with Maiden fans than with most other metal bands' fans.  Despite that, though, the feeling of being in a Maiden crowd when Maiden is playing is completely unique. 
 
Yup, i know what you mean. I've been maybe 10 meters from the fence inside the pit and stood my ground for the whole show. When Aces High hit, things were pretty much insane, but i didn't care, i went around with the crowd  :D

Two-three songs into the concert and things were pretty much ok, everyone was still jumping and cheering but inside their personal space.
What i hate is the fucking cellphones. First, you can't record anything with it, the volume saturates that tiny microphone and the movement blurs everything. So why the fuck do you keep holding them up in the air?

But yeah, fans were great, i went alone to the show, waited ~ 5 hours, kept my spot in the pit, and wasn't bored at all.
Maiden were late, and to fill in the gap, they played some random stuff over the PA. Suddenly first notes of Doctor Doctor appeared out of the thin air. There was some guy, also a senior fan, right next to me, and in the same moment we started shouting "doctor, doctor, doctor" and throwing ourselves around. A lot of youngsters on the pit fence gave us the eye, clueless what was going to happen soon. Priceless  :rocker:
 
I remember driving up to Bristow from Chesapeake VA, and on the way there I saw at least 3 vehicles giving me "road horns" and pressing their tickets against the glass.  I knew that Iron Maiden bumper sticker I got was a wise investment!
 
chaosapiant said:
I remember driving up to Bristow from Chesapeake VA, and on the way there I saw at least 3 vehicles giving me "road horns" and pressing their tickets against the glass.  I knew that Iron Maiden bumper sticker I got was a wise investment!
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See, I no longer really bother commenting on folks I see wearing Maiden shirts because lets face it, any idiot can buy or wear one.  But you know damn well I'm throwing the horns if I see a Maiden sticker on your bumper.  :edmetal:
 
I don't remember which online store I got it, but it's the grey/silver "squared" logo from The X Factor.  My wife now has a window decal on the back of her Mazda 6 that says "got iron maiden?"  I love it!
 
This is why I'm dying to see a Maiden concert. Iron Maiden just seem to have a totally different connection to their fans than other bands do.
 
Moonchild1998 said:
This is why I'm dying to see a Maiden concert. Iron Maiden just seem to have a totally different connection to their fans than other bands do.
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Well, you absolutely need to.  I just popped my cherry, and not only was it everything it was built up to be, but it was 10x better, and the fans were a large part of that.  My wife actually teared up during one of the songs. 
 
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