Most memorable Maiden concert moments

Maidenvana

Invader
Where have you seen Maiden and What are some of your most memorable personal experiences with Iron Maiden in terms of their live performances?

Mine was seeing them for the first time in 2009. I think everything on my body stood tall once the beginnings of Aces High played over the PA.
 
Back in 1992 when I was 17, they had a contest on the radio for the 10th caller to win Maiden tickets. My friend and I were in total shock when I won!
 
Seeing Bruce go apeshit on some dumbass for spitting or throwing stuff at him in Cleveland 99 sticks out. At the same show Bruce also pointed out my then girlfriend from the stage between songs and made a face at her.

Im paraphrasing here but hearing Bruce tell the crowd to that he hopes they buy the album if they like it but to go ahead and download it off the net for free if they cant afford it also stands out. Think it was 03 Columbus show with Dio and Moterhead but might have been the 05 Columbus Ozzfest.
 
He said that for every show in 03. He was talking about the new single Wildest Dreams.
 
Most of my 12 Maiden gigs to date have been very memorable, because I usually had to travel far and met a lot of great people over and over, and it's always been great. Of course I will never forget my very first Maiden gig, in Paris, standing at the barrier, and the pure feeling of when Doctor Doctor came on and how all that tension that had been building up for so many years was finally released when the band bursted out on stage. How Dave looked me in the eye in the end and threw me his wristband and smiled when he saw my excitement over catching it. Or how they started playing No More Lies in Knebworth '10, a song that has been very dear to me for so long and that I'd never expected to ever hear live. Or "meeting" Steve Harris in Paris in 2008. It can hardly be called a meeting, I tood next to him, tapped him on the shoulder, and he looked up, smiled into the camera and went back to signing stuff. I have a photo with him and yet, the man has never seen me. It was a lot different with Lauren that same night.

But one gig will always remain as a very special one: London, Earl's Court, 22. December 2006. The entire trip was great, partying at Ruskin Arms the night before, and at the nearby hotel after the gig. But something unique happened during the gig itself: Bruce was just starting an introductory rant to Out of the Shadows. He was going to say something about how wonderful things are, but never got to complete it, because he was called off stage. When he returned, he was in embarassed giggles and said that there's a fire and they're going to have to cut the power for about twenty minutes.
So for the next twenty or thirty minutes, the band was onstage in varying line-ups, I think the only one to stay there constantly was Steve. And they did everything possible to pass the time and entertain the fans, playing football, conducting la-olas, whatever. Bruce at one point came on with a megaphone trying to talk to the crowd, getting us to do the Heaven Can Wait chant and so forth. When finally the power came back on, he thanked us for being such incredible sports and explained what had gone wrong. Then he went back to introducing the songs, and for whatever reason, that particular introduction has stayed with me and I even found myself paraphrasing it at times. It was something like, "this is about the question whether there is a life after this one, and even if there is, and even if there isn't, that shouldn't keep you from living in the here and now."
A Maiden show in London at the end of a tour is always a very memorable moment, and there is certainly a lot I could share from last year, but this is just unforgettable.
 
I've only been to one Maiden show but after about 7 years of missed opportunities and hearing Doctor Doctor and the intro coming over the PA then busting out into Wicker Man was the most memorable for me because after all those years i'm finally getting to see them.
 
Clearly I did interpret you correctly, you rascal! Enough said... (Although, I don't quite follow the Steve ancedote --how/why did Steve look "up" into (your?) camera? Where the hell were you? And how has he not "seen" you? You have a photo "with" him? --not "of" him? --clearly I'm being a dumbass here!)
 
It was like this: We were waiting outside the hotel with a handful of other fans. Steve came out and wanted to run into his van, but saw that there really weren't very many people, so he came to us. And he as he stood there, people were handing him stuff to sign, and he never looked up. So I stood up next to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up into the camera my mate was holding, and that was it - back down he looked at the things he was signing.
 
It was like this: We were waiting outside the hotel with a handful of other fans. Steve came out and wanted to run into his van, but saw that there really weren't very many people, so he came to us. And he as he stood there, people were handing him stuff to sign, and he never looked up. So I stood up next to him, and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up into the camera my mate was holding, and that was it - back down he looked at the things he was signing.

Wow! Even so, that's amazing! You are very lucky!! Btw, how was the Paris 08 show? Did they put on a great show? Any song stand out?
 
Unfortunately I didn't get into Maiden until only 5-6 years ago. So i have only seen them twice, both in Chicago in 2008 and 2010 (and soon to be 2012!). But both times were very memorable, and I shall now rant about them because I am in the typing mood. So for any and all who are interested:

The first Iron Maiden song I remember listening to was The Trooper in 2006, and I remember loving every second if it (especially the refrain where Bruce yelled), so I asked my dad if he had the CD. He then hands me the entire set of Iron Maiden albums, and I immediately put them all on my Ipod. I also looked through all of the booklets from the albums, and was intrigued by the artwork.

Anyways, fast forward to 2008, I found out they were coming to Chicago and immediately begged my parents for me to go see them (as I was only 17 years old and still in school). At first, they said no (DAMN IT!), but after never dropping it and constantly bugging them about it, they agreed that I could go as long as I could find a driver and a friend to go with. Well the friend was covered, as me and my best friend had planned to go together. And I found a driver in my uncle, who also loved Iron Maiden, and wasn't too hard to convince for the drive. (We live on the southern tip of Illinois, so Chicago is roughly a good 400+ mile drive).

Anyways, June 11 2008, we journeyed to Chicago where we awaited to see Iron Maiden at the Allstate Arena. Lauren Harris was alright, but let me just say we weren't exactly paying attention to her voice... After she was done, me and my friend went walking around for a bit, only to return to our seats when we heard the crowd's loud cheering during "Doctor Doctor"... Since I had never been to a Maiden concert before, I had no idea the significance of Doctor Doctor, so I thought "Oh shit!," maybe they unexpectedly appeared on stage already. Upon returning to our seats, I didn't understand why everyone was cheering during a simple PA song... until Doctor Doctor finally ended and instantly the lights went out. The cheering was deafening. Intro video played with Transylvania, and then Churchill's Speech went on. I was so excited. Then Aces High began and a short 20 seconds later my heroes jumped out on stage and the fun began. Biggest highlight of the night included the back to back performance of Rime and Powerslave, and definitely Hallowed Be Thy Name at the end.

My life was plagued with bad events soon after that amazing night. My mother passed away just 4 days later, on June 15. And I had a suffering senior year in high school over the unexpected and tragic loss. Failed some courses, but still managed to graduate by the grit of my teeth (and the teachers kind of laid off me that year, as they knew what happened). But the whole experience made me closer with Iron Maiden, as I listened to them constantly. Their music, for some reason, actually made me feel better. This is why I love Iron Maiden so much now.

Anyways, had to see them again when they returned to Chicago in 2010. July 18, 2010, this time at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater. Loved that we were going to be hearing a lot of the newer stuff this time. Highlights of the night included The Wicker Man (I don't know how many times I'd watched Rock in Rio and thought that was the greatest concert opening ever!) and The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg. There was just something about hearing Ben Breeg live that was... mystical. Dave Murray's guitar intro is absolutely fantastic. Was so sad when the concert had ended that I actually got a bit teary-eyed. People just can't seem to understand how important Iron Maiden is to me.

Anyways, sorry for rambling. Can't wait to see them in July. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is probably my favorite Iron Maiden album, so this sure will be a magnificent treat to see live!
 
No, you're not rambling. Totally agree about Breeg too --Davey's intro is lovely. Wish I could see it live. Hopefully the SSoaSS theme is even more mystical...
 
The first time I saw Iron Maiden was the 1985 Powerslave Tour in Lakeland FL. And that show produced a lasting image that I will never forget. Standing close to the stage with my friends when the slowed down mid section of ROTAM came on and those big triangle light rigs came down and the dry ice smoke rolled out over the crowd it was magical. We all looked at each other wide eyed 17 yr olds and we felt like we were on the ocean and floating in that cloud.... it was surreal.
 
The most memorable thing for me is still my first Maiden show in 2003, Give Me Ed tour; I had just graduated from high school a few days earlier and was super-psyched for the show. I even won a Heaven Can Wait stage pass on the local radio. A few hours before the show, me and a few other guys who also won the stage pass met up with a person from the organization, they gave us the stickers to put on our shirts and advised us to do it right away, which proved fatal for me and another guy later on.

Anyway, I was jumping and singing during the whole show, and a song or two before HCW, I noticed that the precious sticker was... :eek: missing! I looked all over the floor (a football field), but there was no real hope of finding it there. I tried calling the person who gave us the passes, but thanks to my crappy old cellphone, I only managed it a few moments before HCW, and it was very much too late. I remember talking to Wally Grove who was in charge of letting people pass through a side barrier to go backstage, trying to explain to him that I lost the stage pass, but to no avail ("I'm sorry mate, I can't let you in without the pass!"). And that was it, other people passed through and went backstage. All I could do was stand there, thinking how big of an idiot one must be to have this happen to them.

I came back to my friends after HCW had finished, they told me that they didn't see me on the stage, and I explained why. I was subjected to both compassion and ridicule for the next few weeks. :D

But anyway, in 2008 I got the chance again and didn't lose the sticker, and got up on the stage to sing HCW during the Somewhere Back in Time tour (and so did the other guy who had lost his sticker back in 2003). It's really funny that I only have a few mental snapshots of it, of us walking behind the stage, the crew using flashlights to point out where to walk and watch our step, seeing Janick on the far left sides sitting on a piece of equipment, seeing the first row crowd going insane, and the scarab-themed floor of the stage, a crew member limiting how far towards the center of stage we were allowed to go. Unfortunately, I was among the last ones to get on stage so I didn't get near Steve. And it was one of the shows where they didn't have an official photographer, so there was no hi-res HCW photo for us, as it has been for many of the other shows on the tour. But it's a nice memory nonetheless.

Also, I don't know about you guys, but I rarely remember anything about a show, maybe just a few "snapshots" here and there. Maybe it's because I'm singing all the time? Who knows...
 
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