My first Maiden gig: 1986, Eddie collapses in Texas

bbreeg614

bbreeg614

Invader
I was recalling this story to a buddy yesterday and he suggested I write it down before I forgot anymore of it so here goes hope someone enjoys it!  :)

I was just out of high school and in my 1st semester at the local college when the stars aligned to finally allow me to go see my favorite band and all consuming passion, Iron Maiden.. live!
I live in South Texas and the closest they were coming to my hometown on the Somewhere in Time tour was Corpus Christi, I finally had some cash from working at a supermarket so I could buy my own ticket and not have to ask my mom who had turned me down since the  Beast tour where they also played Corpus with Scorpions.  I know my mom was not being mean  she was just very protective as I am the only child and she treated me like a king in every respect she even offered to get me the tickets on the Beast tour if she drove me and a friend of my choosing to the show and waited outside the show.....! Needless to say I rejected the offer and was angry and felt like "The Prisoner" fighting against the world..! Ahh silly youth! ::)

well, my friends and I planned and plotted for the gig, we ordered tickets over the phone using one of friend's moms credit cards after we gave her our hard earned dollars, we saved and pitched in for gas, we even discussed which t-shirts we were wearing on the drive up and so as not to have any duplication! We were like children on the week before Christmas as the days to the gig grew shorter. It got to the point where we didn't discuss it too much for fear of something "jinxing" the event but we all knew very well what was coming up and I assure you none of us thought of anything else! 

To really appreciate this story you have to keep in mind that this was Feb 1986...you paid hundreds of dollars to belong to a "video rental club" for the luxury of renting Beta and VHS movies and watching them on a  VCR the size of a suitcase. You learned of news regarding your favorite bands from magazines like Circus and Hit Parader which were printed a month in advance., maybe an occasional 30 second news item on MTV..and that was IT!!  Try to imagine that if you are a young person who has grown up with the internet... My friends and I knew Maiden from the album sleeves the posters on our walls and the hundreds of photos in the mags I mentioned..the thought of seeing my heroes actually physically moving was so mind blowing I can only compare it to perhaps  a time traveler from the past being told that they could fly through the air and visit far off lands in only hours...!

Well off our caravan went in 3 cars early that Sunday morning I did not want to hear any Maiden on the trip up as I had stopped listening a week before to starve myself and give me the maximum elation when I finally heard them so I think we listened to Priest and Cinderella(!) on the 3 hour drive. I will post Part 2 of this story later today please let me know if interests you...! Up The Irons! :edmetal:
 
Re: My first Maiden concert: 1986 Eddie collapses in Texas. Part 1

Cheers, keep it coming.

By the way, it was February 1987. :)
 
Re: My first Maiden concert: 1986 Eddie collapses in Texas. Part 1

Great story so far! I can't wait for my first time....
 
Re: My first Maiden concert: 1986 Eddie collapses in Texas. Part 1

Cool story, I almost saw them there, but went to the show in Houston instead ... wish I had gone to both (plus maybe Dallas too :) )
 
My first Maiden gig: 1986, Eddie collapses in Texas Pt 2.

(thanks for reading my story so far..) well the caravan daparted for CC in the early morning and as we neared the venue it was a cloudy gloomy day, the Corpus Colisseum was a concrete dinosaur of a venue right by the sea it was cold and cloudy and really not very festive that day.
Not that that had any effect on me and my friends... we we were ecstatic knowing we were about to see Maiden live...we arrived at the site about 3pm more or less and one thing I remember is there was a big cyborg Eddie cutout on the marquee that faced the back of the venue which I thought was so cool , it's one of the little touches that I think not all bands do that makes a difference..all afternoon long people driving behind the venue were awestruck staring at the giant Eddie and many were honking their horns at us in the parking lot...just a little human touch that gets lost in today's world IMHO!

Now as we get closer to 6pm what do I spy but an ice cream truck pull up to the door on the side where we were parked...

I had been watching this entrance closely because i suspected it was the way the artists would enter the venue and out of the passenger side of an ice cream truck which had big megaphone speakers and neon colored ice cream cones painted on the side I swear I saw Dave Murray emerge  in shades and jeans !! so certain was I that it was Dave that I immediately started shouting "Dave! Dave!" and he turned around and waved to me as I waved like a lunatic..!
My friends (being the good friends they are) immediately cracked up and thought I was just giddy from the excitement...and had probably gone nuts over a ice cream vendor ...but I know it was Dave and I have now reasons to support that theory! (another post)

Well about 7pm we go the same entrance where Ice Cream Man /Dave entered and a small crowd has formed  and sure enough the members of The Vinnie Vincent Invasion are getting off a station wagon and going into the gig.. now I was the only one with the foresight to bring a  pen and tablet to the show so all these guys were asking to borrow some paper and my pen..which I didn't mind but it only convinced me more that it was indeed Dave I had seen enter the venue earlier!

  By the way Dana Strum the bass player for VVI and Slaughter (which Marc Slaughter was the vocalist of) is really tall and pale! I distinctly remember a dude asking if he could have the pen that Dana Strum had been using and I thought  sure here you go....and it made his day...now at this time 2 of my friends come back from the 7-11 which was about 2 blocks away..and what do they tell me?  "Dude, we just saw Steve Harris buying baby food at the 7-11"story continued....be right back  !
 
Re: My first Maiden gig: 1986, Eddie collapses in Texas Pt 2.

Interesting stuff. I think you should keep it in one thread though.
 
My buddies were wide eyed with excitement as they told me that when they were at the 7-11 trying to buy beer (we weren't of age yet 21  was the legal age in Texas) that a huge guy walked in checking the place out and they thought it might be a robbery about to take place.but the big guy after checking the place out goes back and opens the door for a young lady pushing a stroller with a baby in it and behind her a long haired guy also holding a baby as well... the guy takes off his shades and it's none other than 'Arry! :edmetal:

My buddies watched awestruck as 'arry and his (I presume) wife walked through the aisle and picked out jars of baby food they said they were stunned because Steve appeared to be no taller than any of us and we were all not particulary tall and how they seemed to be a simple nice couple out with their kids..We imagined Steve feasting on suckling pig served by a harem of Metal groupies while Eddie stood guard over his castle.!. ;) My buddies asked the big guy if they could meet Steve as he was acting like a body guard  and he said to them" He's with his wife and kids man you can see him at the show" my buddies were saddened by this response and I too didn't expect that from Maiden but I understand in hindsight. 

We made our way to our seats which were terrible but we were naive and happy to be in the same building as our heroes! Vinny Vincent came on and each song sounded the same they were nice enough but we all knew why were here...I feel a bit sorry for bands that open for Maiden because it's really out of politeness that most people pay them any attention...we are there for one reason....Maiden! :edmetal:

The lights came back on after the Invasion and my buddies pointed out the bodyguard they had encountered earlier who was now standing by the mixing board area and he was a huge muscle bound guy right out of a Manowar album! The minutes seemed like hours as we all realized it was soon going to happen..  Then..

the lights went out and we could feel a rumbling in our gut.. a deafening rumble.. like an earthquake...and then a theme blared out of the PA, futuristic and majestic as if announcing the arrival of something other-worldly... and then neon signs start to blink and stars twinkle as the cover of Somewhere in Time is alive in front of our eyes! 

The opening strains of Somewhere in Time ring out and we prepare for our journey..! Amidst  explosions and blinding lights the lads appear at the foot of the stage wielding their instruments with ferocity and Bruce races to the front of the stage bedecked in an amazing costume pulsing with lights a cosmic master of ceremonies... I was in ecstasy.....more to come.. Up The Irons! :edmetal:
 
That's great man, I'm lucky enough to have had the privelage of seeing them twice. Hoping for a third time either in 2012 or 2013, I know I'm being greedy since I saw them in 09 in Sunrise and 11 in Tampa but I'd like to see them. Of course I ain't buying a shirt at the event the last one costed $50.
 
Nice reminiscing bbreeg...I saw them in Largo Maryland a few weeks before your show so your tale conjures up fond memories. I was only 13 at the time and went with my bro and Aunt who was incredibly impressive as it was way out of her comfort zone. Keep going with your story.
 
(sorry for the delay for anyone who has been reading) Maiden tore into SIT and the place went haywire!.. Forgotten was the grey gloomy weather outside... inside the arena Maiden ruled supreme! And we in our nose-bleed seats were as happy as anyone in the front row! One of my buddies wore a David Lee Roth Tshirt (the one where dave was painted up like a native, eat am and smile I think it was ) and all day long we had been busting his balls about how his shirt looked 3-D because his gut mad Dave's face bulge out..! well, this will come into play later... the time comes for "Heaven Can Wait" and Eddie appears at the corner of the stage..! In full robot gear he stood, and after taking a few steps Eddie lurches and..starts to tumble ...then weave back and forth...then before 15,000 Maiden fans the unthinkable happens....Eddie collapses to the floor! He fell like a tall proud oak onto the stage while Bruce was behind a machine gun turret on the 2nd floor of the stage..Bruce shot out fog/steam at eddie while eddie's laser gun pointed helplessly in the air , then a small army of of ants/ roadies scurried out onto the stage and somehow lifted Ed back onto his feet...The crowd was a bit shocked and cheered at eddies recovery , andthe night went on...and at the end of the night..don't remember if it was running free or sanctuary Bruce pointed at the nose bleed seats and said" you! you get up off your seat!" and I swear it seemed as if he was looking right at my buddy in the DLR shirt ! To this day we all joke about how Bruce called him out....but I have since seen how Bruce believes in treating the audience this way...and it is a tribute to his stage mastery that he could do that...needless to say the set ended with someting from StarTrek I'm sure...a quote....and the thundering sound of spaceship engines....and we had been taken to the stars and back..! As we made our way back to our cars we were spent and elated.....we had seen our heroes live and had an adventure to last a lifetime....we listend to fates warning "awaken the guardian" on the ride home and dreamt of far off places....because now those places were possible....!
 
A great tale for sure. I am hoping for a tour this year so I can take my boys to see the Mighty Maiden!!!!!
 
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