Cap Maronis
Trooper
I took my good friend to his first Maiden show in June, and he enjoyed the hell out of it, but what sold him on how great Maiden is, was definitely Running Free. That kind of call and response for a new fan blows em away every time. Plus, Bruce kinda gets to do his band introduction thing, and riff off the crowd for a couple minutes. Come to think of it, when I took my friend Grant to his first metal show at Ozzfest in '05 (Grant is an openly gay, dance club kind of guy, definitely not a metal dude at all, but he still wanted to go) and we had the Early Days set, he said the same thing. He thought that Maiden killed it, but in particular he loved Running Free. Honestly, I think they could play it more often, since it works pretty damn well with the crowd.
So, I think the only change I might consider is putting Running Free either at the start of the encore, or maybe as the middle song, but I do think it works as a pretty damn cool closer.
You really have to pick a song that all the older fans know, and I definitely get the upbeat ideology. So let's think here, which songs do Maiden use to close their sets typically?
Sanctuary, Running Free, Hallowed, and Run to the Hills. We all love Hallowed, but it's definitely a downer ending (worked for somewhere back in time, but still). So with the remaining three I think we can really look at it this way, Run to the Hills is obviously the song that even my Mom has heard, so that's a viable choice and will ALWAYS be a viable choice despite our fatigue with it. However when you're comparing Running Free and Sanctuary let's be honest, Running Free is just more fun live, and in my opinion and overall better song.
Other than that, I don't know, I couldn't tell you what other songs I'd prefer to close because they're just not realistic.
So, I think the only change I might consider is putting Running Free either at the start of the encore, or maybe as the middle song, but I do think it works as a pretty damn cool closer.
You really have to pick a song that all the older fans know, and I definitely get the upbeat ideology. So let's think here, which songs do Maiden use to close their sets typically?
Sanctuary, Running Free, Hallowed, and Run to the Hills. We all love Hallowed, but it's definitely a downer ending (worked for somewhere back in time, but still). So with the remaining three I think we can really look at it this way, Run to the Hills is obviously the song that even my Mom has heard, so that's a viable choice and will ALWAYS be a viable choice despite our fatigue with it. However when you're comparing Running Free and Sanctuary let's be honest, Running Free is just more fun live, and in my opinion and overall better song.
Other than that, I don't know, I couldn't tell you what other songs I'd prefer to close because they're just not realistic.