Hi, I an not very updated with what's going on in the maiden scene, to be more specific, with the genaral fan opinion, involvement and experience - largely because I currently have no means to partake in any Maiden event... But enough whining - To the point!
I recently bumped into some negative remarks from fans (from this forum also) about the SBIT tour, and I wanted to ask what is your opinion about it and what do you think the general opinion is?
I went to two gigs, the first night in Paris and Wacken, and those were two of the best concerts I've ever been to. I'm too young to have witnessed Maiden in the '80s, and I also missed the Ed Hunter tour, so I had never witnessed many of the classics they played live. I know some people complained about the setlist, but people always do that. Always. You will never have an uncontroversial setlist. And as far as I am concerned, it was a great set. In fact, they just kept hammering out one blast after another, and by the encore, I was completely outpowered. The gigs were full of completely unforgettable moments, but if I was forced to pick one highlight, it is definitely
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, specifically the instrumental section
. Of course you could always change one song or another, but what does it matter? The setlist was great as it was, and I was completely happy.
And the band was on fire, and the stage set was mindblowing... so, in my opinion, it was grand, it was a real blast.
Other than the obligatory setlist complaints, I've only heard positive remarks, from die-hard Maiden fans such as myself and from casual listeners, like those that saw them at Wacken, who all stated that they were the highlight of the festival.
Wacken 2008 was for me the best concert I have ever been to. Brilliant sound, and a good setlist with my favourite song
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
which I had never seen before. Maiden played that track for the last time in
1987
and I go to Maiden concerts since 1992.
My view on the setlist, hence the complaints Perun is talking about:
The name of the tour brought certain expectations along. Here a copy of an earlier post (see my whole Wacken 2008 experience here) of mine, not long after the concert, which can be seen as a complaint about the name of the tour, a compilation album which came out and all the media hype:
This whole 1980-1989 and Somewhere Back in Time crap, assuming that many songs weren't played in decades, I find utter bullshit.
I have seen all songs apart from two (Rime and Moonchild) and I have never even seen Maiden in the eighties! That says enough doesn't it?
But when I merely look at the gig, the sound (it was the best sound I have ever witnessed during a Maiden gig!), the performance, and still the setlist (yes I know I am contradicting myself) including my favourite Maiden song I must confess that it was still the best gig I have seen.
I only managed to catch the show at Twickenham and the general consensus was that it was nothing short of a fantastic gig. I even saw an interview with Blaze Bailey who said that Maiden have never sounded better (or something like that). And I for one had no real complaints about the set list.
I only caught a local SBIT show, and it was a first Maiden gig i've ever been to. I've been a die-hard since my earliest high-school days, it's been over a decade now. I had the chance to catch EH Tour in Italy in '99, they were near ex-Yugoslavia or in ex-Yugoslavia in all tours since i've been a fan, but something always popped up and i couldn't go.
However i wasn't satisfied at all with SBIT setlist. Altrough people said like when you go to your first Maiden gig, you're going to be thrilled when they play songs like;
Fear Of The Dark, Number Of The Beast, Run To The Hills, The Trooper...
Yes, they were great but not great as others. Having SIT and SSOASS as my favourite albums, i was pissed that they decided to play a small number of songs from that two albums in favour of those "concert classics". I was also pissed because this was to be Powerslave-SIT-SSOASS history tour, and that's definetly my favourite Maiden era. This turned out to be;
Live After Death meets concert classics + few songs from '86 and '88
Looking at the poor quality EHT bootlegs, i really really wish i could go back in time to 1999 and decide to fuck everything off to go to Milano and see that show. Even with 30.000 people on a beautiful football stadium 200 meters from my building, that SBIT show can't compare in my eyes and ears with EHT shows.
Regarding stage set, i don't find it fascinating at all. They're using same stage for the last 10 years. Two cubicles left-right, with drum hole in middle, and stairs below. They're just rotating stage "artifacts", special FX, paintjob and backdrops. The original Powerslave stage was far more complex. Floor art, starboard moon, non-cubicle based stage shapes. Not to mention Somewhere on Tour stages.
With all the cons, the show was spectacular (it's Maiden after all), and i'll point a few highlights (IMHO)
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Moonchild, Wasted Years
The flames on the number of the beast
Both Eddies, etc...
I think what you're trying to say is that the band itself was amazing, the songs they chose to do turned out good, but you think they could have made better choices to improve your experience?
Yes, they could have evenly divide 12 songs to play 4 from each of '84-'88 albums. Iron Maiden and Hallowed are obligatory, leaves one extra slot for whatever.
This way; musicianship : superb. Atmosphere, crowd : superb. Setlist : nothing special considering the expectations. Stage : average. Effects : better than 99% of other live bands, but average by Maiden standards.
Therefore, this was to be really big and special tour for Maiden's standards, turned out average for Maiden's standards. The media hype around it, Ed Force One, mainstream radio/TV coverage, resulted in a high crowd sellouts. Not the setlist and not the stage.
@Zare, isn't this the consequence of putting 1 or 2 albums on a pedestal, high above the others?
I mean, I kind of agree with you, those albums belong to my favourites as well, along with Powerslave of course. As said before, I also had hoped to see more tracks of that era.
I wonder how you feel if this were your eleventh tour!
I feel lucky that I appreciate (almost) every album they made. Perhaps that makes a difference at gigs(?)
I saw the Helsinki and Tampere ones (consecutive days, so I think of them as one concert often). It was my first Maiden show, and definitely the best show I've ever seen. Sound was great (slight issues with Bruce's vocals not being heard well during Aces High), stage set was fantastic (Eddie...), setlist was great, and the band was absolutely on fire. Bruce's rants were awesome, including references to seagulls flying overhead, talking about economics and deflation, and the usual "you fans are great" speech.
The ones I expected to be great live (The Trooper, Run to the Hills, etc.) weren't so amazing as I thought, but there were many surprises like Rime, Powerslave, Revelations, and The Clairvoyant. And of course Fear of the Dark.
Might I ask why we're still using spoiler tags by the way?
It's nice to hear all these positive experiences from the tour - Before that I only read about bad ones - Mainly people who were quite uptight about the setlist, and that made me think the band were losing fan support, but I'm happy to see now that ain't true
So do I. But that doesn't make a difference. For instance, i was very pleased to see the decision of playing whole AMOLAD live, and was very sad when i had to cancel trip to Belgrade in the last moment. However, 10 years i've waited for them to give attention to SSOASS and SIT. When that moment finally came, they've dissapointed me.
So, how about Maiden playing Aces High, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Revelations, The Trooper, Wasted Years, Can I Play with Madness, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Powerslave, Heaven Can Wait, Fear of the Dark, Run to the Hills, Iron Maiden, Moonchild, The Clairvoyant, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Children of the Damned, Wrathchild, Phantom of the Opera, Sanctuary, and the Evil that Men do?
So, how about Maiden not playing Prodigal Son, Invaders, Gangland, Quest for Fire, Sun and Steel, Flash of the Blade, The Duellists, Back in the Village, Deja-Vu, Alexander The Great, The Prophecy, Only the Good Die Young, Fates Warning, Run Silent Run Deep, Mother Russia, Fear is the Key, Childhood's End, The Fugitive, Chains of Misery, The Apparition, Judas Be My Guide, Weekend Warrior, Look for the Truth, Judgement of Heaven, 2 A.M., The Unbeliever, Como Estais Amigos, The Nomad, The Thin Line between Love and Hate, Montségur, Gates of Tomorrow, New Frontier, Face in the Sand and Age of Innocence?
nice GuineaPig..... I achieved one of my goals this tour which was to see maiden at an out door festival now the next step is one with 50,000 in Europe rather then 22,000. I was saw them twice both being the last show of the first two legs (I was going to try and make it to Florida but I'm to broke right now) the only thing that bummed me out is they didn't play stranger in a strange land oh what I would do to see H play that solo. Other then that it was amazing, for the Toronto show MoonChild was my favorite Bruce let the crowed sing half the intro and for Montreal it was defiantly rime the crazy push of the crowed letting up at the slow part before the build up to the solo where the crowed went wild again. According the IMTV they used the most pyro they ever have at the Montreal gig and Steve thought they were going to lose there hearing during rime.
Although Maiden came to Athens last summer I decided not to go to the concert. The reason? The setlist. I found it extremely disappointing and wasn't sure whether I wanted to pay the money to hear songs that I already had witnessed 3 times before. After that Matter of the Beast tour, I feel Maiden just don't have that attitude to play what they want*, and just fill the setlist with the usual suspects putting a couple of songs that actually are special for the particular tour.
Even though I'm not a fan of their first two albums, the 2005 tour set list was absolutely amazing! In 2006 they played the whole AMOLAD, a decision I both admired and loved. And in 2007 the disappointment came. It just felt like they kept in mind all the negative fan thoughts and tried to please them with the classics. And the same thing happened in SBIT tour.
As for the set. I agree with Zare that it wasn't impressive (judging by the videos I've seen). It still was pretty good and delivered the atmosphere it was supposed to.
I am having a few regrets about not going, especially because I won't be able to see
Rime and Powerslave
in tours to come, but at the same time I'm happy I didn't spend all that money, because the promotors here are all for the easy dough: they charge big, provide the minimum (the way they handle the venue, security etc).
*Someone might argue that they did want to play those songs regardless of what the fans had to say. I can't convince anyone against that, it's basically what you want to believe. I believe they're a band that likes to spice things up, and play a variety of songs, rather than playing the same ones tour over tour adding just a few "surprises".
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