The suspense was like nothing normal before Maiden came out. Songs played throught he PA were starting ot get the crowd going and then "Doctor, Doctor" sent the place crazy. The concert kicked off with a rather inaudible "Ayeeeee!" and we were off into a "Different World". The sound was great except from the over-loudness of the bass drum and guitar. Bruce was on top form for most of the night and the solos were spot on. We moved into "These Colours Don't Run" which was recieved well, with the chorus getting a decent sing-along although the impression was left that not everybody in the audience was into it.
"Brighter Than A Thousand Suns" was the song of the night for me. It was given a new birth live IMO and it just had to be heard to be believed. In "The Pilgrim", Bruce made a mistake with the lyrics sayiing "Pagan sunrise, Pagan sunset" for the last chorus but it was still a great song none-the-less. "The Longest Day" was also fantastic live and the back drop of the newspaper cutting worked well.
"Out of the Sadows" is definitely better live than it is in the studio, especially with the cheesy ending "A man who cats no shadow..."
. Benjamin Breeg got the crowd going again, as it is probably the best known of the new material. This was probably the best sing-a-long from the new album. At this point, I felt the performance was beginning to wain a bit. The amount of 6+ minute songs was tiring out the audience and "FTGGOG" and "Lord of Light" seemed a bit boring to be honest. I think it would have been better if the band played "classics" in between the new material to break it up a bit as it got a bit tedious IMO. The fact that I was pushed back a couple of places didn't help either.
None-the-less, the Legacy was fantastic and although I didn't know a lot of the words myself, a friend of mine told me that Bruce changed a lyric in one of the lines.
"Fear
destruction and ignorance is leading to death"
If I thought that the new material was well recieved, it was nothing compared to the classics. Fear of the Dark was just immense. I would have a video of the intro to that had I not hit "back" instead of "save". "Iron Maiden" was also good for the tank Eddie that appeared to survey the surroundings. The encore was probably the highlight of the night. Bruce sinking the Guinness was great and his story about the porn star was priceless. "You dirty bastard"
The three fantastic songs, the same as they have played on every other leg of the tour, were also greeted well by the crowd. "Hallowed..." was quite a good closer too.
Overall, it was a great night although the pushing was a bit much at times and the bass mix was poor. The choice of songs worked well but I think they should have split up the new material. Fair play to the lads for doing something few other "old" bands seem to do... promote new material instead of only focusing on the classics.