[SPOILER] Reviews from Boston, Hartford and New Jersey
Boston and HartfordOctober 4th & 6th, 2006, two great days in my history with Iron Maiden. I’ve seen the band live now 15 times and these two shows were two of the best I’ve seen. I made the trek from Colorado to Connecticut and Massachusetts in just over 2 days driving by myself and it was well worth it. I got home tired and relieved that I once again got to see the greatest metal band of all time live. I’ve never written reviews before, however with all the crap I’ve heard about Maiden not playing older songs this time out I wanted to give a perspective from someone who really had to make an effort to see the band not just drive to my corner arena.
This is the second time I’ve seen Maiden kick off a US headline tour. The first was 1983 in Casper, Wyoming where the World Piece Tour got started and this show was just as powerful and gave me the same feeling that the band was in total control. Beginning this show with the song “Different World” then continuing to play the rest to the A Matter of Life and Death album I, along with all the true, long time Maiden fans, were thrilled and overjoyed. Forget all the whining about not hearing “Run to the Hills” or “The Trooper” or “Number of the Beast”, or the other songs that have been played dozens of times. This show and this tour are about the new album and I thank the band for having the balls to take that chance. This is probably the only time they’ll ever play most of these songs live and every Maiden fan should be rejoicing. As heavy as the new album is on CD, live that heaviness is translated 100 fold. The opening track, along with “These Colours…”, and “The Longest Day” are Heavy Metal monsters when performed live. In contrast, “Out of the Shadows” has some of the best and most intricate guitar work the band has ever done and “The Legacy” is an epic which can proudly be held up against “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” Five Maiden classics closed the show and for me I would have rather heard something other than their theme song “Iron Maiden”, maybe “Where Eagles Dare” or “Paschendale” both would have fit in with the theme of the show better and which haven’t been played every tour. “The Evil That Men Do” & “2 Minutes to Midnight” were perfect though and “Fear of the Dark” got the biggest ovation and loudest screams of the evening.
Sound quality in Hartford was actually better than Boston though I sat in relatively the same place for both shows and the band seemed more excited in Hartford than they did in Boston, maybe that was just me though or maybe it was the venue because the crowd both nights really seemed to enjoy the shows. The stage set was the usual work of art for an Iron Maiden show and fit the theme of the night. There are some cool surprises that I don’t want to give away here but the end of the show is as exciting as the beginning and not to be missed.
As I said in the beginning get over not hearing all the songs they played on the Early Days tour last year and enjoy the new album while you chance the chance, there aren’t many tours left before Maiden won’t be around anymore. Besides, it’s no secret that next year the band is bringing the full Powerslave tour out and then all your favorites will be back in the spotlight. If I have a complaint it is that the tour has just too few cities and they didn’t come to Denver this year.
I can’t wait until they release the live CD and DVD from this tour; as good as the new album is having the entire album performed live in front of an audience will only make listening to it more enjoyable.
I’m leaving for LA tomorrow to attend the California show and I’m still holding out hope that after Christmas they will add a few more American dates, especially in Denver. Yeah, I’m selfish that way! Up the Irons and remember that Maiden is more than a few songs that MTV
New Jersey
Many fans were quite disappointed when Iron Maiden announced that they would be playing their new album, “A Matter of Life and Death,” all the way through on their current North American tour. Although it’s a very good album, the ten tracks would replace classics such as “Sanctuary” and “Number of the Beast” from Maiden’s set list. Fortunately for all those who attended the October 13th show at Continental Airlines Arena in New Jersey, Maiden put on such a great show that the absence of certain classics really didn’t matter.
Getting to the arena, there was an obscene amount of traffic, as there always is on Friday nights in the New York/New Jersey area. As a result, not a lot of fans were in the building by 8, when Bullet for My Valentine went on. This turned out to be a good thing, as the British metalcore quartet did nothing to impress. Their main vocalist’s voice is too whiny to be considered anything other than extremely ignoring. The bassist, who did a majority of the screaming, wasn’t terrible, but the harmonized patterns between him and the singer didn’t sound quite right. Instrumentally they weren’t terrible, as both guitarists pulled off a few decent solos, but they really weren’t the right band to open up for the likes of Maiden. Word has it that 3 Inches of Blood are opening up a few of the west coast dates – that would have been more like it!
After about a half hour wait, Iron Maiden entered the stage. From the moment they played the first note of “Different World” to the last of “The Legacy,” they were nothing short of spectacular. The new album does sound pretty good on CD, but it sounded phenomenal when played live. The energy that each of the band members bring to the stage, especially Bruce Dickinson, is really something special. These guys aren’t young, yet they’re not afraid to jump and move around the set, which was fashioned like a battleground, complete with bunkers and other structures to climb on. Highlights of this segment of the show included “Brighter Than a Thousand Suns” and “The Pilgrim,” two of the album’s strongest tracks which sounded even better live. During “The Legacy,” acoustic guitars were brought out that Dave, Adrian, and Janick all played at different points during the song for an added authentic touch.
After finishing up “A Matter of Life and Death,” Maiden launched right into “Fear of the Dark.” While it’s not one of their 80’s classics, it is probably their best and most popular song to have come out after 1990, and the crowd really loved it. Everyone was really into it before, during the new album, but the crowd truly came alive during “Fear of the Dark.” They followed that up with “Iron Maiden,” which included a giant tank-like structure coming to life in the back of the stage, complete with an Eddie puppet sticking his head out and scanning the crowd with binoculars in hand. After this, the band left the stage, but of course they were not finished.
After about five minutes, to ceaseless chants of "MAIDEN, MAIDEN" from the crowd, the band re-emerged and went right into "2 Minutes to Midnight," which was received almost as enthusiastically as “Fear of the Dark.” They followed this with “The Evil that Men Do,” which proved to be the coolest moment of the concert, although not for the song. A gigantic Eddie puppet dressed in battle uniform came out onto the stage during this one, and walked around for a while, “shooting” his rifle at the crowd. He started over on one side next to Janick, and eventually migrated to the other side of the stage next to Dave. As he exited, "Evil" ended and the crowd’s favorite song of the night, “Two Minutes to Midnight” began. Maiden performed exceptionally well on this song off of “Number of the Beast,” with Bruce hitting all the high notes like it was the early 80’s again. It was an amazing closer to an amazing show. Iron Maiden have still got it, and even their new material sounds truly fantastic when played live.
1 Comment
Brother in law and I were at New Jersey show. could have done without bullet for my valentine,music was so-so vocals were intolerable too much screaming no singing except for the fans could not understand them either. When Iron Maiden hit the stage place exploded, playing entire album was great choice too bad people in America can't be satisfied with that. But anyway we were center stage in vip section up against the wall and the energy the band emitted was intoxicating it was awesome band should lot of emotion from beginning to end. Highlight was Different World to The Legacy and everything in between. If you get the chance to see them go, and be thankful you saw them cause you might not get the chance again.