The Hartford Courant: 'Eddie Stole The Show'
John Jurgensen of The Hartford Courant reviewed IRON MAIDEN's "Give Me Ed… 'Til I'm Dead" tour when it came through town Tuesday night (July 22)."As usual, when IRON MAIDEN performed at the ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre Tuesday night, Eddie was everywhere," he wrote. "On T-shirts. On tattoos. On stage in huge air-brushed murals and as a giant animatronic prop.
"While [IRON MAIDEN vocalist Bruce] Dickinson ran around like an angry Mick Jagger, three guitarists and a bass player cavorted across stage, striking poses and trading solos. With the same energy they started the set with, they got face to face with the closest fans, most of whom looked like they've been with the band for the long run. Bobbing heads and pumping fists rippled back through the seats.
"Meanwhile, Eddie was preparing to steal the show. A series of giant murals had depicted him as a lobotomized soldier, a fighter pilot, a toxic pollution cloud and an Egyptian deity. But as the show closed, Eddie arose in the flesh, sort of, as a dancing, smoking monolith, 20 feet tall. Up popped his skull, and in dropped a glowing brain." Read [url=http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-maidenrev.artjul23,0,6346845.story?coll=hc-headlines-local]more[/url].
Source: [url=http://www.roadrun.com/blabbermouth.net/]Blabbermouth.net[/url]
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Taken from [url=http://www.ctnow.com/news/local/hc-maidenrev.artjul23,0,6346845.story?coll=hc-headlines-local]http://www.ctnow.com[/url]
Out Of The Mainstream, Into The Bloodstream
July 23, 2003
By JOHN JURGENSEN, Courant Staff Writer
Eddie has got to be the best thing Iron Maiden has ever come up with. The band's sneering zombie mascot is the ultimate heavy metal icon, more recognizable than any of the band's human assets.
And, as usual, when Iron Maiden performed at the ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre Tuesday night, Eddie was everywhere. On T-shirts. On tattoos. On stage in huge air-brushed murals and as a giant animatronic prop.
The night of heavy-metal theatrics built up from the basics when Motorhead opened the show. The veteran English three-piece steamed through a short set of no-frills rock. Frontman Lemmy Kilminster's only accessories were his bass, his trademark handlebar mustache and a pair of white boots. His gravelly howl did the rest of the work on biker anthems like "Ace of Spades" and "Overkill."
Dio followed, turning up the drama with a gimmick they've planned for the tour, which began Monday in Worcester: Their set is built around title tracks from their albums spanning back to 1983. Singer Ronnie James Dio drew in the front-row headbangers with throwbacks like "Holy Diver," "Dream Evil," and "I Speed at Night."
As night fell and the stage was re-arranged for the main act, the pavilion seats were filled, but the damp lawn beyond was mostly empty.
Then Iron Maiden broke out with the title song from the album that made them, back in 1982, "The Number of the Beast." And there was the number itself, blazing at the rear of the stage: 666. This is the stuff, along with Eddie's gruesome visage, of course, that kept Iron Maiden out of the mainstream and in the bloodstream of serious metalheads during the British band's glory days in the 1980s.
Favorites from those days, such as "Die With Your Boots On," "Revelations" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name," fueled their hour-and-a-half set. Singer Bruce Dickinson, the only guy with short hair to take the stage Tuesday night, barreled around the 10-foot platform, waved the Union Jack, and hopped on the monitors and did his best to get "bloody" Hartford to scream.
While Dickinson ran around like an angry Mick Jagger, three guitarists and a bass player cavorted across stage, striking poses and trading solos. With the same energy they started the set with, they got face to face with the closest fans, most of whom looked like they've been with the band for the long run. Bobbing heads and pumping fists rippled back through the seats.
Meanwhile, Eddie was preparing to steal the show. A series of giant murals had depicted him as a lobotomized soldier, a fighter pilot, a toxic pollution cloud and an Egyptian deity. But as the show closed, Eddie arose in the flesh, sort of, as a dancing, smoking monolith, 20 feet tall. Up popped his skull, and in dropped a glowing brain.
It was alive.
[quote]Favorites from those days, such as "Die With Your Boots On," "Revelations" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name," fueled their hour-and-a-half set. Singer Bruce Dickinson, the only guy with short hair to take the stage Tuesday night...[/quote]
What a pity that Bruce is with his hair short!!! Yesterday, I saw Raising Hell and this was amazing. They were all doing an excellent show, rocking!!
I think this is a good review, and that Eddie is always important, not only by this 20 feet version.