Maiden LA Review
IronMaiden.com posted a review of the band's performance in Los Angeles (Universal Amphitheater) on Friday January 30th 2004.Read the live review here
1 Comment
03/02/2004 Maiden LA Review by Sumit Chandra
Iron Maiden w/ Arch Enemy – Universal Amphitheater – Friday 30 January, 2004
By Sumit Chandra
Los Angeles, California! The city has always had a unique place in the history of Hard Rock music and Iron Maiden in particular. The LA metal scene was at the forefront of the hard rock revolution in the 1980’s in the US. It holds a special place in Iron Maiden’s history as the city that was host to the superb Live After Death video recording during the World Slavery Tour. Iron Maiden has always been received well here and thus was chosen to be one of the two US cities included on the “Dance of Death” world tour.
I took an afternoon flight from the New York area and landed at LAX a couple of hours before showtime. A quick jaunt on the always crowded LA freeways led me to Universal City which was the site of tonight’s venue. Universal Amphitheater is a unique venue as its located inside Universal City which is a great entertainment complex filled with shops, bars, restaurants, theme parks, cinemas and of course the Amphitheater. I sampled some of the shops prior to the show and ran into metal fans who had come to LA from all over the country as well as overseas for tonight’s performance.
As showtime approached, I made my way inside the venue and prepared for openers Arch Enemy. Any fan of extreme music is familiar with this excellent Swedish outfit and they put on another excellent performance tonight led by the guitarwork of the Amott brothers and the amazing vocals of Angela Gossow. They were also very thankful for the opportunity to support Iron Maiden and paid homage to the headliners on several occasions. After their set, the anticipation for Iron Maiden began.
The band promptly took the stage at 915pm local time and launched into “Wildest Dream” the opening track from the new Dance of Death album. The band were in excellent form from the word go with their unique audio and visual onslaught. The audience was energized as well and did a great job of singing along during the chorus.
As the show continued, Maiden reached back into their back catalog for the always raucous “Wrathchild” coupled with an enormous scream from Bruce. Next up was a classic from the Seventh Son album that had not been played for many years “Can I Play with Madness”. This song was a special treat for me as I had not gotten the chance to see the band on the Seventh Son Tour and I had always wanted to hear this song performed lives. The band did not disappoint as they worked magnificently through this uniquely arranged track. Next up was the always brilliant Piece of Mind classic “The Trooper” complete with the triple guitar melodies and the waving union jack! The band gave another brilliant rendition of this song, which took us to our first break of the evening.
It’s always a treat to hear Bruce address the audience. His ability to relate to the audience with just the right mix of intelligence, wit, attitude, and humility is unparalleled. He thanked the audience for supporting the band for so many years and then introduced the title track from the new album. I was really looking forward to hearing the new songs performed live and the band did not disappoint. The title track was brilliant with the time changes and complex rhythms providing stimulation for the ears while the light show, the band’s energy, and Bruce’s costume provided delight for the eyes. For then next hour or so the band played a great mix of new songs (“Rainmaker”, “Paschendale”, “No More Lies”) and old classics (“Brave New World”, “Lord of the Flies”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “Fear of the Dark”). It was a balanced setlist that really showcased the various strengths of the band.
On “Rainmaker” the band demonstrated their unparalleled sense of melody. On “No More Lies” Bruce got an opportunity to show off the different moods in his vocals that he can so superbly deliver while the three amigos displayed their guitar skills. “Paschendale” was particularly memorable with the sound effects and lighting. The sounds of war were very realistic during the intro. It almost felt like being in a World War I trench. Bruce once again dressed the part, while the rest of the band provided the music to go with the theatrics.
The older songs went down well also. It was great to see “Lord of the Flies” played once again as its an underrated song from the X-Factor album. “Brave New World” was the zenith of the brilliance of the Three Amigos on guitar while “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and “Fear of the Dark” once again proved why they have become essential elements of the Maiden setlist.
Although most of the show was smooth, there were a couple of pitfalls. During “Paschendale” it appeared that some idiot threw a beer that hit Adrian which was uncalled for considering that song is a great showcase for Adrian’s writing and playing abilities. Also, during “Hallowed”, Bruce fell off the platform above Nicko’s drum kit and crash landed near the drum kit. This was very frightening to see and he could really have been hurt. He lay there for a bit while Janick and Dave went to check on him, he then hobbled off stage. He returned shortly and while hobbling, he managed to continue singing without missing a single word! This was a really good illustration of the unpredictability of the live setting and the audience was very thankful for Bruce’s effort to return!
The main set ended with “Iron Maiden” which is always a treat as Eddie made his first appearance to the delight of the audience. The break after the main set wasn’t long as several stools (of the furniture variety) appeared on stage and Bruce addressed the audience. He cleared up any misconceptions about this being the last Iron Maiden tour (as some have thought) and reassured the audience that there would be more Iron Maiden albums and concerts in the future. The band then began the encore with “
The Journeyman” from the new album. This song was a thing of beauty as it demonstrated the power and grace of Iron Maiden in an acoustic setting. I hope this song can continue to have a place in the Maiden set in the future.
The band closed out the show two classics from the Number of the Beast album. The title track and Run to the Hills gave the audience a final energy surge and a final opportunity to sing along with the band. The band took their bows at the end of the set and made their way off stage to a thankful ovation from the LA audience.
I took a moment to reflect on the amazing performance I had just witnessed. Wow! Having seen Iron Maiden more than 45 times over the years, I’m used to the high standard of the band’s live performance. Tonight, however was on a different level entirely. It was obvious that the band is finely oiled machine with each component among the best in the business and the sum of the whole being even greater than the sum of the individual parts! It was great to hear that this was not the band’s final tour and we can look forward to new material and more Iron Maiden performances in the future!