Sound Off!

Up The Irons, indeed!

Friday June 20th was the last night of the US portion of Iron Maiden’s Somewhere Back In Time tour and they made certain to go out with a bang at the former Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts.

With an overcast sky that eventually turned to rain at least twice, the crowd waited slightly impatiently for the start of the opening set by Lauren Harris. The ticket said the show was supposed to start at 7 pm and at least 30 minutes after that time, the crowd was still waiting.

At long last, Lauren Harris and her band took the stage. The band was pretty good. Sadly, I am speaking strictly of the guys on the instruments when I say this. Lauren Harris is the daughter of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris. She’s got the fantastic good looks, impressively awesome body…and the vocal cords of a strangled cat. I realize I will now probably never get a Christmas greeting card from the Harris family, but holy cow, she can’t sing! She’s terrible. I can’t sing either, but at least I have the basic human decency to not inflict that fact on unsuspecting audiences.

After an intermission that saw the rain stop long enough for those not covered by the pavilion to dry out, the rain picked up again just as the one and only Iron Maiden hit the stage.

The band’s Early Years set list was fantastically selected and the Maiden Men have the chops and energy to blow the young bands of modern day off the stage still. The first hour of the set was beset by some audio problems. Bruce Dickinson’s microphone cut out completely during one bit of stage banter and there were a few unintentional stretches of feedback.

The band wasn’t content to let these minor setbacks affect their performance and they continued to stampede through the show with massive background banners switching back and forth to reflect particular songs. The massive Powerslave stage set was used to great effect including the gigantic mummified Eddie coming out from behind the Sphinx. Towards the end of the set, the slavishly devoted fans were also treated to the bounty hunter Eddie mascot from Somewhere In Time walking about the stage battling the guitarists.

The 16 songs performed for this Greatest Hits tour standout as probably the most performed and/or best loved Iron Maiden classic tracks from 1980-1989. The one exception would be “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” which (though I may be wrong about this) hasn’t been performed live much if at all in the last 15 years. The lengthy song, accompanied by a synchronized light rig to coincide with the sound effects in the song, plus the tons of smoke to simulate the fog actually gave the song a very powerful moody setting. You felt as if you were on that boat.

Nicko McBrain managed to break a snare drum during the early going which forced a brief delay while it was prepared but otherwise continued his super foundation to the band’s live show. Steve Harris is the ultimate in galloping bass playing. The chief songwriter is alive and well and still churning out those thumping bass lines like nobody’s business. Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers form the most formidable guitar combo you can imagine as they float back and forth between vicious leads, electrifying solos and beefy rhythmic lines.

I’m a Bruce Dickinson fan. The guy is one of those showman who can always get the job done in such a manner as to continually blow you away no matter how many times you see him do it. There’ll be a DVD of this concert tour and according to some of Dickinson’s between song banter, the band will be coming back soon with a brand new studio album and tour.

I’m not crazy (though I still buy the darn things) about the constant repackaging of the band’s back catalogue and multitude of greatest hits packages, but leaving that all aside, an Iron Maiden concert is an event that any metal fan should NEVER miss. You haven’t seen metal performed as it should be if you haven’t seen IRON MAIDEN!

SONG HIGHLIGHTS – I’ve already mentioned “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” but other songs were particularly great for me as well. I am a huge fan of the Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son CD so hearing “Moonchild” and “The Clairvoyant” during the encore was the capper of the evening. “Aces High” and “2 Minutes To Midnight” got things rolling on the evening and the snipped of Churchill’s speech still gives goosebumps and inspires thousands of fans to speak the lines along with the late English prime minister. This was the first Maiden show for my brother and while he loved the show nonetheless, what really made it special for him was hearing/seeing them perform his two favorite Maiden songs “Run To The Hills” and “Fear Of The Dark.”

However, on the evening as always, the song that always makes me just go brain flipping crazy is/was “Number Of The Beast”. That song always thrills the crowd thanks largely in part to the legendary spoken word intro to the song. Fists in the air, screams of delight, and devil horns aplenty make this song a high point of every concert!

SET LIST: (in order)

01. Aces High
02. 2 Minutes To Midnight
03. Revelation
04. The Trooper
05. Wasted Years
06. Number Of The Beast
07. Can I Play With Madness
08. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
09. Powerslave
10. Heaven Can Wait
11. Run To The Hills
12. Fear Of The Dark
13. Iron Maiden
14. Moonchild (Encore)
15. The Clairvoyant (Encore)
16. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Encore)