Iron Maiden at Earl's Court - An American In London!

[Khan71]

Oh man....where to start? I will do my best to be as brief as possible here!

Last week I finally had a chance to see Maiden on their home turf in London, on two consecutive nights! I've wanted this since almost as far back as I can remember...and it was nothing short of amazing!

Not only that, but I got to go with my brother, meet 150 or so diehard Maiden fans from the official forums, and be one off the rail first night...and ON THE RAIL in front of Davey on the second night...on his birthday! I even tossed a birthday card up on stage for him...hehe...which A roadie took backstage and I'm assured he would have given it to Dave.

Anyway, first night was a bit rough as the push was not really super strong, but it was constant and went left to right all over the place. The band were playing wonderful...and then...the sound went out...LOL. Seems that the main power line for most circuits running into the building, had caught fire...LOL! So...for the better part of 30 minutes, we were treated to the boys kicking a soccer/footy ball around stage, Adrian juggling, and Bruce on a megaphone. I'm proud to say that I started the first round of the Happy Birthday song to Dave...even though the next night was his birthday. We actually were kept quite entertained through it all.

Unfortunately, the push got even WORSE while the band wasn't even playing....WTF?!?! That took it's toll on me. I have asthma and it was so packed that I could not lower my arms to get my inhaler out of my pocket. So, I pushed back to about the 5th row of people or so, and used my inhaler. This was around the middle of Benjamin Breeg. Of course, this put me right next to the friggin mosh pit. Now, they can do whatever they want to each other and I don't care..but I wanted nothing to do with it, and couldn't get away from it. Even worse is, I was standing next to several small women, and they were getting thrashed by these idiots. I got so pissed off at this, that I just started punching them in the kidneys. It worked some, as some of them started intentionally avoiding my immediate area...LOL. A few first turned around to fight me, but upon seeing me, decided to apologize instead...LOL...classic! I'm quite sure a few of them were peeing blood after the show...and they fucking deserved it...LOL. So anyway, a few annoyances aside...it was a vey different and special night! Again...the band were terrific!

Now...night two...was fucking PERFECT I was ON THE RAIL directly in front of Dave, and in between two friends from the fan club. We spent the night taking care of each other. Jo on my left...she gave me a Dave guitar pic...and Daniel on my right, I gave him a Dave wristband I caught, since I already had one from Irvine. I have to say that I have NEVER seen the band more on fire, than this night. Steve was sweating already in the middle of the second song in the set. It was an unbelievably special night...and being on the barrier, made it much easier to deal with the push. I do not think I have ever had a better time at any concert ever, as this night.

Near the end of it, I almost teared up a bit because I realised that this was the last night of the tour...the best tour ever, I had just spent it with a ton of friends and my brother, I had done 4 shows in the USA and now these 2 in London, I received 5 Dave guitar picks (3 of which I gave away) and 2 Dave wristbands (1 of which I gave away), I am one of only two people I know that can say they saw the FIRST show where Maiden played an entire album...and the LAST show in which they did this. It was all coming to an end...and I got pretty emotional.

PLUS...some of you might remember that I allowed the airline to bump me from two flights coming back from the east coast part of the USA tour, and that gave me most of the money to fly to London for these shows. Well, on the way home this time...I let them bump me again in NY, and I now have a $400 flight voucher for the NEXT big trip to see Maiden somewhere!

After all the lofty goals I had for this tour...the only one I did not fulfill, was to come home with a Steve Harris wristband from one of the shows I attended. I'm a little sad about that, because my chances are getting more and more slim as the years go by....but that does not put the slightest damper on this amazing experience I just had, which started back in October in Hartford, and ended in London!

Thanks Iron Maiden...for being the greatest fucking band the world has ever seen, and being a part of a majority of the best memories in my life!

 

[concertchick]

I'm so glad you had a good time . Sorry about the first night but the second night sound's like it was great. My husband Mike and I were thinking of you . We would say he's probley flying over there right now, he's probley there .The show must be starting ect.. Of all the people you really desevred to see them at Earls court.Mike was pouting on the last night He was bummed that the best tour Maiden ever did is now over.We would love to get together with you and talk about your trip.Mabe at an Iron maidens show ?

 

[Metallicat180]

Glad you had a great time!! Love the story about the moshers, hahaha!!!! It is much easier on the barrier I think cos if they crowd starts swaying from side to side as least you've got something to hang onto!

 

[Air Raid Siren]

Thanks for sharing such a great story, Khan - what an amazing experience that must have been!

 

[Timewarrior2001]

Not sure if the guys from maiden know of this place.

I've passed on the URL to my aunt who is related to Janick.

The reviews here are brilliant, I wish I had gone to see them, Instead I gave up my place on a coach and my mate although he had his ticket didnt go cos he had his toe nails removed two days before.

I'm in the process of trying to get a signed copy of the album, if I do I'll post some pics here.

I have only seen maiden once and that was the brave new world tour. Theres some bands I could go see over and over and over, but there was something special about seeing maiden, and I am scared if I do go again it will spoil things.

 

[ironmaidenfan09]

How much better is the crowd in the UK compared to the USA? What are the differences? Would love to see them in the UK one time. Can't wait for the early years part 2 tour thats going to fuckin rule

 

[Khan71]

How much better is the crowd in the UK compared to the USA? What are the differences? Would love to see them in the UK one time. Can't wait for the early years part 2 tour thats going to fuckin rule

The major difference is the floor, and I'm convinced it's only because the entire floor is general admission. The floor was incredible. I was near or on the rail, both nights...and my brother enjoyed the show from the sound board. We both thought the audience on the floor was terrific. If the US wasn't so concerned with putting f'ing chairs on the floor, I'm convinced it would be the same here...since the GA pits I've been in here in the USA have had tons of energy.

What I WAS dissapointed in, were the seated areas. Somewhat similar to arenas here in the states, the floor was surrounded by a couple levels of seated areas. First night I looked back and could see more than 3/4 of the seated areas on both sides (couldn't see directly behind) and no matter when I looked EVERYONE (save for maybe a few INDIVIDUALS here and there) were SITTING DOWN! New songs...classic songs...no matter...they were sitting down! The second night, being on the rail, I never bothered looking anywhere but on the stage. Now...the energy level in the USA might not be as high overall, because it's mostly seated areas...but I was at 4 shows in the USA (Hartford, Boston, Camden, Irvine)...and WELL over 95% of the seated areas were ALL standing...for the whole show. So next time someone tells me that US crowds suck, I think I'll tell them to kiss my ass.

 

[Doodoobubbachuck]

DAmn! Sounds like you had the time of your life!! So good to hear the Maiden Men making the most of some down time! That must have been quite amusing! I'm glad you made it out there Khan....and that's really a nice trade for the flight vouchers for taking a flight bump!