http://www.heraldsun.com.au/enterta...as-what-it-takes/story-e6frf96f-1226011198324
Iron Maiden still has what it takes
METAL gigs are funny. For a lot of reasons. Firstly they're ha-ha funny because quite often the guys running around like madmen have been doing it for eons (Hello Black Sabbath) and deep down you can't help feeling that most of the band members are in on the joke and would rather be at home with an English breakfast tea and a muffin.
Secondly because the sheer spectacle of a ye olde metal act is hilarious - witness the 10 foot Eddie the Head clambering out on stage like a deranged-but-benevolent Predator parody, see a man ("guitarist" Janick Gers) who should rightly be pushing up daisies push his guitar up around his neck and into the air several times while his botoxed lips quiver with some kind of post-coital satisfaction, guffaw at Bruce Dickinson's crowd quips: "F--- me, is that Biggles?" and "Sorry about that, I had to stay still, it's a bit geriatric really but that song takes balls" and umpteen demands that we should "SCREAM FOR ME MELBOOOOOOUUURRNNE!"
Thirdly, metal gigs are a little bit funny because when you're dealing with a band like Iron Maiden, formed in 1975 in Leyton, London, you are dealing with a bunch of fans who will love the show NO MATTER WHAT...even if the concert is at HiSense Arena and the post-mortem verdict does almost universally decry the lack of nuance/loudness, the lack of Run To The Hills, the lack of intimacy and the lack of chin-bruising moments where you simply didn't expect Iron Maiden to do that.
It was still a damn good show. And here's why, Bruce Dickinson is an incredible frontman who - a la Freddie Mercury - plays to every seat in the house. The guy a. makes fiddles seem unfit; b. does interviews on tour while he is out riding a bike as part of his daily fitness regimen; c. wears a Psych Ward muscle top yet is easily one of the most sane band leaders in modern music; d. pilots the Ed Force One plane here and looks fresher than those daisies Janick Gers looks like he should be pushing up.
Iron Maiden ripped through El Dorado, 2 Minutes to Midnight (at 2 minutes to 9), and The Wicker Man with aplomb, Dickinson leading his henchmen around the stage as he scampered up either side of the catwalk during Fear of the Dark. The man whose second name is actually Bruce (his first name is Paul, fun fact) threw his mic stand into the air with aerodynamic precision, twirling it like an axe and made sure it didn't knock over his seasoned bandmates, quite a hard task considering he had FOUR guitarists to keep in his peripheral vision.
Fear of the Dark proved the song of the night as the band sliced knowing, caustic riffs against Nicko McBrain's pummeling drum-beats. Dickinson's voice wavered in all the right moments and not even a fairly dodgy mix could curb his enthusiasm. True professional.
The Number of The Beast, Hallowed Be Thy Name and Running Free made for a fitting encore but you couldn't help but wonder how much better the sextet will be at Soundwave Festival next Friday with a huge, unforgiving sound system and the thrill of headlining over young whippersnapper bands who would love to one day have the legacy - and black T-shirt sales - of a band like Iron Maiden.
No doubt Dickinson will definitely make some funny quips about his would-be rivals, just as he did early in the show when mentioning the fact he and the band got breathalysed on the way to the HiSense Arena and blamed it on "the crooner" playing next door (Michael Buble) and his fans "who would definitely have piles. We're the rock band, we're meant to be drunk (cue laughter and bourbon burping)".
Ahhh, Bruce, you've still got it.May you pilot Ed Force One over many more continents yet...just make sure you are highly sensitive about the venues your band gets booked at.
