Paladinos 8/24 - Au Revoir Mel!

[Mr Toast]

I decided earlier this year that I would fly in at some point later this year to see the Maidens perform live again, preferably near another show I might find interesting (Engine, Y&T, etc.). However, due to Mel's newfound fame (joining Sinergy) I had to revise my vacation plans a bit...

Since this was Mel's last show for the time being (guest appearances being entirely possible in the future), I decided early not to let anyone know of my impending trip in order to suprise the Maidens. Besides, I had two birthday presents I hadn't delivered yet...

I arrived at Paladinos shortly before 8 pm. The first band to play was Downword.

They played quite well, but at that point I think there were only several dozen people who had arrived. The gig was advertised to start at 9pm, and since their set started at 8pm...

Dame Fortune took the stage next.

Then Psyadafect was on. They will be playing Paladinos again on Friday 8/30 to promote the release of their new CD.

Metal 101 took the stage just before the Maidens. They opened up with Dio's Holy Diver (nice choice guys!) and proceeded to play a good selection of covers from Y&T, Saxon, Judas Priest, Queensryche, Yngwie J. Malmsteen, and others. They even played Iron Maiden Tune - Stranger In A Strange Land, and dedicated it to Mel and her upcoming travels with Sinergy.

All of the bands played/performed very well, and there was a definite positive vibe in the air long before the Maidens played.

The Iron Maiden Game Show was next. Keyser, who runs the Metalhall website, donated a couple of prizes (including a Rock In Rio DVD) for the show.

BTW: A big thank you to Keyser for keeping me company during the show. I very much enjoyed chatting with you and look forward to our next encounter. Keyser was also selling Maidens merchandise throughout the show, and quite a few Iron Maidens shirts now have proud new owners!

 

[Mr Toast]

Then it was time for the Maidens to take the stage. They opened with Aces High, and did a number of other tunes.

Ones that come to mind (now that my head is a little clearer):
Die With Your Boots On
Powerslave (I think...)
Flight Of Icarus

My quest for photos has clouded my memory of which other tunes were played; I invite any input as to which other songs were played (the two shows I've attended are running together in my head at the moment)...

Speaking of pics...

Last time I attended a Maidens show, I was very impressed with their precise playing as well as an innate ability to work the crowd. Well, this time around the planets must have been in alignment, the omens good, or something because...

THE IRON MAIDENS WERE ABSOLUTELY ON FIRE!!!

Everyone played extremely well, and I could sense a focused frenzy behind the playing. And that energy just poured off the stage into the crowd. There was a point where the sound mix seemed a little off (the bass seemed drowned out for a sec), but hardly noticeable. I feel very lucky to have hit everyone on an 'on' night!

And what a crowd! People were standing on tables and chairs in the back, flags were flying...

Jen spends quality time with the crowd

Mel in a sea of fans

It was an awesome show ladies!

Here are a few other shots I took. Enjoy!

The Maidens with smylex (bottom) and some German magazine guy looking for an interview

We like you Mr. Toast, but if you use that flash one more time...

The men behind the Maidens. They were a little camera shy when I was trying to get a group shot. That's OK, though because I took pictures of them earlier!!!

It was truly awesome ladies! Thanks for putting up with me again!

 

[Sabbathking]

Great photos Mr.Toast

 

[bassbitch]

Great peekcha, Toasty! Thanks for posting them! And thanks for coming out and hanging out at Denny's with dah posse til the wee hours of the night -- errrr... morning.

 

[Mr Toast]

Merci BouCoup Mel! It isn't every day I get to hang with a famous rock star and her entourage at Dennys!

 

[Bruce Chickinson]

Thanks Toast for traveling out to the show, chronicling it w/ photos and the original artwork you gave me for my belated b-day. I love it...very thoughtful of you.

Thank you!

JEN

 

[Mike Heenan]

Great show girls, thanks! Nice to see myself videotaping in those pictures above. As I never turn around, I didn't know it gets wild at the shows!

By the way, how do you put an image in the body of a message?

 

[Mr Toast]

It was my pleasure Jen!!! You gals did one hell of a show, as always!!!
________________________

As to the question on how to post an image... first you need to have the picture uploaded on the web somewhere (so you need web space). Then you just post the url of the pic in the message box with url tags
i.e. {url}http://www.mywebspace.com/somepic.jpg{/url}
but replace the { above with [ and the } with ]
(didn't use brackets in example because then it would parse the url).

Other posting options may be found under vB Code help (to the left of the message posting box when posting a message).

Hope that helps!

 

[MiniMurray]

Hey, that tall German guy was really from Italy- damn, what do they put in the wine out there?

 

[Mr Toast]

Was he:

An Italian guy working for a German magazine,

A German guy working for an Italian magazine,

or an Italian guy working for an Italian magazine?

This message brought to you by the
Mr Toast Ministry of Disinformation

 

[bassbitch]

Originally posted by Mr Toast
Was he:

An Italian guy working for a German magazine,

A German guy working for an Italian magazine,

or an Italian guy working for an Italian magazine?

I think he was an Italian guy writing for a German Magazine, hehhehehhe. The mag in question is Rock Hard magazine.

 

[smylex]

Originally posted by bassbitch
I think he was an Italian guy writing for a German Magazine, hehhehehhe. The mag in question is Rock Hard magazine.

Wherever he was from, I noticed that the camera was pointed at the ladies' boobs. Not necessarily his fault though since he wasn't looking at his screen/viewfinder.

Also, the road crew isn't necessarily camera shy. That pic though was taken when we were trying to get all the stuff out the door so the staff of Paladinos could go home.

 

[Red Shirt]

Originally posted by smylex
Also, the road crew isn't necessarily camera shy. That pic though was taken when we were trying to get all the stuff out the door so the staff of Paladinos could go home.

Not to doubt you about camera shyness or the rush to get the hell out, but I think that pic was taken before the show because I remember that's where I was standing before the show (as shown in the picture) to make sure I get a front row spot for the show. Either way, it doesn't really matter...your point was made.