Ok, here's my typically long arsed, over enthusuastic review. 
I'd been looking forward to this gig for months since the last time I saw Maiden was back in 2008 on the Somewhere Back In Time tour. I found out I won first to the barrier wristbands for this at 5.30pm the day before the show which I was very, very excited about. Got to the airport in plenty of time which was good cos the queue to get through security was horrendous! Took me about 45mins to get through. I check the gate number and have a wander round. I then find out that the flight was going to be delayed for AN HOUR AND A HALF!!!!!!!!!!! That's when I started to panic cos I didn't know how to get to this venue or how far away it was from anywhere I knew in Dublin. We had to meet at 5.15pm at the venue for the wristbands so I was climbing up the walls worrying about this. (just ask my friend Mark who says he's never travelling with me again if I'm like that!)
Finally we land in Dublin and I run for the bus I needed. I ask the driver if he goes past The Point (the venue's name) and he says that no he doesn't, even tho my friend Vic told me that this bus did go there. So I'm like FUUUUUUUUCK!!! I try to phone Vic but it will not connect for some stupid reason. I go back to the bus and was just going to ask him to take me to O'Connell Street which is the main street in Dublin and then I'd figure it out from there. I was waiting outside the bus whilst he dealt with some other people and he motioned for me to come on. He said he would just take me there anyway which I was SO grateful for and he dropped me off right outside the venue. I don't know whether he was supposed to go that way or not but I was so thankful to him.
It turns out I was the first one of my group there anyway! Eventually everyone else turns up and we join the queue and get our wristbands and I can FINALLY relax for the first time in about 6 hours! I was very surprised to see how many people actually had FTTB wristbands. There must have been a good 100 people in the queue. When we eventually get in, I was so shocked at how tiny the venue was - at least by arena standards. Even tho so many people had FTTB, I would say only about 40-50 people must have actually got on the barrier. We were all together on Dave and Adrian's side of the stage and as the evening went on, positions always change and some people left the barrier so we all got Vic on the barrier cos she's so small. I was stood behind her and had a fab view.
Heaven And Hell were originally supposed to be supporting and I was very much looking forward to see them but then Dio passed away which I was very sad about. Sweet Savage were their replacement. I had seen them before supporting Metallica and they weren't the greatest band I've ever seen, but certainly not the worst. The only songs I knew of their set was Killing Time, which Metallica covered on Garage Inc, and Whiskey In The Jar which went down a storm.
It didn't take too long for the lights to dim and the familar opening notes of UFO's Doctor, Doctor to ring out over the arena. The crowd were all jumping and singing along - the atmosphere was electric! Then Maiden's usual epic classical music intro booms out and after that, the curtain drops to reveal Adrian Smith who kicked off with the instantly recognisable opening riff of The Wicker Man. Bruce Dickinson comes out and does his usual run and jump off the centre monitors and holy crap, he can jump high!!!! Running around the stage like a man half his age, he never missed a note! Alot of people weren't keen on the setlist but I had first seen Maiden on the Dance Of Death tour so had never seen songs like The Wicker Man or Ghost Of The Navigator live.
Wrathchild was the first break in the newer material and personally I could have done without it because I've heard the song so much that it just bores me now. New song El Dorado was absolutely amazing live. I wasn't keen on it when I first heard the free download but I've grown to really love it. I was singing along to every word and this was noticed by Steve Harris who sang along with me. I'm not sure how much this would have been noticed by others in the audience because they might not know the words but Bruce changed the lyrics from "I'm a clever banker's face, with just a letter out of place." to "I'm a clever wanker's face, with just a banker out of place." which I found hilarious!
Dance Of Death had the same spoken intro as it had on the 2003 tour and it brought back many fond memories of that night for me. Bruce started a dedication to Ronnie James Dio before Blood Brothers and was interrupted by the "DIO! DIO! DIO!" chants which were deafening. He went on to dedicate the song to "the greatest little man on the planet" and the crowd roared their approval. Wildest Dreams was another highlight for me as it was the very first song I'd seen Maiden do live. Adrian, Dave, Janick and Steve were all over our side for the majority of that song.
A bigger break from the "reunion" material came with Fear Of The Dark and Iron Maiden. Again, I could have done without those as they both bore me too, Fear Of The Dark especially. They have to keep Iron Maiden in there so Eddie can make his appearance. It seems Eddie has taken an break this tour and some Predator influenced alien thing pretending to be Eddie ambled on the stage to fight with Janick and steal his guitar. I refuse point blank to call it Eddie though because it just isn't. The Number Of The Beast started the encores followed by the epic Hallowed Be Thy Name. Although I've heard that song as much as I have Fear Of The Dark or Wrathchild, it never bores me and I love it just as much every time.
The best song of the night for me was Running Free. I'm such a huge fan of the Paul era albums and I had never heard this song live before. Bruce even changed the lyrics to, "Spent the night in a Dublin jail, listen to the siren's wail..." During the live breakdown bit, a crew member came on with a tray laden with Guinness for all the band members and they all stood round and had a drink. At one point, Dave, Adrian and Janick were stood chatting like they were stood at a bar, pints in hand. Somehow Bruce had found a policeman's helmet and put that on for the rest of the song. He was absolutely hilarious during the breakdown, remarking that his Guinness "was good shit, they should sell it!" and speaking to an audience member, "What's wrong with you? You've got a sore head? Oh you want me to put this on my head? (his pint) Fuck off! You drink it, not fucking wear it!" His banter was interspersed with the occasional "I'm running free yeah!" and audience repeat. According to Bruce, Adrian was playing "the actual guitar that wrote Flight Of Icarus in a toilet backstage in America". After all the intros Bruce was running about singing the rest of the song, pint in hand, and never spilling a drop. Once the song had finished, he necked the entire thing, much to the delight of the audience.
I nearly caught Adrian's wristband that he threw out afterwards. It bounced off my hand and I didn't get it. Boo! Oh well, maybe next time. What a show it was though. My voice was gone, my neck, back, legs, arms all ached and I was drenched head to foot in sweat but it was absolutely amazing! Maiden never do anything half arsed and they were as amazing as every other time I've seen them. Was well worth the 12 hour wait at Dublin airport afterwards!
Some of my better photos...
'Arry's got more energy than a man half his age!
My favourite photo of the night
Scream for me Dublin!!!
Love Bruce's shirt
Having a pint during Running Free
Oh look, a drummer!!
PC Dickinson
More in here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=239364&id=503786527&l=2b429fde53
And a little video of Bruce during Running Free
http://www.facebook.com/metallicat180?v=app_2392950137#
(first one on the list since I can't directly link it)
I'd been looking forward to this gig for months since the last time I saw Maiden was back in 2008 on the Somewhere Back In Time tour. I found out I won first to the barrier wristbands for this at 5.30pm the day before the show which I was very, very excited about. Got to the airport in plenty of time which was good cos the queue to get through security was horrendous! Took me about 45mins to get through. I check the gate number and have a wander round. I then find out that the flight was going to be delayed for AN HOUR AND A HALF!!!!!!!!!!! That's when I started to panic cos I didn't know how to get to this venue or how far away it was from anywhere I knew in Dublin. We had to meet at 5.15pm at the venue for the wristbands so I was climbing up the walls worrying about this. (just ask my friend Mark who says he's never travelling with me again if I'm like that!)
Finally we land in Dublin and I run for the bus I needed. I ask the driver if he goes past The Point (the venue's name) and he says that no he doesn't, even tho my friend Vic told me that this bus did go there. So I'm like FUUUUUUUUCK!!! I try to phone Vic but it will not connect for some stupid reason. I go back to the bus and was just going to ask him to take me to O'Connell Street which is the main street in Dublin and then I'd figure it out from there. I was waiting outside the bus whilst he dealt with some other people and he motioned for me to come on. He said he would just take me there anyway which I was SO grateful for and he dropped me off right outside the venue. I don't know whether he was supposed to go that way or not but I was so thankful to him.
It turns out I was the first one of my group there anyway! Eventually everyone else turns up and we join the queue and get our wristbands and I can FINALLY relax for the first time in about 6 hours! I was very surprised to see how many people actually had FTTB wristbands. There must have been a good 100 people in the queue. When we eventually get in, I was so shocked at how tiny the venue was - at least by arena standards. Even tho so many people had FTTB, I would say only about 40-50 people must have actually got on the barrier. We were all together on Dave and Adrian's side of the stage and as the evening went on, positions always change and some people left the barrier so we all got Vic on the barrier cos she's so small. I was stood behind her and had a fab view.
Heaven And Hell were originally supposed to be supporting and I was very much looking forward to see them but then Dio passed away which I was very sad about. Sweet Savage were their replacement. I had seen them before supporting Metallica and they weren't the greatest band I've ever seen, but certainly not the worst. The only songs I knew of their set was Killing Time, which Metallica covered on Garage Inc, and Whiskey In The Jar which went down a storm.
It didn't take too long for the lights to dim and the familar opening notes of UFO's Doctor, Doctor to ring out over the arena. The crowd were all jumping and singing along - the atmosphere was electric! Then Maiden's usual epic classical music intro booms out and after that, the curtain drops to reveal Adrian Smith who kicked off with the instantly recognisable opening riff of The Wicker Man. Bruce Dickinson comes out and does his usual run and jump off the centre monitors and holy crap, he can jump high!!!! Running around the stage like a man half his age, he never missed a note! Alot of people weren't keen on the setlist but I had first seen Maiden on the Dance Of Death tour so had never seen songs like The Wicker Man or Ghost Of The Navigator live.
Wrathchild was the first break in the newer material and personally I could have done without it because I've heard the song so much that it just bores me now. New song El Dorado was absolutely amazing live. I wasn't keen on it when I first heard the free download but I've grown to really love it. I was singing along to every word and this was noticed by Steve Harris who sang along with me. I'm not sure how much this would have been noticed by others in the audience because they might not know the words but Bruce changed the lyrics from "I'm a clever banker's face, with just a letter out of place." to "I'm a clever wanker's face, with just a banker out of place." which I found hilarious!
Dance Of Death had the same spoken intro as it had on the 2003 tour and it brought back many fond memories of that night for me. Bruce started a dedication to Ronnie James Dio before Blood Brothers and was interrupted by the "DIO! DIO! DIO!" chants which were deafening. He went on to dedicate the song to "the greatest little man on the planet" and the crowd roared their approval. Wildest Dreams was another highlight for me as it was the very first song I'd seen Maiden do live. Adrian, Dave, Janick and Steve were all over our side for the majority of that song.
A bigger break from the "reunion" material came with Fear Of The Dark and Iron Maiden. Again, I could have done without those as they both bore me too, Fear Of The Dark especially. They have to keep Iron Maiden in there so Eddie can make his appearance. It seems Eddie has taken an break this tour and some Predator influenced alien thing pretending to be Eddie ambled on the stage to fight with Janick and steal his guitar. I refuse point blank to call it Eddie though because it just isn't. The Number Of The Beast started the encores followed by the epic Hallowed Be Thy Name. Although I've heard that song as much as I have Fear Of The Dark or Wrathchild, it never bores me and I love it just as much every time.
The best song of the night for me was Running Free. I'm such a huge fan of the Paul era albums and I had never heard this song live before. Bruce even changed the lyrics to, "Spent the night in a Dublin jail, listen to the siren's wail..." During the live breakdown bit, a crew member came on with a tray laden with Guinness for all the band members and they all stood round and had a drink. At one point, Dave, Adrian and Janick were stood chatting like they were stood at a bar, pints in hand. Somehow Bruce had found a policeman's helmet and put that on for the rest of the song. He was absolutely hilarious during the breakdown, remarking that his Guinness "was good shit, they should sell it!" and speaking to an audience member, "What's wrong with you? You've got a sore head? Oh you want me to put this on my head? (his pint) Fuck off! You drink it, not fucking wear it!" His banter was interspersed with the occasional "I'm running free yeah!" and audience repeat. According to Bruce, Adrian was playing "the actual guitar that wrote Flight Of Icarus in a toilet backstage in America". After all the intros Bruce was running about singing the rest of the song, pint in hand, and never spilling a drop. Once the song had finished, he necked the entire thing, much to the delight of the audience.
I nearly caught Adrian's wristband that he threw out afterwards. It bounced off my hand and I didn't get it. Boo! Oh well, maybe next time. What a show it was though. My voice was gone, my neck, back, legs, arms all ached and I was drenched head to foot in sweat but it was absolutely amazing! Maiden never do anything half arsed and they were as amazing as every other time I've seen them. Was well worth the 12 hour wait at Dublin airport afterwards!
Some of my better photos...
'Arry's got more energy than a man half his age!
My favourite photo of the night
Scream for me Dublin!!!
Love Bruce's shirt
Having a pint during Running Free
Oh look, a drummer!!
PC Dickinson
More in here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=239364&id=503786527&l=2b429fde53
And a little video of Bruce during Running Free
http://www.facebook.com/metallicat180?v=app_2392950137#
(first one on the list since I can't directly link it)
I know--wasn't Bruce amazing? Seriously, he jumps around at least if not more than Madonna and the like yet still sings every word and doesn't miss a note. Phenomenal... Ah, so this means we can now work in a booze break when we do "Running Free," too, since it would be in keeping with what Iron Maiden does. 
After all, gotta keep it authentic! 
