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Posted by: Smells Jul 6 2008, 11:05 PM

Well last night I packed myself off with a couple of my mates to Twickenham to watch Iron Maiden, to be honest I`m not a fan of Stadium gigs but it was the only chance we where going to get to watch them and boy am I glad we did, one word that has followed me around all day is AWESOME!

so ... when we arrived I was quite suprised how empty the stadium seemed, we decided to head into the crowd and push our way as far to the front as we could before the real squash, I`m glad we did, from no where thousands of people (in the region of 50,000 from reports) entered the stadium and the whole place began to buzz, a huge stage at one end with two giant screens either side.

The crowd goes mad and the screens light up showing footage of Maiden travelling around the globe in their custom Boeing 757 (http://www.spinner.com/2008/01/02/iron-maiden-take-to-the-sky-in-custom-plane/)

And we`re off into "Aces High", I`m blown away by the sound, I wasnt expecting such a quality sound outside in a stadium, but I guess the homework had been done, coz it was crisp and clear as anything!!

the set list then went, 2 Minutes To Midnight, Revelations, The Trooper, Wasted Years, The Number Of The Beast, Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Powerslave, Heaven Can Wait, Run To The Hills, Fear Of The Dark, Iron Maiden, Moonchild, The Clairvoyant, Hallowed Be Thy Name.

Apologies to any of his fans but I`m not that fond of Janik Gers, he actually didnt play too many solo`s on the night (hoorah!), the ones he did play where inaudiable, I wish he`d spend less time throwing his guitar around and generally posing in as many different poses as he possible can, the guy can play we know that from his recorded material but in general "live", hes far too busy mincing around to be able to play anything half decent.

Dave Murray and Adrian Smith where rock steady, sporting some rather tasty guitars and just getting down to business, Steve Harris I thought was fantastic all night, thundering along on his custom West Ham (Hammers) Bass, and Nicko on drums, well totally awesome, the guys solid as a rock and never misses a beat, awesome.

My favourite of the night had to be Brucey, without Bruce, Maiden aint Maiden, his vocals where mighty powerful, he didnt stop running around, the mans a machine, incredible!

All in all it was £50 (approx $100) well spent, I was dubious at first but to be honest it was worth paying that just for them to play Rime of the ancient Mariner!

I`m gutted I didnt take my vid camera with me, I didnt think it would be allowed into the stadium but I could have so I have a few really bad quality pics that I took with my mobile phone, sorry they are a little blurred









Finally I`ve attached a small movie clip that I took on my phone, the sound etc is ofc not too good, but it shows the huge pyro flames that they used during Number of the Beast, we could feel the heat from these things where we were standing, must have been really hot on stage!!

 MVI_0003.rar ( 1002.42K ) : 206


I nearly forgot!! my new shirt!!

Posted by: TreyDeschamp Jul 6 2008, 11:09 PM

lucky you man sounds like a blast!

Posted by: IDontWantMyUsername Jul 6 2008, 11:12 PM

Haha, I'm going to see them the 22th on a stadium here in Norway!
We're going to sleep over outside the stadium to get good spaces in the line

Posted by: Fran Jul 6 2008, 11:21 PM

Really cool man, Maiden sure have an amazing Live, I've only seen them once and it was damn good, and yeah, Maiden for me means Maiden with Dickinson, that's for sure

Amazing plane too

Posted by: MickeM Jul 6 2008, 11:30 PM

Up the irons

Sound like a great time you had!

Posted by: Ivan Milenkovic Jul 7 2008, 11:12 PM

Awesome concert and review man, very nice story and great pictures. I can feel the atmosphere! Thanks!

Posted by: Smells Jul 7 2008, 11:16 PM

the atmosphere was amazing, I didnt think it could be captured at such a large show but it was, I`ve been to many concerts over the years and I`ve seen Maiden twice before as well, but this stands out as probably the best one I`ve ever been to!

Posted by: superize Jul 7 2008, 11:28 PM

Sounds like you had a blast...... I have never been on a big concert seeing a band that i like but i am going to see Sabaton 25/7 and it is goin to be my first big concert...... I cant wait

Posted by: crabman Jul 8 2008, 05:06 AM

Smells, I saw them on June 2nd in Seattle Wa. and I completly agree with your take on the show. One of the best concerts Ive ever seen. Bruce was running around the stage like a 20 year old. If anyone gets the chance I highly recomend catching the show.

Posted by: Stevie·Ray·Vaughn Jul 8 2008, 05:43 AM

I payed $85 to see Maiden on March 16, and I completely agree with everything you said
And yes, I would have payed that money just to watch Rime Of The Ancient Mariner .. just astounding


PS . Damn! I wish they had that shirt when I saw them haha

Posted by: Lian Gerbino Jul 8 2008, 06:05 AM

so cool!!!! man you´re so lucky!!!

Posted by: Smells Jul 8 2008, 08:17 AM

Its one of the event shirts so only available at Twickenham or off their website

Posted by: Strungout180 Jul 8 2008, 08:20 AM

Was that the ACC show? If so I was there as well, dead center in the lower bowl. The show was amazing, and I loved the fact that it was a set made up of entirely older tunes. I'll actually probably go see them again when they come back through Toronto as the 85 bucks was totally worth it just to watch Bruce's onstage antics alone.

My only complaint about the whole thing was the sound was extremely muddy I found.

Posted by: Nemanja Filipovic Jul 8 2008, 12:41 PM

Stage looks amazing man,you must had a great time there.

Posted by: Jesse Jul 8 2008, 01:13 PM

F****** AWESOME!!!JEALOUS!!!


Edit for language - Smells

Posted by: Juan M. Valero Jul 8 2008, 02:34 PM

UP THE IRONS !!!!!!!!!!!!! yeah, and playing Moonchild !!!! great song

Posted by: Stevie·Ray·Vaughn Jul 9 2008, 09:54 PM

Yeah Smells, at the time I saw them, it was their only Canadian date, so it was hockey player Eddie!

Posted by: Nazgul Jul 9 2008, 10:15 PM

Up the Irons! I'm really jealous right now. And they played "The Trooper", best song ever.

Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Jul 10 2008, 11:50 AM

I saw Iron Maiden 2 times , they are awesome....You wrote a very cool review , feel like I been there

Posted by: OrganisedConfusion Jul 10 2008, 12:12 PM

I've seen them 5 times live and they are incredible. I saw them in France with Dream Theater supporting on the Early Days tour. Phantom of the Opera \m/

Posted by: Alex87 Jul 10 2008, 03:09 PM

Up the Irons, nice review man. Cant wait to see them in Denmark I was actually at Twickenham stadium 2 years ago i saw the Eagles there

Thanks for reviewing, cheers