Unsolicited Entertainment Review: Iron Maiden

So, last night I saw Iron Maiden at the White River Amphitheater in Auburn, WA. What an amazing show.. takes me "way" back to my childhood.

Iron Maiden was the first band I ever saw in concert.. It was 1985.. my buddy Curt and I were in 7th grade.. my parents dropped us off at Tower Records across from the San Diego Sports Arena, a classic oval shaped venue. The opening band was Twisted Sister. It was the Powerslave tour. (I remember the first time I was introduced to the band. I remember oggling over the album cover - we're talking vinyl!) The stage was decorated with many Egyptian motifs. I saw them again during the Somewhere In Time tour as well as the the Seventh Son tour.

{{{ Tuesday, June 22, 2010 }}}

I left work at about 3:30p and drove to Puyallup, WA to my buddy Rob's house. I was making good time until I reached Olympia... I hit bumper to bumper traffic.. ugh.. it went on for about 15 miles.. It took me almost 1 1/2 hrs to go 10 miles.. turns out WADOT was clearing an accident JUST before the exit I needed.. geesh... I finally made it to Rob's place at 7:15p...

We hopped in his truck and headed to the show!

We got there just as Dream Theater's set was ending. I didn't mind missing the opener cuz I was there for freaking Iron Maiden!!

I'd never used an "electronic" ticket before. We got to the gate and all I did was show my ID and present the credit card I'd used to purchase the tickets.. viola! we were in. We headed to the beer garden to grab an IPA... while we were there, Iron Maiden came on stage... I gulped our beers down and head for the mo'fkn pit!

There they were.. Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Janick Gers and somewhere behind a massive drum kit was Nicko McBrain. the theme of the stage/set was a space station. they had an array of amazing backdrops with Eddie in a lot of them. Eddie even made an appearance in the "flesh".. it was a variation on the previous "Eddies" I'd seen in the past.. he even "played" a little guitar...

I have to say I was very impressed by last night's performance. They mostly played newer stuff and even preview a track off their soon-to-be released album, The Final Frontier.  After Seventh Son I kind of stopped listening to them. When I got to college, I was exposed to much wider variety of music than I had during my "formative" years :) ... They freaking rocked!! It was like the old days.. music that you feel in your gut, kick drum and bass that hits you in the sternum. They did throw in Wrathchild early in the set. Bruce Dickinson was making fun of MP3s and listening to music on little ear buds.. he said, this is the way you should hear their tunes! It was awesome to see all three guitar players ripping their solos.. Bruce was all over the freaking stage.. he never stopped moving.. so much energy, and damn, he was hitting the high notes like nobody's bizness.. Steve did his signature move with his bass... galloping fingers plucking away while he pointed the bass at the audience.. he has a such an great bass sound too and melodies.. (he's the reason I started playing the bass!!). Of course, Nicko popped his head up every once in awhile.

For the encore/2nd half, they played Number of the Beast, Iron Maiden, Hallowed Be Thy Name, and a couple (whose titles escape me). I wished they'd played a few more of the "old" stuff (like 1st 5 albums) but I was not disappointed in the least. At the end, they all ditched their instruments and took bows. Nicko did as I remember, tossing drum sticks and used drum heads to the audience. They darkened the stage and the crowd started chanting for a 2nd encore.. there was anticipation... then, we heard the beginning of Number of the Beast again (the spoken part by Vincent Price, AGAIN!) oops! it immediately cut off, the house lights came one and dozens of roadies flooded the stage and began dismantling the 'set' -- all to the sounds of Monty Python's The Brighter Side Of Life.

I was grinning from ear to ear for almost the whole show.. I wish my pics had come out better. I think Rob got some good ones.

As we exited the show, I stopped by the merch booth and nabbed two tour shirts and poster for $80. I know.. it was a little steep, $35/shirt, $10/poster, but whatcha gonna do?

In parting, I should also mention, some douche standing behind me kept nudging me in the back whenever I'd step back a little. A couple times I looked back and saw some orge-looking dude, with his arm folded, too cool for school. I just ignored the guy but was mildly annoyed. I didn't let it stop me from being a little giddy inside.

Holy crap... I saw these guys 25 years ago!!!