Anyway, I don't usually do cover bands, but yesterday I saw a Maiden cover band that presented the entire Legacy of the Beast show: they played the exact same setlist, and even with the blatant low budget, they managed to recreate as best as they could the backdrops and the costumes, it was tasteful and not corny at all. Also, my cousin and her boyfriend didn't manage to see the actual show for budget reasons so I figured a nice evening together just to gave them a taste of what they missed was fine.
Reliving the show made me think about these points:
- Man, the show and setlist were REALLY good. One of their best shows ever, and given their setlist history, the most daring and innovative one as it could be reasonably expected.
- The solo sections are incredibily well constructed. Sure, Maiden have the repetitive chorus problem, but when they go prog, they create great solo sections (such as Sign of the Cross') which are more cohesive within the song than some of our own Dream Theater solo sections of past albums.
- The trademark stuff of Maiden - the gallop rhytm for example - is sure as hell recognizable, but it works in every song. The fast pace of the shorter tunes and the epic atmosphere of the most recent ones, expecially the reunion era, always manage to get the songs going.
Also, I think it was a bit daring for a cover band to pull out stuff like Sign of the Cross and For the Greater Good of God, usually people want to see a classics galore, but they were well received. The Clansman anyway beat them both, even if it's a Blaze song, everyone was singing along, also to the guitar melodies.
And, no matter if it's the real band or a cover band, Fear of the Dark, The Trooper and The Number of the Beast I guess will always get the best reaction from the crowd.