The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[hefdaddy42]

The Hu are opening the US tour. WTF??

My kid just told me. Exciting!  And fantastic for the Hu.

[MirrorMask]

The Hu are opening the US tour. WTF??

Well deserved and a giant exposure for them!

[hefdaddy42]

Well deserved and a giant exposure for them!

[Stadler]

Who?

[TAC]

Who?

The

[Grappler]

At least they're better than Lauren Harris. 

[Zydar]

Who?

No. Hu.

[hefdaddy42]

The Hu go hard.  We saw them a couple of years ago.  We were pretty close to the front.  Fantastically entertaining.

[Cool Chris]

Are they on first?

[cramx3]

Mongolian metal band

Interesting music. But I'm not a huge fan of this choice.  I saw them open for Five Finger Death Punch and Megadeth a couple years ago.  They aren't bad and actually are pretty unique and offer something that you don't normally see.  It's just not music that makes me get excited I guess.  Much better than a Harris child, but not quite as good as some of the other openers they've had (Ghost, Within Temptation, Alice Cooper).

[hefdaddy42]

Are they on first?

Yeah, they are opening for IM.

Mongolian metal band

Interesting music. But I'm not a huge fan of this choice.  I saw them open for Five Finger Death Punch and Megadeth a couple years ago.  They aren't bad and actually are pretty unique and offer something that you don't normally see.  It's just not music that makes me get excited I guess.  Much better than a Harris child, but not quite as good as some of the other openers they've had (Ghost, Within Temptation, Alice Cooper).

Yeah, but I would imagine that for most Maiden fans, it almost doesn't matter who the opener is, especially if it's a more similar act like those last 3 you mentioned, because hardcore IM fans are going regardless.

But this has me and my kid, neither of whom care for Maiden, excited about going to a Maiden show, because the Hu are opening. 

[Mladen]

Ghost is, to this day, the best band I've ever seen open for Iron Maiden. Not counting a festival when Slipknot went on beforehand. 

[cramx3]

Yeah, they are opening for IM.
Yeah, but I would imagine that for most Maiden fans, it almost doesn't matter who the opener is, especially if it's a more similar act like those last 3 you mentioned, because hardcore IM fans are going regardless.

But this has me and my kid, neither of whom care for Maiden, excited about going to a Maiden show, because the Hu are opening.

Yeah, I'm mostly sharing my personal opinion which is kind of meh on them, but I get it.  The options could be significantly worse.  For the two shows I am going to, I wouldn't be surprised if one of them we miss the Hu and the other we see them. They aren't bad at all, just maybe not a band I would ahve chosen.  That's OK.

[nobloodyname]

At least they're better than Lauren Harris.

Excellent callback to the late naughties!

[El Barto]

Never heard their music, but I'm familiar with them. That's honestly a pretty inspired choice. Kind of makes me want to see this in CDMX. I suspect Hu would go over pretty well down there.

[Anguyen92]

I'm excited at the idea of The Hu as an opener.  Throat-singing as a concept is always intriguing to look at and I think, "How do they keep themselves well-conditioned with that style of singing tour by tour?"

I would peg them to be a step up as an opener compared to me seeing Fozzy and The Raven Age opening for Maiden when I saw them in 2019 (and I had no issues with those two opening bands).

[Mosh]

Never heard of The Hu, but after years of complaining about Maiden bringing their kids on tour constantly I feel like people should be happy about this choice regardless.

[MirrorMask]

Another way to see it: it's a very interesting and diverse band that most likely - unless they truly conquer you and you become a fan - you will never pay to see them live. You already were going to see Bruce anyway and would have been stuck with any support act that would have been chosen, why not take the chance to enjoy something you'll never see again?

(Side idea for a thread: bands that "I would probably never pay to go to their concert but if they pop up in a festival bill or as a support act, I'll make sure to not miss them"  )

[cramx3]

Another way to see it: it's a very interesting and diverse band that most likely - unless they truly conquer you and you become a fan - you will never pay to see them live. You already were going to see Bruce anyway and would have been stuck with any support act that would have been chosen, why not take the chance to enjoy something you'll never see again?

(Side idea for a thread: bands that "I would probably never pay to go to their concert but if they pop up in a festival bill or as a support act, I'll make sure to not miss them"  )

I think most people, myself included, would just generally like an opener that they want to see or know already.  I generally do agree with you.  The Hu are different and they aren't bad at all.  Check it out and maybe you'll like it, or come a little later.  While I may have a negative slant (just because I don't love them) this is generally not a bad choice.  It could be far worse and I honestly thought for sure we were getting a Harris child since they didn't announce an opener for so long.

Here's a video of mine from their show two summers ago:

The HU - Wolf Totem LIVE @ PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel NJ 9/14/2022

[TAC]

Here's a video of mine from their show two summers ago:

The HU - Wolf Totem LIVE @ PNC Bank Arts Center Holmdel NJ 9/14/2022

I'd have to be baked.

[cramx3]

I'd have to be baked.

I was! I remember liking their set, but never thought to go back and listen to an album or go see them. They actually played locally since that show and I didn't attend.  It's a cool, unique and different style of metal they are doing, but it's not really for me or my tastes.

[Ben_Jamin]

I love The Hu because they blend their traditional cultural music with metal. Hearing traditional music mixed with contemporary styles of music intrigues me.

With that said, I have not seen them live. Which makes me a bit more disappointed that they are not stopping in NM.

[TAC]

I love The Hu because they blend their traditional cultural music with metal. Hearing traditional music mixed with contemporary styles of music intrigues me.

With that said, I have not seen them live. Which makes me a bit more disappointed that they are not stopping in NM.

They just added a final date to the tour...in Phoenix.

[ProfessorPeart]

They just dropped a 1976 Pat Travers show from Rockpalast on YouTube. Nicko is on drums. You can actually see him! Cymbals are already far too high but his drums hadn't quite hit the obscene height they eventually got to.

https://youtu.be/JGZC0zKRGzs?si=Pt_WN2cYjGx--luo

[TAC]

New Paul Di'Anno 3 song single..
https://open.spotify.com/album/5vQsrFmcEzKHwgu4zBqNYr?si=5INCRg0CR2iekBvn9w8XeA

[El Barto]

Another way to see it: it's a very interesting and diverse band that most likely - unless they truly conquer you and you become a fan - you will never pay to see them live. You already were going to see Bruce anyway and would have been stuck with any support act that would have been chosen, why not take the chance to enjoy something you'll never see again?

(Side idea for a thread: bands that "I would probably never pay to go to their concert but if they pop up in a festival bill or as a support act, I'll make sure to not miss them"  )

This all the way. Not only would I make a point to see them, like Ghost a few years ago, but I'd perhaps travel somewhere to see a better version of the show. Alas, they're not playing the Mexico leg of the tour. That would have been really cool.

[porcacultor]

You know a band that opened for Iron Maiden that I enjoyed? Avatar. Those guys were GOOD.

[cramx3]

You know a band that opened for Iron Maiden that I enjoyed? Avatar. Those guys were GOOD.

Those guys are awesome.  Was that in Europe?  I'd love to see them open for IM.  Even though I saw them twice last year, I'm bummed I can't see them in a couple months locally because it's the same day as Blind Guardian (who hasn't toured the states in a long time).

[porcacultor]

Those guys are awesome.  Was that in Europe?  I'd love to see them open for IM.  Even though I saw them twice last year, I'm bummed I can't see them in a couple months locally because it's the same day as Blind Guardian (who hasn't toured the states in a long time).

I think they've opened for IM in Europe, but I saw them in Brazil! This was in the late 2022 Legacy tour. I've seen a handful of openers for IM (Sha(a?)man, Lauren Harris, Raven Age and Anthrax, the latter two on the same day), and Avatar was definitely the act that most won the IM crowd over. No mean feat for a stadium concert!

[Dream Team]

Someone on YouTube just brought up the fact that the reunion era lineup has been together than all the other lineups combined. Crazy.

[TAC]

Someone on YouTube just brought up the fact that the reunion era lineup has been together than all the other lineups combined. Crazy.

Yeah, it's been 25 years!

[Mosh]

As of Book of Souls it also has the most amount of studio albums.

[The Curious Orange]

Lords of the Lost supported them on the last European tour and they were pretty awful - anything's better than that. I'd love to see The Hu support, as they're a band I like but wouldn't go out of my way to see, I'd be more than happy if they were announced as support for a band I was already seeing.
I saw Avatar supporting Halestorm, and yes, they're brilliant. Really funny and upstaged the headliners.

[MirrorMask]

Lords of the Lost supported them on the last European tour and they were pretty awful - anything's better than that.

I just saw them live and I love them  I feel second hand embaressment for their clothes, but the music is actually good and very diverse, they never really did two albums alike.

[Stadler]

I just saw them live and I love them  I feel second hand embaressment for their clothes, but the music is actually good and very diverse, they never really did two albums alike.

You've just described about 60% of the music I listen to.  Have you ever seen the cover of Sabbath's Sabotage?  Kiss in the Asylum era?  Rick Wakeman ever?