The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls

[Ben_Jamin]

Well we all know IM did do the real magic show  and LotB was a much better display, but in seriousness, you are right.  Even the smaller things like the noose hanging down and Bruce singing and swaying it during FotD.  Small, subtle, but really effective for getting the visuals in place for taking the performance to the next level.  I'd probably say it's more "theater" than "magic" but I'm not sure it matters, the point is the same.  The music itself is the magic, I think.

No, no we're saying the exact same thing, you're just being more clear about it.  I was referring to the Raising Hell show, in that it was more theater than "metal concert".  This felt like a nod toward that - without the side stages.  Maybe I'm reading more into it than was intended (I don't think so, though) but I thought Bruce did more "acting" and "miming" in this show than ever before.  There was that bit with the heart on the Book Of Souls tour, but this had the sword fight, the flamethrowers, the noose, the cross, the TNT... he was a regular Wile E. Fucking Coyote on this tour.   

The firework that launched out the American Flag into Eddie, and the scripted insult at Eddie during The Trooper. Were also neat to relive when I watched the full show from Albuquerque. It actually sounds pretty good for a front row bootleg. I was behind the Mixing boards, so was right in the middle, and that was a perfect spot for this tour. Got to see everything, that I know I wouldn't have been able to see if I got a closer seat, or the pit. I laughed at the security in the vid of my show because they have a bit of a concerned look when the plane is over the audience and above them,  . But even they enjoyed the show.

[cramx3]

Well we all know IM did do the real magic show  and LotB was a much better display, but in seriousness, you are right.  Even the smaller things like the noose hanging down and Bruce singing and swaying it during FotD.  Small, subtle, but really effective for getting the visuals in place for taking the performance to the next level.  I'd probably say it's more "theater" than "magic" but I'm not sure it matters, the point is the same.  The music itself is the magic, I think.

No, no we're saying the exact same thing, you're just being more clear about it.  I was referring to the Raising Hell show, in that it was more theater than "metal concert".  This felt like a nod toward that - without the side stages.  Maybe I'm reading more into it than was intended (I don't think so, though) but I thought Bruce did more "acting" and "miming" in this show than ever before.  There was that bit with the heart on the Book Of Souls tour, but this had the sword fight, the flamethrowers, the noose, the cross, the TNT... he was a regular Wile E. Fucking Coyote on this tour.   

The firework that launched out the American Flag into Eddie, and the scripted insult at Eddie during The Trooper. Were also neat to relive when I watched the full show from Albuquerque. It actually sounds pretty good for a front row bootleg. I was behind the Mixing boards, so was right in the middle, and that was a perfect spot for this tour. Got to see everything, that I know I wouldn't have been able to see if I got a closer seat, or the pit. I laughed at the security in the vid of my show because they have a bit of a concerned look when the plane is over the audience and above them,  . But even they enjoyed the show.

When I was upfront for a previous IM show, security guard in front of me was not happy at all when Steve Harris came by and dropped his sweat all over the guard 

[El Barto]

Looking back on it, the Poweslave tour stage was outstanding too.

As good as LotB was, I can't help think that World Slavery was better, owing to their respective times. To me, Legacy seemed almost trite. It was utilizing the things that are now expected. Back in 1984 it was a lot harder to pull off a massive show like that, and they killed it. For those of us old enough to have been there, did anybody get goosebumps from the inflatable spitfire the way they did when the giant gold sarcophagus opened up and the mummified Eddie came out? The quiet interlude during Rhyme was fantastic in '84 despite being little more than fog and blue lights with some creaking noises. And of course Maiden's longstanding use of rotating backdrops. Truth is, eveything they did on the Legacy tour they were doing back in the early 80s.

With that said, the theming of this one was wonderful. I loved the war set changing into the religious set, and the various props and whatnot went a long way to that end.

[TAC]

Looking back on it, the Poweslave tour stage was outstanding too.

As good as LotB was, I can't help think that World Slavery was better, owing to their respective times.

I can't argue with that at all.

I actually just listened to Live After Death last week, and watched a few songs from the DVD. I'm not in love with all of the camera work, but that is great footage nonetheless.

[cramx3]

Truth is, eveything they did on the Legacy tour they were doing back in the early 80s.

Flame throwers and planes? I get your point for sure because they mostly did just expand upon a lot of the same ideas, but they weren't doing everything in the 80s that they do now.  Also, historically, they really only had the cool stage props for a couple songs on tour.  They've gone and added them to half the set on this latest tour. And I think the thing that separates their visual show from other bands of today (where flame throwers and huge stage props are more normal) is the integration of it all into the song.  The theater part.  Bands like Kiss can throw out all the explosions and flames, but it's not always connecting with the music in the same way that Bruce shooting burning an angel's wings during The Flight of Icarus does. 

[El Barto]

Truth is, eveything they did on the Legacy tour they were doing back in the early 80s.

Flame throwers and planes? I get your point for sure because they mostly did just expand upon a lot of the same ideas, but they weren't doing everything in the 80s that they do now.  Also, historically, they really only had the cool stage props for a couple songs on tour.  They've gone and added them to half the set on this latest tour. And I think the thing that separates their visual show from other bands of today (where flame throwers and huge stage props are more normal) is the integration of it all into the song.  The theater part.  Bands like Kiss can throw out all the explosions and flames, but it's not always connecting with the music in the same way that Bruce shooting burning an angel's wings during The Flight of Icarus does.

Yep. The opener for Somewhere On Tour was the Theme from Blade Runner, the skyline decked out in lots of neon, and a couple of air cars floating about. The exact same sort of thing as the spitfire, but two of them and they floated around over the audience.

[cramx3]

Truth is, eveything they did on the Legacy tour they were doing back in the early 80s.

Flame throwers and planes? I get your point for sure because they mostly did just expand upon a lot of the same ideas, but they weren't doing everything in the 80s that they do now.  Also, historically, they really only had the cool stage props for a couple songs on tour.  They've gone and added them to half the set on this latest tour. And I think the thing that separates their visual show from other bands of today (where flame throwers and huge stage props are more normal) is the integration of it all into the song.  The theater part.  Bands like Kiss can throw out all the explosions and flames, but it's not always connecting with the music in the same way that Bruce shooting burning an angel's wings during The Flight of Icarus does.

Yep. The opener for Somewhere On Tour was the Theme from Blade Runner, the skyline decked out in lots of neon, and a couple of air cars floating about. The exact same sort of thing as the spitfire, but two of them and they floated around over the audience.

I've never seen this before, maybe because that tour there's no good video.  I've watched some poor boots but don't ever recall seeing that.  I guess I may be wrong then.  But flamethrowers? 

[MirrorMask]

Getting back to the noose in Hallowed Be Thy Name, I can't believe it took them 40 years to pull it out. It's such an easy and immediate prop that it's hard to imagine nobody in the band thought about it before 

[El Barto]

Truth is, eveything they did on the Legacy tour they were doing back in the early 80s.

Flame throwers and planes? I get your point for sure because they mostly did just expand upon a lot of the same ideas, but they weren't doing everything in the 80s that they do now.  Also, historically, they really only had the cool stage props for a couple songs on tour.  They've gone and added them to half the set on this latest tour. And I think the thing that separates their visual show from other bands of today (where flame throwers and huge stage props are more normal) is the integration of it all into the song.  The theater part.  Bands like Kiss can throw out all the explosions and flames, but it's not always connecting with the music in the same way that Bruce shooting burning an angel's wings during The Flight of Icarus does.

Yep. The opener for Somewhere On Tour was the Theme from Blade Runner, the skyline decked out in lots of neon, and a couple of air cars floating about. The exact same sort of thing as the spitfire, but two of them and they floated around over the audience.

I've never seen this before, maybe because that tour there's no good video.  I've watched some poor boots but don't ever recall seeing that.  I guess I may be wrong then.  But flamethrowers? 

No good video that I can find. Mostly the cameras at the time weren't able to deal with the lighting. It was very dark with a few very bright lights scattered about. As for flamethrowers, probably not, but Dallas didn't allow pyro at indoor venues back then. (Lots of tours played Ft Worth, instead, for that reason). It was a great effect, though.

That was also the last tour they played Dancing on Glass, or Walking on Air, or whatever they were calling it that week.

[Stadler]

I wish I had an official version of that.  I love Howard Blake, and "Snowman" off of Bent Out Of Shape (Rainbow) is one of my favorite instrumentals of all time.

[Grappler]

Getting back to the noose in Hallowed Be Thy Name, I can't believe it took them 40 years to pull it out. It's such an easy and immediate prop that it's hard to imagine nobody in the band thought about it before 

They had a noose on stage for the Raising Hell show - it just wasn't a constant feature of their standard show.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAws9K6B1eU

\

[Stadler]

This crosses my mind every time I think of this set.  I think I've checked about four times to see if something has changed about the release.  I want to SEE that show again.   That show in Hartford just keeps rising as time goes on; I'd list it as one of the top five or so concerts I've ever seen at this point.

Here you go...Hartford!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KdN6_4a8IY&t=525s

HOLY CRAP.  HOLY CRAP.

I just projected this up on my big screen, and WOW.   I was right to the left of this guy (I'm 90% sure I saw myself to the left, behind the guy with the red hat, when he panned over to Dave during Where Eagles Dare) and it's like being there all over again.  Sounds not fantastic, but the band sounds great, and to see the visuals again is a treat...

[TAC]

I actually watched a lot of this show last week. The sound is great!


Steve has slowed down a bit.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Yeah, that's fair Cram. At least with Bruce, it is what it is, and that's totally cool. But this is easily his worse performance on any of their live albums.

Anyway, I was just giving a counterpoint to Stadler. I don't want to come off as negative.

What I should add though, is in person I've never walked away from a DT or IM show thinking the vocals were poor.  Usually the other way around.

Me neither atleast the times i've seen Maiden and in general not with DT however I have to mention that when I saw DT during The Astonishing tour I was really annoyed with JLB vocals i'm sad to say. He sounded horrible that night, i'm not sure he had a bad day or something. The band was killer though, especially MM. He really put on a show and kinda of saved the night for me.

[Stadler]

It's almost universal; I rarely listen to shows I've actually been at, because there's so much I notice in the cold light of hindsight that doesn't hold up and I don't want to lose the memory.   But I watched about 60% of that Hartford show and I was amazed that my perception - that Bruce nailed the SHIT out of that setlist - was pretty spot on.   

The only thing about that vid that wasn't a revelation is that the energy of The Number Of The Beast didn't translate.  In the room, it was ELECTRIC.   The energy was amazing.

Boy, it would be awesome if I could figure out how to download that show onto my Mac in HD for my own personal use, not to be distributed or sold in any way.      Hint.  Hint.     

[cramx3]

https://www.pcmag.com/news/how-to-download-youtube-videos

It's been awhile since I've done this, so I don't have a specific app or website to recommend, but there's plenty out there.

Also, I watched a bit of the Hartford video and that is a very well done bootleg 

[TAC]

There's a dude on Dime uploading a shit ton of Maiden DVDs over the past few days. Where the hell was he during the freeloader days??

[kirksnosehair]

Were they opening for someone bigger at that show?  That stage setup looks like equipment for another band behind those cloth walls?

[cramx3]

Were they opening for someone bigger at that show?  That stage setup looks like equipment for another band behind those cloth walls?

Are you talking about the Hartford show? No, they were the headliner.  That type of wrapping over the back and side of the stage eventually gets removed to reveal the look of the church stage look for the more religious themed songs.

[faizoff]

I've had several DVDs of Maiden for a while but was missing a few and had an old VHS download of Maiden England, glad to have updated to the DVD which I haven't watched yet. Also got the blu-ray versions of Flight 666 and En Vivo.

Haven't listened to all of Bruce I era live albums, though very close to done. Listening to all MP related projects for now.




I recently watched Death on the Road....man I can't believe how crazy the editing on that is. There is less than a second for each shot. It's truly dizzying. I normally don't mind fast edits but this is atrociously obnoxiously fast.

[Stadler]

Just a suggestion, but WATCH THE BONUS FEATURES.  They sort of vary between the legacy releases and the contemporary releases, but in general, it's a treasure trove of information.  I found them exceedingly entertaining. 

Also, at least with respect to Live After Death, the audio on the DVD is not the same as the audio on the CD/LP.

[faizoff]

Oh yeah should have mentioned, it goes without saying I watched the bonus features first. I re-watched the Early Days part II doc on LAD and the chapter on the fight between Nicko and Steve is absolutely hilarious. Mission to Arry is still a hilarious listen.

Only doc/extra I haven't watched yet is on the Maiden England stuff.

[Mladen]

That documentary is a bit shorter but entertaining nonetheless.

[TAC]

Paul DiAnno needs knee surgery.

https://bravewords.com/news/paul-di-anno-crowdfunding-campaign-launched-to-raise-money-for-knee-surgery

Who's in?

[goo-goo]

@faizoff

Where did you get the Flight 666 bluray?

[TAC]

I recently watched Death on the Road....man I can't believe how crazy the editing on that is. There is less than a second for each shot. It's truly dizzying. I normally don't mind fast edits but this is atrociously obnoxiously fast.

Doesn't that suck? I've mentioned this many times, but that show is the most glorious footage ever captured of the band. But it's ruined by the edits.

[faizoff]

@faizoff

Where did you get the Flight 666 bluray?

Used on eBay. finally found a decent priced one for I think $18, everyone is out of their mind listing it with a super high price. I guess I got lucky.

I recently watched Death on the Road....man I can't believe how crazy the editing on that is. There is less than a second for each shot. It's truly dizzying. I normally don't mind fast edits but this is atrociously obnoxiously fast.

Doesn't that suck? I've mentioned this many times, but that show is the most glorious footage ever captured of the band. But it's ruined by the edits.

Yeah it does, I recall watching it when it first got released and that was the common criticism, but it's way worse than I remembered. Agreed it's some of the best footage of the band.

[Stadler]

Paul DiAnno needs knee surgery.

https://bravewords.com/news/paul-di-anno-crowdfunding-campaign-launched-to-raise-money-for-knee-surgery

Who's in?

Do we get our name on it for donating?   

I joke, but I do feel bad for the guy.   He didn't fail out early enough to know that he wasn't cut out for rock and roll (like some of the other early Maiden guys) but he didn't last long enough to be viable solo guy (like Roth, or Dio after Rainbow, or Fish). 

[RodrigoAltaf]

Killers turns 40 today!!! Here's what I have to say about it...

 https://www.sonicperspectives.com/features/iron-maiden-killers-turn-40/?fbclid=IwAR0ioGM_LhcP2Hv9qoWeBGkUIdn5lX3ymVhyve6els0l_21wa6KuKXB2GMY

[RodrigoAltaf]

In other news: I'll interview Blaze Bayley next Monday!!! I'm pretty excited about that one.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I love Gandalf Bruce with a beard. 

[kirksnosehair]

Paul DiAnno needs knee surgery.

https://bravewords.com/news/paul-di-anno-crowdfunding-campaign-launched-to-raise-money-for-knee-surgery

Who's in?

Do we get our name on it for donating?   

I joke, but I do feel bad for the guy.   He didn't fail out early enough to know that he wasn't cut out for rock and roll (like some of the other early Maiden guys) but he didn't last long enough to be viable solo guy (like Roth, or Dio after Rainbow, or Fish).

Cocaine is a hell of a drug.  It's a chemical eraser.  It erases bank accounts, homes, cars, relationships, jobs, bands, etc.  After a while it will even erase your life if you can't quit.

[DoctorAction]

Wow. 40 years of Killers! Still my desert island Maiden album.

[Mladen]

In other news: I'll interview Blaze Bayley next Monday!!! I'm pretty excited about that one.

This is amazing, man! Interviews with Blaze are always entertaining and pleasant, he comes off as an engaging, kind person in his interviews. I'm looking forward to your impressions, as well as to the interview itself.

[RodrigoAltaf]

In other news: I'll interview Blaze Bayley next Monday!!! I'm pretty excited about that one.

This is amazing, man! Interviews with Blaze are always entertaining and pleasant, he comes off as an engaging, kind person in his interviews. I'm looking forward to your impressions, as well as to the interview itself.

 Yeah, from what I've seen, he's incredibly engaged and funny in interviews. I'm looking forward to that one. I listened to the new album today on my run, and it's a very uplifting record!