Okay, whoa. Take as a grain of salt that I am very much not a heavy concertgoer, having gone to probably somewhere in the range of 8-10 shows in my teenage and adult life. But that was my favorite concert I've ever been to.
Pretty much every element has been spoiled to me by the internet, from the setlist to the stage show, but so much of it still blew me away.
First, the performance was excellent. Sure, someone missed a phrase in a solo here or there, but who cares? They absolutely brought it tonight, all the energy and intensity I love Maiden for. Bruce was particularly incredible. I think he's somehow become more energetic and theatrical on stage over time, or at least that's how he came across to me. And I know the general review has been that he's lost a step this tour, but I thought his singing was great. Maybe if I listened back to the soundboard recording I'd spot all sorts of imperfections, but from the audience perspective, he really delivered, all the way from Senjutsu through Aces High. I can't imagine complaining after seeing and hearing him go out there and give his absolute all, with those results.
Second, I'm a really big fan of the setlist. Would I have wanted to hear For the Greater Good of Good? Absolutely. Where Eagles Dare? For sure. But count me in the minority faction that really liked Senjutsu as an opener. Now, I don't think every opener necessarily needs to be super up-tempo (I've long thought Face in the Sand would be a cool opener) and I really like the song, so I was probably primed to like it. But I thought there was plenty of energy even in front of an American audience with the usual mixed reaction to the album. Having Eddie show up during this song was a stroke of genius, because it was unexpected and helped get the crowd more into it. And then the kick into Stratego amped things up well into the high-energy gear that people expect in a typical opener. Did people react even bigger when Revelations started? Yeah. But that's obviously going to happen whenever a classic gets played. I, at least, was really happy with the Senjutsu-Stratego opening.
On the other hand, I think The Clansman fell flat with a lot of the audience. Part of it was that it was so late in the show, so people were starting to get tired, and then it not being a classic compounded to make some people even sit down during it (and pop back up for Run to the Hills). Again, I think it's unavoidable when you put a non-popular song in that spot in the setlist. Still, I really appreciate the band believing in that song enough to keep it in there for us diehards who love it. The lame crowd response to it was the largest blemish on the show, but I can't care that much when I got to see them absolutely nail THE song that got me into Iron Maiden (and really metal, and prog), a song that a few years ago I thought was surely on the shelf for good.
It was the other Blaze-era piece that was my highlight of the night, though, as you probably could have predicted given my earlier posts. I love Sign of the Cross dearly, and it carries a lot of personal emotion for me. I'm so grateful that they not only played it, but pulled out all the stops to make it a special part of the show. I don't know how it came across to others there—people were obviously less into it than the classics but maintained pretty high energy because it was early in the show—and I could be biased, but it really came across to me like it was meant to be one of the pillars of the set. It's the first part of the show where I can remember seeing pyro, Bruce has a dedicated costume for it, it got a dedicated backdrop that wasn't just repurposed album art... it was really given the pride of place that it deserves.
Over the years I've complained some about the way they sped up Sign of the Cross on Rock in Rio and how I feel like that loses a lot of the sense of The X Factor. I couldn't swear to the tempo they played it at tonight, but seeing it person really did feel like the emotion of The X Factor brought back to life onstage 27 years later. The thing is, almost no one really cares about The X Factor, and they could just as easily not have done it. Hell, Bruce could just say "Those aren't my songs, I'm not singing them." But they did, and not only did they play it, but they created a special experience for fans of the album. I'd say that was the closest thing I've had to a religious experience at a concert (even beating out seeing Ghost Love Score earlier this year).
I can also finally check off Hallowed Be Thy Name. The only other time I saw them was the 2012 Maiden England tour, on which they did not play it. Really liked the setup with the cell and the noose.
I could say a lot about the stage show and the props, too, but I'll just mention a few favorites: the HBTN noose and all of Sign of the Cross, which I mentioned already; the Icarus statue and the melting of his wings; the green light Bruce held for Fear of the Dark; the HBTN noose; Bruce shooting Eddie during The Trooper; and obviously the plane during Aces High.
Alright, I'll stop going on, just wanted to get my thoughts down tonight while it was all still fresh.
Topic: The Iron Maiden Thread v. The Merge of Souls (Read 566707 times)
