Here I am back to this thread, which I avoided like the plague 'cause I wanted the setlist to be a surprise.
Of course it's impossible to avoid spoilers, so here's what I knew from YouTube and posts I didn't skip over fast enough over social media:
- CSIT and Stranger as first two songs
- Alex
- Hell on Earth as first encore
- The Trooper being there somewhere
I saw them yesterday in Milan and it was, as always with Iron Maiden, ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC. Crappy obscene location and crappy low sounds, but that's another story. I, too, never got the love for Somewhere in Time, of course the album doesn't suck, but personally it's the one of the classic Bruce era I connect the least with, but I loved hearing those songs live, and some for the first time!
Bruce Dickinson was FANTASTIC. I don't know if the two years of not touring because of Covid gave him a much needed rest, and anyway he toured again in 2002, but the guy is INSANE. He was absolutely amazing and NAILED Caught Somewhere in Time, it felt like 1986 - "no, in 1986 he didn't sing this good", quote guy next to me who looked old enough to have been there.
Bruce was in a very good mood, I know that the whole show is scripted but he seemed to really enjoy the atmosphere, the chants and the crowd reaction. Something that couldn't have been scripted, after he spotted a sign with a request: "So, it's your birthday and you want me to kiss you? my fianceč is in the audience somewhere and she's half italian, I can't kiss you"
(and he also made a joke about FIAT, a famous italian brand of cars, before introducing Days of Future Past".
I loved the setlist approach, it was the first time for my best friend and for her maybe I wished they would have played some more classics but for me it was a treat. It's my.... what, 13th? 14th? time I've seen the band, and I heard EIGHT songs I never heard before live (the Senjutsu songs, which is a bit of a cheat since they played Writing on the Wall last tour but I couldn't be there, and the SIT rarities). Also, they dropped ALL of the usual three off Number of the Beast, and honored the album instead with a rarity such as The Prisoner? WOW!!!!
I agree that Time Machine was the weak point of the set. After two classic SIT songs and two new ones, the third one off Senjutsu in a row dragged a bit.
I expected them to play Stratego, I missed out on that one. Can I Play with Madness was another song I would have never guessed. It's funny that Steve is on record about wanting to play Only the Good Die Young. Dude, you're the boss. You're Iron Maiden. You want to play it? play it, who's gonna stop you? Bruce in a fistfight in the unlikely event he passionately hates the song?
Imagine them going all the way with rarities and playing 22 Acacia Avenue instead of The Prisoner, and OTGDY instead of Madness. Not complaining however, I got my rarities and I enjoyed the SIT songs like never before!
I didn't hear such a big roar when Alex started (probably everyone knew already they were playing it), but some parts of the songs got a good reaction. And there's no way around it, like Stadler wrote some pages ago about 666 - no matter what they played, the "massive roar and singalong that shakes the ground" happened for Fear of the Dark and The Trooper. Nothing beat those two songs as far as crowd reaction went.
Pity I'm of average height and I couldn't really see the stage, I barely saw the guys with my own eyes, it was all looking at the screens, my cellphone and stretching out my head and my feet as much as I could. The scenery was lovely, the walking Eddies were great, the giant samurai head during Iron Maiden was f'kin awesome, and the gun fight with Eddie was unexpected and epic
I'm not a musician and the sound was low anyway, so I couldn't really tell if Nicko played sloppy or if the other guys made some mistakes. If they're not so big that you notice them, I say they play well. I'm sure most musicians make minor mistakes all the time, if you don't notice them, it's like they never happened. Same with Bruce, as I said he was perfect, surprising, amazing, he really used the time machine to travel back in time with his voice. I'm sure some clips off YouTube might show some strain here and there, but we discussed it to death with James LaBrie - if it's good enough when you're there, then it was good. My official and definitive comment about Bruce's performance is that he was amazing and perfect, a 10/10, and if you have a problem with it, come at me, I'll fight you
Another great show from a great band that I admire more and more for being still so relevant, and never relying on nostalgia. I mean, they did their fair share of nostalgic tours but which other band of their caliber drops completely the staples from their classic album to make room for 5 songs off the latest record? the Legacy of the Beast tour was all kinds of awesome and I still prefer that, but yesterday I was absolutely satisfied. Long live the mighty Iron Maiden, the day they'll retire the world will be a uglier and sadder place