So here's my little story review about the show last night at Madison Square Garden.
SPOILERS IN CASE ANYONE CARESSo we get to the parking garage, park, walk to the venue, are walking up the small outside steps, when I realize something... I don't have the tickets in my hand. I immediately was
and
. I had left them
on the counter of the parking garage window. Now mind you, the only paper I had to print them out on was BRIGHT FUCKING ORANGE. I freaked out and literally ran as fast I could possibly run, running into people, jumping over small children, literally dodging cars... through the streets of crowded-as-fuck New York City. As you know, the tickets work on a first-scan basis, so anyone could've picked them up and said "Cool, let's go see if we can get in!" I was literally having a breakdown. So I bolt across the street, almost getting hit by a taxi, run up to the office window and start banging on it for them to open it, and when they do, I glance down and see them right where I had left them. Phew, was
that a relief.
So we get into the venue, and get on line for merchandise. I had been looking forward to getting the Dream Theater shield tour shirt, and the NY event shirt. After waiting for about ten minutes, we're almost to the front, and I realize that there's a sign on the event shirt that says "2XL-3XL", so I go to the stand on the other side, risking my spot in line. I got to the other stand, and see that they don't even have the event shirt at all anymore. At this point, I started getting disappointed, because I really wanted that shirt. So I wait in line to salvage the opportunity and get the DT shirt. So the guy in front of me finally gets to the front, and asks for the DT shirt... and the salesguy takes the shirt off the wall, which is followed by about half the people line going "Shit, I wanted that one!" (including me). So now 0/2 for shirts, I decide to settle for the alien USA tour shirt, and reluctantly give the salesguy $35.
Then we go find our seats, which were not
nearly as bad as I'd heard they'd be from friends and the 3D seating chart. So then we decide to walk around and explore. While walking, my friend glances into a window and sees the DT shirt I wanted, so we stop there and they don't have it in medium, but they
do have the event shirt, so I got that, and was quite happy. So we keep walking around, see another stand, and sure enough they had the DT shirt, so I got that and was really happy. But wait... I don't have the tickets! It turns out that I left them on the counter of one of the merchandise stands, so of course I rush through the halls searching for the stand that I could've left them at. I find them, and return to our seats to hear Bigelf playing over the PA, soon followed by Dream Theater's awesome set (all the while keeping an eye out for DTFers, which were nowhere to be found
).
A few little cool things that happened: I
think James LaBrie mentioned John Petrucci's birthday, and during the "Panic Attack" chorus ("Is it something to do with where I come from") Mike Portnoy immediately follows James' line by "I come from Long Island!", which I thought was funny. Towards the end, Dark Master Of Sin shows up, so we shake hands and then finish watching the set (he was two rows in front of me). We then walk around during the break while DMOS searches for a merch stand with us so he can get a shirt.
Now onto Iron Maiden... all I can say was the intro was epic as fuck, and "The Wicker Man" was one of the songs I really hoped they'd play, so I was ecstatic (although Bruce's microphone seemed to be having issues), followed by "Ghost Of The Navigator" which was equally awesome. The light show for every song was awesome, but standout songs (as far as the performance, light show, crowd participation, etc... included) were "Wrathchild", "Fear Of The Dark", "Wildest Dreams", "No More Lies", "The Number Of The Beast" (I was surprised there were no pyrotechnics), and "Running Free". Oh yeah and I smelled soooooo much weed, that I got a contact buzz just from breathing. Also, Bruce's speeches/conversations were awesome and funny. Especially awesome was the whole Ronnie James Dio dedication and speech.
Now onto random little things:
-$5 FOR A WATER IS FUCKING INSANE
-As far as I could tell, there weren't any seats that were
too bad. I was very happy with mine (Section 301)
-I don't think it's possible for Janick to drop his guitar
-Madison Square Garden is stupid for their limitations on playing after 11:00
-I was very surprised (but not too disappointed) that they didn't play "Run To The Hills" and "The Trooper", although I was looking forward to hearing twenty-thousand people sing the chorus of "RTTH"
Overall, I'd say a bit better than when I saw them on the Somewhere Back In Time tour (I only saw four overlapping songs, so that was cool to hear songs for the first time live). And that's saying a lot, because they were near flawless back in 2008.
And where did the other DTFers meet? I know you guys were thinking of meeting at the food court, but I searched and didn't see anyone I knew. Also, walking out of the venue, there was a homeless guy with a sign that read "Why would I lie? I need a beer", and I cracked up (some people did give him money).
Yeah so I guess that was kinda long, but it was a really awesome night overall.
Topic: THE Iron Maiden Thread (Read 436500 times)
