Iron Maiden at the O2

RobDavies · August 2013

Took the kids to see Maiden at the O2 last night. What a great show - not seen them since Donington in '88, but they've still got it (Maiden that is, not the kids).

Dave Murray is Mr Legato..... just brilliant.

not_the_dj · August 2013

Really wish I'd been able to see that show.

What was the stage set like? I saw footage of Donnington with the Seventh Son set-up, looked fantastic.

RobDavies · August 2013

Yeah - it was Seventh Son. A "greatest hits" show as well, so nowt from the last five albums, which suits me just fine.

No Hallowed Be Thy Name, though.... :-(

monquixote · August 2013

Never seen Maiden which is something I need to remedy.

I have played one of Dave Murray's guitars which was ace.

mike_l · August 2013

I would have loved to have gone to that.

I've seen Maiden a few times, last one being at Twickenham, on the "Somewhere back in time" jaunt.

@monquixote, I'm seriously jealous as without Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, I doubt I'd have picked up a guitar.

@RobDavies, I believe Hallowed got dropped a couple of tours back, having been played constantly (at every concert I think) for 30 (I think) years........

Flanging_Fred · August 2013

I went last night. My ears are still ringing. 'twas a great show and even better than when I saw them about 20 years ago. How much energy do those guys have? Pretty amazing considering they're all getting on a bit now.

joneve · August 2013

Gutted I didn't get tickets and go. Bah!

Lixarto · August 2013

It may surprise you to learn that I saw Maiden once - Coatham Bowl in Redcar. 1980.

RocknRollDave · August 2013

Listen back to Live After Death and then one of the more contemporary live recordings, such as Flight 666.

This is NOT a band which is as good as it was back in the day.

This is a band which is BETTER than ever. How the hell that has happened at their age?!
Bruce Dickinson's voice, in particular, is in rude health.

dafuzz · August 2013

Saw them at Download. And a Spitfire!

Never seen them live before. Awesome awesome awesome.

mike_l · August 2013

RocknRollDave said:

Listen back to Live After Death and then one of the more contemporary live recordings, such as Flight 666.

Since the mid-late 80's when (live) they were trying to play everything at 1,000,000,000 MPH, they've slowed back to the original song tempo's and sound so much better for it. Adrian Smith has commented on the speed thing too, I hadn't noticed until he did.
As for Bruce's voice, yep it's great, but I think a low gig/year ratio and not smoking helps a lot, especially for screamy-singers. IMO Rob Halford would be almost as good these days if he didn't smoke... I also think that Steve Harris' fitness regime for the whole band helps (He likes the whole band to be physically fit for touring)

joneve · August 2013

RocknRollDave said:

Listen back to Live After Death and then one of the more contemporary live recordings, such as Flight 666.

This is NOT a band which is as good as it was back in the day.

This is a band which is BETTER than ever. How the hell that has happened at their age?!
Bruce Dickinson's voice, in particular, is in rude health.

I would agree with this. I find it difficult to listen to Live After Death because the sound is particularly average. I find Rock in Rio FAR more enjoyable to listen to if I'm hankering for some live Maiden.

digitalscream · August 2013

I have to say, I often get pilloried for saying that A Matter of Life and Death is my favourite Maiden album. It just feels like there's so much more of everything I loved about earlier albums in it.

I'm yet to see them live, though. I'm not really into going to live shows, to be honest, but Maiden are definitely one of the few on the list of bands I'd like to see.

RocknRollDave · August 2013

Have to say I'm with you on A Matter of Life and Death. Having never really given them much attention over the years, that was the album that got me into Maiden, so I am very late to the party! Great album, though, much underrated, IMO.

joneve · August 2013

My only problem with aMoLaD is that EVERY song is an 8 minute opus (with the exception of Different World)! Don't get me wrong, I love 8 and 12 minute epics as much as the next guy, but sometimes I want to bang an album on in the car on my way to town, turn it up and enjoy..It's difficult to do that with aMoLaD because by the time I get to town, I'm still only on the second song!

It's very hard going (for me anyway) when EVERY song is so long. Dance of Death has a great balance of short, infectious, upbeat rock tracks in (Rainmaker for example) an slow burners (Paschendale, Dance of Death, No More Lies)..

Having said that, I still like aMoLaD. I really liked Final Frontier too. It's a grower, but I appreciated it more after seeing some of the songs performed live.

BNW will always be the best album of the "new" Maiden era though.

RocknRollDave · August 2013

Yeah, I know what you mean. Wicker Man is probably my all time favourite Maiden song, so I have a soft spot for BNW too..!

All of the "reunion" albums are excellent, it's like they went from Seventh Son to BNW without all that nonsense in the middle.

digitalscream · August 2013

RocknRollDave said:

Yeah, I know what you mean. Wicker Man is probably my all time favourite Maiden song, so I have a soft spot for BNW too..!

All of the "reunion" albums are excellent, it's like they went from Seventh Son to BNW without all that nonsense in the middle.

I hear you - the problem is, we supported Blaze Bayley a couple of years ago...talking to the guy, and seeing the haunted look of sadness in his eyes when he talks about Maiden, I feel incredibly guilty for holding to the opinion that his time at the helm resulted in the worst albums they ever made

It's just impossible to not feel for the guy.

RocknRollDave · August 2013

I suspect that neither the fans nor the band themselves fully embraced him as the singer or gave him a fair crack of the whip.

Bruce is an impossible act to follow, so I do indeed feel for the guy.

Grumpyrocker · August 2013

X-Factor was a great album. It's very dark - mostly due to the things happening in Steve's life at the time.

But Virtual XI is a very poor effort - though I really like one track "The Educated Fool".

joneve · August 2013

digitalscream said:

RocknRollDave said:

Yeah, I know what you mean. Wicker Man is probably my all time favourite Maiden song, so I have a soft spot for BNW too..!

All of the "reunion" albums are excellent, it's like they went from Seventh Son to BNW without all that nonsense in the middle.

I hear you - the problem is, we supported Blaze Bayley a couple of years ago...talking to the guy, and seeing the haunted look of sadness in his eyes when he talks about Maiden, I feel incredibly guilty for holding to the opinion that his time at the helm resulted in the worst albums they ever made

It's just impossible to not feel for the guy.

To be fair to Blaze, some of the stuff he recorded is far superior to the first couple of "Janick Years"...I heard "Holy Smoke" on the radio the other day...I couldn't listen to it. Absolutely terrible song.

"Fear of the Dark", as an album was probably the only post-Smith album I can just about listen to...I don't even own "No Prayer for the Dying".

Some of the Blaze-era Maiden tracks I LOVE - Futureal, Sign of the Cross, The Clansman, Lord of the Flies - But as noted, I don't think he was ever given a real shot at the gig.

I have also developed a huge problem with Janick Gers. Don't get me wrong, he seems like a nice guy, but I really don't get what he brings to the band....All he does is ruin classic solos when they play live. Can't he leave well alone with classic guitar solos?

not_the_dj · August 2013

X-Factor is the only Maiden album I've not got, I should track it down. I recently got a few of the post reunion DVDs, amazing to see how much energy they have on stage, and how up for it the audiences are. I tend to watch Maiden DVDs when I'm doing the ironing, yes I am so Rock'n'Roll

joneve · August 2013

So many DVDs I still need to buy - the re-issue of Live After Death, En Vivo and Maiden England 88..I love the live performances, but also love the fact that cram the DVDs with loads of useful extras like documentaries.

Grumpyrocker · August 2013

I love lots of Janick's solos - spent ages as a teenager trying to work out how he'd made some odd noises on the Fear of the Dark album. But yes I don't see why he shouldn't play the original versions of solos live.

More importantly he brought live energy and songwriting to the band when it was lacking from others. With the loss of Smith they lacked another songwriter and although Janick is less accomplished than Smith in this regard you can see from the credits he's been hugely important in co-writing with other members.

Five co-writes on Fear of the Dark, seven co-writes on X-Factor, only one on Virtual XI (the weakest post 7th Son album), four on Brave New World, three on Dance of Death, two on A Matter of Life and Death, two on Final Frontier. The last few albums have seen much more from Smith and Dickinson, but Gers clearly is an important member of the band in creative terms.

And if you listen to Final Frontier where Janick is in he right hand channel he does loads of great subtle atmospheric work in the songs, loads of great fills and little licks. I know he can seem a bit bonkers live - but he really is a damn good musician.

not_the_dj · August 2013

joneve said:

So many DVDs I still need to buy - the re-issue of Live After Death, En Vivo and Maiden England 88..I love the live performances, but also love the fact that cram the DVDs with loads of useful extras like documentaries.

@joneve En Vivo is excellent. The crowd look crazy. I picked the DVD up for just £5 in the HMV going bust sale a couple of months ago.

joneve · August 2013

Perhaps I was a bit harsh with my previous post. I actually like what he does on the albums (and I didn't know all the weird sounds on FF were mostly Janick's doing, so he's gone up in my estimation again), but I was watching the highlights from Download this year the other week, and I'd sit there thinking "ooh...love this Ade Smith solo coming up!"....Only for Janick to start playing the solo with his signature "WEEEOWEOJASJSOSDOSDOASDAOSOAKOASO" noises instead of the actual solo and ruining the whole thing! I'm not saying play them note for note; after all, live performances are all about spontaneity and feeling and shit - but at least stay somewhat true to the original FEEL of the solo.

Grumpyrocker · August 2013

The funny thing he can play them note for note if he wants to. Often now if they play The Clairvoyant Smith and Gers play the solo in unison - which sounds great.

digitalscream · August 2013

joneve said:

But as noted, I don't think he was ever given a real shot at the gig.

To hear Blaze's description of what happened...he turned up for a session one day, and they were all there looking uncomfortable and nobody said anything. He just said, "He's back, isn't he?", and they nodded. He shook their hands, thanked them for the opportunity and left.

Even though I didn't really like his influence on the music, that gave me a big

Although...any emotion over that was quickly overshadowed when his drummer started cracking on to our bassist's wife

joneve · August 2013

digitalscream said:

joneve said:

But as noted, I don't think he was ever given a real shot at the gig.
To hear Blaze's description of what happened...he turned up for a session one day, and they were all there looking uncomfortable and nobody said anything. He just said, "He's back, isn't he?", and they nodded. He shook their hands, thanked them for the opportunity and left.

Even though I didn't really like his influence on the music, that gave me a big

Although...any emotion over that was quickly overshadowed when his drummer started cracking on to our bassist's wife

Sad story indeed.

mike_l · August 2013

Personally, I love AMOLAD, I didn't at first, but then every Maiden album's been like that with me.

Video wise, As much as I love Maiden, and (in my eyes) they can do no wrong, Maiden England '88 everything is played a little too fast, the later, and earlier DVD's/live albums where they're playing the songs at a closer-to-original tempo are much less fussy and are better to listen too.

@RocknRollDave, have a listen to the Somewhere in Time album, Adrian Smith plays some cracking solo's on the tracks Wasted years, and Stranger in a strange land, simpleish, but fantastically (IMVHO) thought through and played.

@Digitalscream & @RocknRollDave, I also love the Wicker man. When I have it on in the car, suddenly the volume goes up to max.......

Again, a lovely, not to complex solo, but well thought through and played by Mr Smith.

@Not_The_DJ, X-factor, when I first heard it I was disappointed, but it grew on me a little, it's (IMO) not in the same class as Number of the beast, Powerslave, Piece of mind or Somewhere in time, or the later Seventh son & Fear of the Dark.

@Digitalscream, if you havn't seen Maiden, you really should, I only didn't go (Well try to get tickets) for the O2 gigs, due to my recent ill health, otherwise I'd have been there like a shot. Only way to describe a Maiden Live experience is "Fucking Awesomes"

not_the_dj · August 2013

In the long run I think the band is better having had Bruce leave and then return. It's given them a whole new energy, and I don't think they would have had that had they not had the kick-up the arse that the decline in popularity and the poor reception they had for a few years. It's made then stronger, and I'm sure they're bigger now than they've ever been.

mike_l · August 2013

@not_the_dj, I agree, not that Blaze is a bad singer/frontman, in Wolfsbane, he was awesomes, just not-quite-right for Maiden. I did feel sorry for him, when Bruce left Maiden, there was a hell of a lot of mud-slinging from Steve (in particular) and Bruce, Blaze stepped into one of the hardest gigs in metal, and really worked hard to prove himself. It seems that Bruce wanted to come back as his solo career seemed to be going downhill.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

Iron Maiden at the O2

Comments