Iron Maiden In Boston
Review of Iron Maiden's Boston Agganis Arena show on Friday, the 6th.
First off, the place is really nice. I guess it's a new arena for BU hockey. The crowd was well behaved and polite, about 4000 times nicer than the Tom Petty crowd at SPAC.
Opening act, at least as poor a choice as Clutch a few years ago, was Bullet For My Valentine. Not that each band is or isn't good, they're just bad choices to play with Maiden. Basically they stunk, at least in my opinion. I've never really heard them before and find I'm not missing anything. Their songs basically all sounded alike...*dunuhuhuh* blah blahhhah blablablaaaaaah yadda yaaaada yaddaya *dunuhuhuhuh* Whatever. Nobody paid them much attention. For those that care, they played Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow and Spit You Out. Beyond that I haven't got a clue, I remember the 'singer' announcing those two, including dedicating the song about suffocating to Maiden, I think, which seemed rather odd. On Amazon I see the following: "Combining darkly crooned rock with earth shattering metal execution, the arena sized sound has taken over, radio, TV and live performances...Known for their live vigor the group sold out a headlining tour through the UK..." I guess "darkly crooned" means shouted incoherently nowadays. I can't say I know what "live vigor" they're talking about. They basically stood in one place the whole time, from time to time they whipped their hair about. I'm not seeing it.
Note to the chubby dork in the homemade, very poor, Eddie "mask": Everyone was laughing at you.
Note to all the people that paid $50 to go see Iron Maiden and spent the evening watching the show on their held up cell phone: I hope the poor images you captured on your phone will forever remind you of the time you paid $50 to go to an Iron Maiden concert and watch the concert through your 2" cell phone screen.
As most people must know by now, Maiden is beginning their shows by playing the new album, A Matter Of Life And Death, in its entirety. Bruce didn't point this out until 4 or 5 songs in, so for people not expecting it (who didn't see a Hartford setlist) it must've come as a shock. I didn't get to see the DoD tour, but I remember they opened the BNW tour with the first three from that album (which, frankly, was awesome) and also played a couple of others, if I recall correctly. So Maiden was certainly heavy on the new stuff, even before this tour. If you just wanted to see old stuff you should've gone to Ozzfest and seen just stuff from the first four albums.
Note to everyone bitching about this, bitching because they didn't spend $50 to go see Iron Maiden play the exact same show they've seen a dozen times: go home and watch Live After Death on tape, you'll be happier. Especially if you stand on a chair and watch it through your cell phone camera. I for one was glad to see new material instead of the same show we've all seen before.
So, while it was a little bit over the top to play the whole album (there are a few songs that seemed like they'd not work well live), it was refreshing, especially after seeing, for example, Black Sabbath last year and seeing them play all the same songs. Again. Over and over. Again. Hooray for something different. If I see Maiden I know I will see Iron Maiden. If I see Rush I know I will see Tom Sawyer. If I see Black Sabbath I know I will see Fairies Wear Boots, Paranoid, War Pigs, Sweet Leaf, Iron Man...get my drift? Speaking of something different, here's the set:
Different World - Totally rocked as expected. I like this song and figured it'd be the show opener, even before I knew they were playing the album through. The energy level was through the roof. Bruce was all over, the guys were all going nuts. Bruce Dickinson is probably the most charismatic, dynamic front man in all of hard rock/metal. I've seen far from all of them, but I dare anyone to submit an alternative. Don't give me the nu-metal bozos, either (yes, I like some of the bands, but I'm rating their value as front-men, here). Dave Draiman? No. Guy from Mudvayne? Gimme a break...monkey suit, indeed. Korn? Sorry. Shadows Fall? Try again, hair-boy. I've never seen Edguy, Tobias seems like a great frontman, but he also seems like a Bruce clone (not his voice, his antics). Tom Araya's good, he has a huge stage presence, his babbling is good, and he has that way cool reverse head-bang thing. But since he's tied down by the bass he's rooted to one spot. RJ Dio? Charismatic, but nowhere's near the energy, even before he got old, mysteriously waving your arms about doesn't quite make the grade. Ozzy? Gimme a break, jumping up and down, buckets of water? Hansi? Dunno, haven't seen Blind Guardian. But I doubt it. The Air Raid Siren is a bundle of energy and rock and, well, actually not so much hair, anymore. The stage had a screen behind it with images from the album, as usual, mostly the album cover. Limited set, really, platforms for Bruce to run around the back and out onto the wings, which he took full advantage of, including grabbing the spotlights mounted there to shine on the crowd. Monitors made up to look like sandbags. All very militaristic. With Different World the game was on.
These Colours Don't Run - As expected, this song achieved all its promise live, which it can't quite do on the album where it's just a little, I dunno, reserved. Incidentally, though Bruce seems to hold back a little on the album, he didn't live, the voice is all there. Maiden tore through this one and the crowd responded. I know people have to bitch about the set list, but most of the crowd seemed to know all the songs and were singing right along. This is a good album. I'd rather not have sat through Brave New World or Dance Of Death all the way through live, but they almost pull it off with Life and Death. There are no 'stinkers' on this album.
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns - Ok, first stop on the 'this won't work live' train. Result? They pulled it off. I didn't think it would happen, but it went pretty well. People knew the song, they sang along, the band kept the energy up instead of letting it stumble. It was OK. Bruce loaded it up with emotion.
The Pilgrim - Again with the energy. Lots of singing along, band is flying, it rocked. I like the song, don't love it, it worked live and sounded good.
The Longest Day - Went well, as expected. Lots of singing along.
Out of the Shadows - Long intro by Bruce, who kept the talking to a minimum all night. Something about not mattering whether there's an afterlife or reincarnation, something something. A bit hard to understand. I like the song and it sounded good, as melodic as on the album.
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg - OK, with this song and the next a high point was expected and Maiden didn't disappoint. Everyone survived the slow intro and then rocked along with Maiden as their first single took off. Blasted right along to...
For the Greater Good of God - Figured they had to play this one, even before the setlist was known. My favorite song on the album, figured the chorus would work great live. Boy, did it. Bruce started out lounging on the back platform where the spotlight operator was unable to find him until he told him where he was. A funny moment for all. When the song started to rock it was mighty indeed. The chorus was shouted by all and any fatigue setting in amongst the crowd was alleviated. I don't think I could have hoped for this one to sound better. But trouble lies ahead...
Lord of Light - Not a good live song. It didn't work at all and things just kind of crashed for 20 minutes as Maiden forced through this one and...
The Legacy - Not bad songs on the album, but they didn't work live at all. Such a let down after FtGGoG. They tried, but not very hard, they just got through these. Bruce kept up the strong singing, the music was there. They had some kind of guitar difficulties on this one, which didn't help. It was, frankly, a relief for all as The Legacy was forgotten and Maiden absolutely launched into...
Fear of the Dark - Oh yeah. A gem from a not-so-good album. The crowd rose from their slumber and started screaming. The high continues right into...
Iron Maiden - Yeah, this one they have to play, like Tom Sawyer at a Rush concert. They might mix it all up, but you're getting Iron Maiden. The crowd shouted along and the set closed on a huge high. Rising from the darkness behind the stage, a giant tank turrent appears. Its huge cannon swings to face the crowd and rising up from it, an enormous Eddie, peering into the distance through a pair of binoculars. Special effects mimicking rolling treads complete the effect. Iron Maiden's gonna getcha, indeed. Crowd hopes to see a gyrating Janick impaled upon his guitar being flung into the air, fond Nigel Tufnel memories permeate the mind.
Encore - 2 Minutes to Midnight - Bam, punch in the gut with the opening of the encore. Great song to pluck from the catalog for this tour. Lots of singing along, the crowd liked this one.
The Evil That Men Do - From an album that I would like to see all the way through live, a fabulous version. Totally rocked and, what's this? A giant 12-foot tall Eddie lumbering on to the stage, complete in fatigues with a machine gun. Crowd goes wild...the band acts like he's not there as he wanders out, crosses to the side and walks back, largely unremarked upon. For a crowd that seemed to know the songs, a definite drop off in singing along.
Finale - Hallowed Be Thy Name - No, Bruce doesn't hold that note anymore. This one rocked, the crowd tried to sing along (it's a tough song, I know I still can't nail all the words), the band went nuts. It was rock end to end and the last song leaves all with a great taste in their mouth...even those that paid $50 for a shirt or $7 for a beer, I bet.
Bruce was Bruce. He's the man. Steve was a little more understated than usual. Probably because the new album isn't very bass-centric. Nicko sounded good and clean. Janick, well, Janick is a boob. I guess they let him have strings now because he played a few solos. Dave rocked, his solos shredded as always. Like on Ozzfest, Adrian was pretty reserved, doing his thing, playing his solos, refusing to let someone fix his facial hair nightmare.
As Bruce reminded all at the end...it's not just a matter of life and death...it's much more important than that.
Up the irons.
First off, the place is really nice. I guess it's a new arena for BU hockey. The crowd was well behaved and polite, about 4000 times nicer than the Tom Petty crowd at SPAC.
Opening act, at least as poor a choice as Clutch a few years ago, was Bullet For My Valentine. Not that each band is or isn't good, they're just bad choices to play with Maiden. Basically they stunk, at least in my opinion. I've never really heard them before and find I'm not missing anything. Their songs basically all sounded alike...*dunuhuhuh* blah blahhhah blablablaaaaaah yadda yaaaada yaddaya *dunuhuhuhuh* Whatever. Nobody paid them much attention. For those that care, they played Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow and Spit You Out. Beyond that I haven't got a clue, I remember the 'singer' announcing those two, including dedicating the song about suffocating to Maiden, I think, which seemed rather odd. On Amazon I see the following: "Combining darkly crooned rock with earth shattering metal execution, the arena sized sound has taken over, radio, TV and live performances...Known for their live vigor the group sold out a headlining tour through the UK..." I guess "darkly crooned" means shouted incoherently nowadays. I can't say I know what "live vigor" they're talking about. They basically stood in one place the whole time, from time to time they whipped their hair about. I'm not seeing it.
Note to the chubby dork in the homemade, very poor, Eddie "mask": Everyone was laughing at you.
Note to all the people that paid $50 to go see Iron Maiden and spent the evening watching the show on their held up cell phone: I hope the poor images you captured on your phone will forever remind you of the time you paid $50 to go to an Iron Maiden concert and watch the concert through your 2" cell phone screen.
As most people must know by now, Maiden is beginning their shows by playing the new album, A Matter Of Life And Death, in its entirety. Bruce didn't point this out until 4 or 5 songs in, so for people not expecting it (who didn't see a Hartford setlist) it must've come as a shock. I didn't get to see the DoD tour, but I remember they opened the BNW tour with the first three from that album (which, frankly, was awesome) and also played a couple of others, if I recall correctly. So Maiden was certainly heavy on the new stuff, even before this tour. If you just wanted to see old stuff you should've gone to Ozzfest and seen just stuff from the first four albums.
Note to everyone bitching about this, bitching because they didn't spend $50 to go see Iron Maiden play the exact same show they've seen a dozen times: go home and watch Live After Death on tape, you'll be happier. Especially if you stand on a chair and watch it through your cell phone camera. I for one was glad to see new material instead of the same show we've all seen before.
So, while it was a little bit over the top to play the whole album (there are a few songs that seemed like they'd not work well live), it was refreshing, especially after seeing, for example, Black Sabbath last year and seeing them play all the same songs. Again. Over and over. Again. Hooray for something different. If I see Maiden I know I will see Iron Maiden. If I see Rush I know I will see Tom Sawyer. If I see Black Sabbath I know I will see Fairies Wear Boots, Paranoid, War Pigs, Sweet Leaf, Iron Man...get my drift? Speaking of something different, here's the set:
Different World - Totally rocked as expected. I like this song and figured it'd be the show opener, even before I knew they were playing the album through. The energy level was through the roof. Bruce was all over, the guys were all going nuts. Bruce Dickinson is probably the most charismatic, dynamic front man in all of hard rock/metal. I've seen far from all of them, but I dare anyone to submit an alternative. Don't give me the nu-metal bozos, either (yes, I like some of the bands, but I'm rating their value as front-men, here). Dave Draiman? No. Guy from Mudvayne? Gimme a break...monkey suit, indeed. Korn? Sorry. Shadows Fall? Try again, hair-boy. I've never seen Edguy, Tobias seems like a great frontman, but he also seems like a Bruce clone (not his voice, his antics). Tom Araya's good, he has a huge stage presence, his babbling is good, and he has that way cool reverse head-bang thing. But since he's tied down by the bass he's rooted to one spot. RJ Dio? Charismatic, but nowhere's near the energy, even before he got old, mysteriously waving your arms about doesn't quite make the grade. Ozzy? Gimme a break, jumping up and down, buckets of water? Hansi? Dunno, haven't seen Blind Guardian. But I doubt it. The Air Raid Siren is a bundle of energy and rock and, well, actually not so much hair, anymore. The stage had a screen behind it with images from the album, as usual, mostly the album cover. Limited set, really, platforms for Bruce to run around the back and out onto the wings, which he took full advantage of, including grabbing the spotlights mounted there to shine on the crowd. Monitors made up to look like sandbags. All very militaristic. With Different World the game was on.
These Colours Don't Run - As expected, this song achieved all its promise live, which it can't quite do on the album where it's just a little, I dunno, reserved. Incidentally, though Bruce seems to hold back a little on the album, he didn't live, the voice is all there. Maiden tore through this one and the crowd responded. I know people have to bitch about the set list, but most of the crowd seemed to know all the songs and were singing right along. This is a good album. I'd rather not have sat through Brave New World or Dance Of Death all the way through live, but they almost pull it off with Life and Death. There are no 'stinkers' on this album.
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns - Ok, first stop on the 'this won't work live' train. Result? They pulled it off. I didn't think it would happen, but it went pretty well. People knew the song, they sang along, the band kept the energy up instead of letting it stumble. It was OK. Bruce loaded it up with emotion.
The Pilgrim - Again with the energy. Lots of singing along, band is flying, it rocked. I like the song, don't love it, it worked live and sounded good.
The Longest Day - Went well, as expected. Lots of singing along.
Out of the Shadows - Long intro by Bruce, who kept the talking to a minimum all night. Something about not mattering whether there's an afterlife or reincarnation, something something. A bit hard to understand. I like the song and it sounded good, as melodic as on the album.
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg - OK, with this song and the next a high point was expected and Maiden didn't disappoint. Everyone survived the slow intro and then rocked along with Maiden as their first single took off. Blasted right along to...
For the Greater Good of God - Figured they had to play this one, even before the setlist was known. My favorite song on the album, figured the chorus would work great live. Boy, did it. Bruce started out lounging on the back platform where the spotlight operator was unable to find him until he told him where he was. A funny moment for all. When the song started to rock it was mighty indeed. The chorus was shouted by all and any fatigue setting in amongst the crowd was alleviated. I don't think I could have hoped for this one to sound better. But trouble lies ahead...
Lord of Light - Not a good live song. It didn't work at all and things just kind of crashed for 20 minutes as Maiden forced through this one and...
The Legacy - Not bad songs on the album, but they didn't work live at all. Such a let down after FtGGoG. They tried, but not very hard, they just got through these. Bruce kept up the strong singing, the music was there. They had some kind of guitar difficulties on this one, which didn't help. It was, frankly, a relief for all as The Legacy was forgotten and Maiden absolutely launched into...
Fear of the Dark - Oh yeah. A gem from a not-so-good album. The crowd rose from their slumber and started screaming. The high continues right into...
Iron Maiden - Yeah, this one they have to play, like Tom Sawyer at a Rush concert. They might mix it all up, but you're getting Iron Maiden. The crowd shouted along and the set closed on a huge high. Rising from the darkness behind the stage, a giant tank turrent appears. Its huge cannon swings to face the crowd and rising up from it, an enormous Eddie, peering into the distance through a pair of binoculars. Special effects mimicking rolling treads complete the effect. Iron Maiden's gonna getcha, indeed. Crowd hopes to see a gyrating Janick impaled upon his guitar being flung into the air, fond Nigel Tufnel memories permeate the mind.
Encore - 2 Minutes to Midnight - Bam, punch in the gut with the opening of the encore. Great song to pluck from the catalog for this tour. Lots of singing along, the crowd liked this one.
The Evil That Men Do - From an album that I would like to see all the way through live, a fabulous version. Totally rocked and, what's this? A giant 12-foot tall Eddie lumbering on to the stage, complete in fatigues with a machine gun. Crowd goes wild...the band acts like he's not there as he wanders out, crosses to the side and walks back, largely unremarked upon. For a crowd that seemed to know the songs, a definite drop off in singing along.
Finale - Hallowed Be Thy Name - No, Bruce doesn't hold that note anymore. This one rocked, the crowd tried to sing along (it's a tough song, I know I still can't nail all the words), the band went nuts. It was rock end to end and the last song leaves all with a great taste in their mouth...even those that paid $50 for a shirt or $7 for a beer, I bet.
Bruce was Bruce. He's the man. Steve was a little more understated than usual. Probably because the new album isn't very bass-centric. Nicko sounded good and clean. Janick, well, Janick is a boob. I guess they let him have strings now because he played a few solos. Dave rocked, his solos shredded as always. Like on Ozzfest, Adrian was pretty reserved, doing his thing, playing his solos, refusing to let someone fix his facial hair nightmare.
As Bruce reminded all at the end...it's not just a matter of life and death...it's much more important than that.
Up the irons.
posted by Falze at 5:53 PM
4 Comments:
It looks like you had a frekin' great time. I envy you.
Wow! Great Review. I will be seeing them tonight. Yippe.
I know im like 2 years to late to post this but im going to anyway. I went to the same show as you and i have the same feeling that you shared in your review. I now have tickets to see the Somewhere Back In Time Tour and i am dissapointed that i don't get to see some of the songs off "Dance" or "Matter".
Thanks for stopping by Carlos. I've got a ticket for the Maiden show in June in Mansfield...can't wait! I'll try to post a review of that one, also.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home