Maiden Rock Glasgow!!
Greetings to all our followers. This is a special report from your friendly neighbourhood SIB.
Wednesday 20th July 2011 12:36pm
Well here we are, Iron Maiden live in Glasgow, tonight!!
This is indeed going to be an awesome event for any fan of the Iron's.
As I munch through my lunchtime allowance of oatcakes, I have taken a moment to consult with my inner-self and remember a time that the direction of my musical life changed paths.
"No Prayer for the Dying" released in October 1990 was my first album from Iron Maiden.
Sitting in the back seat of my fathers car on yet another journey to yet another shoe factory, I place into my walkman this cassette album stolen from my brothers musical collection. I could almost sense my walkman screaming "This aint Cliff Richard", I had an obscure musical upbringing, so as the opening chugs of "Tailgunner" reach deep within my ears I feel a sense of excitement, what could this be that sounds so perfect?
From there my journey began and it was indeed ta-ta to the Cliff Richard cassettes, Kylie who? Jason smegging what!!
Oh indeed my friends my blood was becoming infused with what is described as proper music.
It wouldn't be until 1998 when I first got my live experience with the Iron's.
This was in the Blaze Bailey years, the "Virtual XI" tour in the Barrowlands, Glasgow.
As I go through some of my favourite songs I still feel the same adrenaline rushing through my veins. Some have said that this tour could indeed be the last. With that thought I will be expecting something special tonight. Pesonally I am hoping for a similar set list to their 2008 tour, which was covered in their documentary "Flight 666". There is a selection of tracks that I haven't seen performed live and indeed that is what I am hoping for this evening.
With all that said, we shall see what they bring tonight, but regardless of setlist, this will truley be another fantastic performance from the biggest Brittish Heavy Metal band of all time.
Thursday 21st July 00:46am
Well indeed the journey is now over. As I settle back into the comfort of my couch I have taken a moment to reflect on tonights experience. In that reflection I have a few points to make on many aspects of the concert.
The support band were Australian rockers, Airbourne. Very much an AC/DC style band. As an extra downside I heard that the gods of power metal, Dragonforce, were infact the support for the Belfast show.
As the lights dimmed and the crowd began to roar, you could feel the presence of Maiden was near. Through the PA the show opened a recorded track of "Doctor Doctor". This song, originally by the band UFO, was actually part of the single Virus, which as another note was one of the very few singles released by Iron Maiden that never appeared on any album, apart from the compilation, "Best of the Beast".
Then indeed the lights went out and the show began, opening with "Satellite 15... The Final Frontier".
This would be the first of 5 tracks from their latest album, The Final Frontier, which for me was not one of my favourites.
There was a massive reaction from the crowd for "2 minutes till midnight", which got the soul breathing and the iron running through the veins.
As mentioned in the opening part of this article, some had said that this would be Iron Maidens final tour. Well, let me tell you that this will not be the last tour, the iron's aren't going anywhere.
The Scottish crowd broke into Flower of Scotland at one point, though in true Scottish fashion, the first couple of lines you could make out, the rest was the traditional mumbling and shouting. We Scots only seem to know the first couple of lines.. Can you tell this writer doesn't take kindly to his nationalism?
Bruce thankfully brought the drunken singing to a hault with some fine words along the lines of meeting them at hampden, a football related comment I guess, again this writer doesn't take kindly to football.
Moving on now and we get "Dance of Death", title track of their 2003 album. I enjoy this track for Bruce's story telling and structure, but I would have preferred to hear "Paschendale" or "Rainmaker". One small note, when I saw them in on the Dance of Death tour in 2003, "Paschendale" was played, though they blew a fuse and the whole thing came to a silent pause for 3 or 4 minutes.
There must indeed be a reason for Bruce waving a union jack, oh yes, "The Trooper". Perfect moment and a perfect time to get those lungs working and the vocal chords stretched, everyone, including the scared and vulnerable, were going for it in true fashion. We are treated to a walk on Eddie, who rampages over the Glasgow stage.
Two tracks back to back from the "Brave New World" ablum, "The Wicker Man" and "Blood Brothers" we highly enjoyable.
As we headed into the home stretch I got what I came for, the tones of "The Evil that Men Do" rang out and the crowd, including the SIB, were singing every word. "Fear of the Dark" was just as awesome now as it has ever been, again the karaoke began.
We were treated to a second Eddie as we entered the last track. This time lurking up in true Eddie fashion from behind the stage. This for me was fantastic. After so many years the theme has carried itself and to see it once again was indeed a moment, as we all joined in with the anthem that is "Iron Maiden"
We were treated to the standard 3 song encore. The all to familiar quotation from The Book of Revelations was chanted by the crowd before "Number of the Beast" blasted through the ears. There was a bell tolling as we were given another classic with "Hallowed be thy name". I was expecting them to finish with "Run to the Hills", but instead we were treated to "Running Free".
Bruce broke the song down and introduced the rest of the band, including having Nico stand while running a drum solo.
To sum this concert up with the expectations I had going in, it was another mighty outing by the metal gods.. My only comments would be that the timing sounded out at times, almost sloppy. This could indeed be blamed on the fable SECC curse, but we felt Nico was a tad over excited at times. The 2 screens they had added extra value to the £37.50 ticket price. Bruce's speeches were classic Bruce,."we all stand as one under the flag of Maiden" was his message. As mentioned earlier I would have been more happy with a wider selection, yes I do know this was the Final Fronteir tour, but still there are so many classic tracks which I would have preffered hearing.
The Glasgow crowd were on top form, though I feel perhaps tea would be best served at these venues, the amount of staggerers was getting annoying, even in my little safe area, no it wasn't the handicap section, they wouldn't let me in.
The venue, SECC (Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre), was as poor as ever. Over priced, lack of toilets, no seating, no bean-bag chairs, no tea and dont even ask them for shortbread.
Will I go and see them again? After feeling the power 5 times now in my little life, I feel perhaps I will pass up the chance next time, of course if we get another album and it blows my mind, we may see.
Thanks for reading and stayed tuned for more.
Coming soon we will have another discovery of the fantastic kind in our journey through unheard music.
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Setlist for Iron Maiden 20th July 2011 SECC Glasgow...
Encore: