WhiffleBallTony
Member
Hey guys! I was at the Iron Maiden show last night at MSG and I wrote a review for it. Keep in mind that this was written for the Rock Band (a video game) forums, so some of the review is directed at that crowd. Anyway, here's my review (it's fairly long):
The first time that Iron Maiden played at Madison Square Garden (MSG) was over 25 years ago during their "World Piece Tour" to promote their new album Piece of Mind. Since then, the band has put out twelve albums, each with its own unique sound and feeling, whether bad or good, with the majority being fantastic.
The band announced on March 14, 2008, during a show at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, that they would return to MSG for a great show, and they sure delivered.
Since the show was on Father's Day, it only seemed fitting that bassist Steve Harris' daughter Lauren be the opening act. Though she has a great voice and the musicianship of her band is great, they need to work on their songwriting. "Steal Your Fire" was really the only strong song that they performed, in my opinion. Other songs like "Come On Over" and "Let Us Be" sound more fitting for a Miley Cyrus concert rather than a heavy metal act like Iron Maiden.
However, at 8:00, 30 minutes after Lauren Harris left the stage, Iron Maiden got ready to come on. First, there was a very well-together video on the projector documenting the tour set to the instrumental "Transylvania". After this video ended, another video in black and white with WWII planes played with Winston Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" playing. Once this video concluded, we had the first song.
The first song in the setlist was "Aces High", the leading song from their 1984 masterpiece Powerslave, the album which the set was based on. They absolutely nailed the song and the fans were all singing along with Bruce Dickinson, clad in a camo vest and a black beanie. Once the song concluded, the band went right into the next track from the album, "2 Minutes to Midnight", a song usually reserved for encores. During the chorus, in which the title of the song is yelled, Bruce would point to crowd and have everyone sing the "to midnight!" part. These are the types of moments that make Maiden such a great live act.
At the conclusion of the song, Bruce gave his introduction speech, speaking about the fact that "Iron Maiden will never be a part of anyone's ****ing establishment", which got a huge reaction from the fans. He then spoke about their next song, "Revelations", which they haven't played since 1983. Though the song has never been a favorite of mine, I thought that they did a great job with it. The majority of the song is a slow ballad, but it has a few parts where it picks up the tempo a lot. When this happened, you could see some fans in the mosh pit banging their heads violently as Bruce ran around the stage.
Following "Revelations", Maiden played the fan-favorite song "The Trooper". This was the first Maiden song that I heard when it was released in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II, so I love it quite a lot, but I thought that their performance tonight was okay. When I saw them at the Meadowlands, I thought that they did a better job with the song, but by no means was it bad. The song rocks so hard that it makes up for any issues with the actual performance.
Dickinson then had yet another talk with the crowd and concluded the speech by saying that they we will play for another 15 or 20 years, but those years would not be wasted, launching them into "Wasted Years". Bruce had so much energy while singing the song that he nearly tripped over himself in the first verse, which he exaggerated while keeping a good sense of humor. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith both played fantastic solos during the song. Overall, the song was great and I give them an A.
At the 6th spot in the setlist, they played "The Number of the Beast". They brought out a mechanical demon on the side of the stage for the song. They played it very well. Every part of it is perfect for the crowd. From the "6! 6-6!" part of the chorus to the bridge's "duh-duh-duh-duh duh" rhythm, the energy was amazing. This performance proves that the song is not overrated at all, even if it is only immensely popular because of the controversy it caused.
My least favorite song of Maiden's, "Can I Play With Madness", was performed next. I really don't have much to say about it. The song feels like they wrote it to break the singles chart. It really has a poppy sound to it, which is what accounts for my dislike of it, I guess. The rest of the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album is amazing, though, and it still ranks in my top five Maiden albums.
"This is what not to do when a bird ****s on you" were the words that Bruce used to introduce the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", a 13-minute-long song based on Samuel T. Coleridge's poem of the same name. The song explains that you need to respect what you have or what you don't have will come back to bite you, in Bruce's words.
The song was easily my favorite of the night. The song started off with energy and volume, but was slow, just like the Powerslave version of the song. After that section, it speeds up, then slows and quiets down for about three minutes. This gave us all a chance to rest our legs. However, it then picks back up with a bassline that gives me chills every time I hear it and a stage covered in smoke from dry ice. The rest of the song was phenomenal and was really a sight to behold for any fan of Iron Maiden.
Oh boy. Next, we have "Powerslave", the title track of the album of the same name. The song was great the whole through, however, a rare moment in Maiden history occurred during the final chorus; the sound went out. No, the power didn't go out, it was the sound. The cameras, lights, and everything else was working, but for some unbeknownst reason, the sound was completely gone. No mic, no guitar, no nothing. Everyone in the crowd was scratching their head, but no one was upset. If anything, we were laughing.
The sound was gone for about 10 minutes. The band was a bit confused about what to do, but they kept us entertained. Bruce was jokingly dancing like an idiot and playing around with mummies on the stage used as decoration and the band also started playing soccer on the stage (who knows where they got the ball). Overall, it was a great moment for everyone there, and I'm sure it will appear on the tour DVD. In the meantime, you can probably find clips of it on YouTube.
Once the band got their sound back, the debated whether or not to play the last chorus of "Powerslave" or proceed to the next song, "Heaven Can Wait". After some deliberation, the opted to do the latter. Once Adrian Smith switched guitars (he had the wrong one), they kicked the song off. At first, the crowd was a bit quiet after the long break, but everyone got right back into it. The song is one of the best I've ever seen live as far as crowd involvement goes. In the bridge, where the band sings a chant, members of the fanclub that won a special contest came on stage to sing, a tradition at Maiden concerts when they play the song.
The white men that came across the sea then played the metal classic "Run to the Hills", a song that I'm sure you all know due to its inclusion in Rock Band. They did a great job with the song as usually, and everyone helped Bruce out with his crescendo in the bridge.
Then, it was time to close the show with "Iron Maiden", the band's signature song. When I saw the band in the Meadowlands, they brought out the walking cyborg, Somewhere In Time incarnation of Eddie. However, this time, a mummy version of Ed the Head came out from behind the stage as the curtain opened up. It was a great way to close the show.
But wait, there's more! They came back out onto the stage about 1 minute later (they had to cut it down due to the absence of sound in "Powerslave") to tell us that they'll be coming back next year playing songs from a brand new album. They then played the leading track from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, "Moonchild". The song was the only one on the setlist to prominently feature keyboards, which proves that heavy metal can, indeed, be heavy with synthesizers.
They followed up "Moonchild" with another track from the album, "The Clairvoyant". The song was one of the best of the night. "There's a time to live and a time to die" was sung by pretty much everyone in the audience, including me, complete with throwing the horns in the air. It was another amazing song performed by the beast.
They then concluded the night with a fantastic performance of "Hallowed Be Thy Name", the most legendary of legendary songs. If you listen to the studio version of the song and don't think it's very heavy, boy are you wrong. The song is so much different live. The song structure and everything remains the same, but it has so much more energy when you see it with your own eyes. I've watched videos of the song at the show on YouTube and you still can't sense the heaviness. It's something I can't explain.
Overall, I give the show a 9.5/10. The band was amazing and they performed the **** out of each song. The only things that brought the show down from a 10 were "Can I Play With Madness" and the fact that the some of the members in the crowd were a bit lackadaisical. The positives REALLY outweigh the negatives, though, and it was amazing. I wish you guys could have seen the majesty of it!
The first time that Iron Maiden played at Madison Square Garden (MSG) was over 25 years ago during their "World Piece Tour" to promote their new album Piece of Mind. Since then, the band has put out twelve albums, each with its own unique sound and feeling, whether bad or good, with the majority being fantastic.
The band announced on March 14, 2008, during a show at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, that they would return to MSG for a great show, and they sure delivered.
Since the show was on Father's Day, it only seemed fitting that bassist Steve Harris' daughter Lauren be the opening act. Though she has a great voice and the musicianship of her band is great, they need to work on their songwriting. "Steal Your Fire" was really the only strong song that they performed, in my opinion. Other songs like "Come On Over" and "Let Us Be" sound more fitting for a Miley Cyrus concert rather than a heavy metal act like Iron Maiden.
However, at 8:00, 30 minutes after Lauren Harris left the stage, Iron Maiden got ready to come on. First, there was a very well-together video on the projector documenting the tour set to the instrumental "Transylvania". After this video ended, another video in black and white with WWII planes played with Winston Churchill's "We shall fight on the beaches" playing. Once this video concluded, we had the first song.
The first song in the setlist was "Aces High", the leading song from their 1984 masterpiece Powerslave, the album which the set was based on. They absolutely nailed the song and the fans were all singing along with Bruce Dickinson, clad in a camo vest and a black beanie. Once the song concluded, the band went right into the next track from the album, "2 Minutes to Midnight", a song usually reserved for encores. During the chorus, in which the title of the song is yelled, Bruce would point to crowd and have everyone sing the "to midnight!" part. These are the types of moments that make Maiden such a great live act.
At the conclusion of the song, Bruce gave his introduction speech, speaking about the fact that "Iron Maiden will never be a part of anyone's ****ing establishment", which got a huge reaction from the fans. He then spoke about their next song, "Revelations", which they haven't played since 1983. Though the song has never been a favorite of mine, I thought that they did a great job with it. The majority of the song is a slow ballad, but it has a few parts where it picks up the tempo a lot. When this happened, you could see some fans in the mosh pit banging their heads violently as Bruce ran around the stage.
Following "Revelations", Maiden played the fan-favorite song "The Trooper". This was the first Maiden song that I heard when it was released in the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II, so I love it quite a lot, but I thought that their performance tonight was okay. When I saw them at the Meadowlands, I thought that they did a better job with the song, but by no means was it bad. The song rocks so hard that it makes up for any issues with the actual performance.
Dickinson then had yet another talk with the crowd and concluded the speech by saying that they we will play for another 15 or 20 years, but those years would not be wasted, launching them into "Wasted Years". Bruce had so much energy while singing the song that he nearly tripped over himself in the first verse, which he exaggerated while keeping a good sense of humor. Dave Murray and Adrian Smith both played fantastic solos during the song. Overall, the song was great and I give them an A.
At the 6th spot in the setlist, they played "The Number of the Beast". They brought out a mechanical demon on the side of the stage for the song. They played it very well. Every part of it is perfect for the crowd. From the "6! 6-6!" part of the chorus to the bridge's "duh-duh-duh-duh duh" rhythm, the energy was amazing. This performance proves that the song is not overrated at all, even if it is only immensely popular because of the controversy it caused.
My least favorite song of Maiden's, "Can I Play With Madness", was performed next. I really don't have much to say about it. The song feels like they wrote it to break the singles chart. It really has a poppy sound to it, which is what accounts for my dislike of it, I guess. The rest of the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album is amazing, though, and it still ranks in my top five Maiden albums.
"This is what not to do when a bird ****s on you" were the words that Bruce used to introduce the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", a 13-minute-long song based on Samuel T. Coleridge's poem of the same name. The song explains that you need to respect what you have or what you don't have will come back to bite you, in Bruce's words.
The song was easily my favorite of the night. The song started off with energy and volume, but was slow, just like the Powerslave version of the song. After that section, it speeds up, then slows and quiets down for about three minutes. This gave us all a chance to rest our legs. However, it then picks back up with a bassline that gives me chills every time I hear it and a stage covered in smoke from dry ice. The rest of the song was phenomenal and was really a sight to behold for any fan of Iron Maiden.
Oh boy. Next, we have "Powerslave", the title track of the album of the same name. The song was great the whole through, however, a rare moment in Maiden history occurred during the final chorus; the sound went out. No, the power didn't go out, it was the sound. The cameras, lights, and everything else was working, but for some unbeknownst reason, the sound was completely gone. No mic, no guitar, no nothing. Everyone in the crowd was scratching their head, but no one was upset. If anything, we were laughing.
The sound was gone for about 10 minutes. The band was a bit confused about what to do, but they kept us entertained. Bruce was jokingly dancing like an idiot and playing around with mummies on the stage used as decoration and the band also started playing soccer on the stage (who knows where they got the ball). Overall, it was a great moment for everyone there, and I'm sure it will appear on the tour DVD. In the meantime, you can probably find clips of it on YouTube.
Once the band got their sound back, the debated whether or not to play the last chorus of "Powerslave" or proceed to the next song, "Heaven Can Wait". After some deliberation, the opted to do the latter. Once Adrian Smith switched guitars (he had the wrong one), they kicked the song off. At first, the crowd was a bit quiet after the long break, but everyone got right back into it. The song is one of the best I've ever seen live as far as crowd involvement goes. In the bridge, where the band sings a chant, members of the fanclub that won a special contest came on stage to sing, a tradition at Maiden concerts when they play the song.
The white men that came across the sea then played the metal classic "Run to the Hills", a song that I'm sure you all know due to its inclusion in Rock Band. They did a great job with the song as usually, and everyone helped Bruce out with his crescendo in the bridge.
Then, it was time to close the show with "Iron Maiden", the band's signature song. When I saw the band in the Meadowlands, they brought out the walking cyborg, Somewhere In Time incarnation of Eddie. However, this time, a mummy version of Ed the Head came out from behind the stage as the curtain opened up. It was a great way to close the show.
But wait, there's more! They came back out onto the stage about 1 minute later (they had to cut it down due to the absence of sound in "Powerslave") to tell us that they'll be coming back next year playing songs from a brand new album. They then played the leading track from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, "Moonchild". The song was the only one on the setlist to prominently feature keyboards, which proves that heavy metal can, indeed, be heavy with synthesizers.
They followed up "Moonchild" with another track from the album, "The Clairvoyant". The song was one of the best of the night. "There's a time to live and a time to die" was sung by pretty much everyone in the audience, including me, complete with throwing the horns in the air. It was another amazing song performed by the beast.
They then concluded the night with a fantastic performance of "Hallowed Be Thy Name", the most legendary of legendary songs. If you listen to the studio version of the song and don't think it's very heavy, boy are you wrong. The song is so much different live. The song structure and everything remains the same, but it has so much more energy when you see it with your own eyes. I've watched videos of the song at the show on YouTube and you still can't sense the heaviness. It's something I can't explain.
Overall, I give the show a 9.5/10. The band was amazing and they performed the **** out of each song. The only things that brought the show down from a 10 were "Can I Play With Madness" and the fact that the some of the members in the crowd were a bit lackadaisical. The positives REALLY outweigh the negatives, though, and it was amazing. I wish you guys could have seen the majesty of it!