pocelo je pocelo ... turneja 2006.

Nicko McBrain has begun posting his usual tour diaries to complement those of manager Rod Smallwood...

Read on for reports from Toronto, Long Island and New Jersey!

Toronto

"I would first like to thank one of our FC members for stepping up with an apology. All credit to you mate ‘ginfire 2ooo’."

Hotel room Toronto
Time: 1pm
17th October

Well, well, well I am feeling on top today. Only problem is me elbow’s playing me up after last night’s wonderful show.
I suffer with tennis elbow and sooner or later it flares up.
I’ll have to start icing it after the show.
Well, enough of that.

I would first like to thank one of our FC members for stepping up with an apology. All credit to you mate ‘ginfire 2ooo’.

So we had a day off here in the wonderful Toronto Canada. I love this city. Sunday was a very cool day. It started off in the hotel lobby with me and Ian ‘roots’ Day. We had a couple of glasses of red wine and then I was joined by me chum Brian, ‘Buttercup’ Beatty and his fiancée Paula. We had a FEW cocktails in the lobby and then we were joined by my friends up from Florida, Steve and Karen Dewey. Well, as you can imagine there were enough of us to consider it a PARTY which it duly turned into. We all went to dinner at a great eatery in the city named ‘The Queen Mother’ - great food and lots of lovely bevvies were delivered. After dinner we headed back to a bar next to the hotel called ‘Hemmingway’s’, fantastic time was had there I can tell you!
After a while we ,OOPS, we went to the hotel bar before Hemmingway’s, and then after we were kicked out of there we went next door. Oh my memory is SO bad lately TEE HEE!!!!
Anyway, we all had a very fun time.

The next day, Monday, we had a show at the Air Canada Center. It was a very great show. Again sound problems AND air conditioning problems reared there ugly heads.
What don’t these people that run these events understand - TURN OFF THE “KIN AIR, - easy you would think?
So even with these problems we had a great time. The audience were fantastic and we all really played well. Steve and I went a little out on occasion with each other but I think he was hearing a large slap back from the room. We still nailed it though. Bruce was on fine form even with the coolness of the room. We do have a good time on stage even when things go a little off.

After the show Steve, H, Bruce and myself stayed behind and had a word with our sound guys. In the mean time Ian Day was having serious words with the event organizers about the air issues. All in all a very productive post gig blather.
After that me and me chums headed back to the hotel. I was very tired and after saying good night to all went straight to bed. I would like to apologise to the fans that were outside the hotel last night for not signing your bits and pieces. I was really pooped.

Well it’s nearly time to checkout and head over to Detroit for our show there this evening.
Be safe and well and I’ll speak at ya later.
God bless you all.

=Nicko=

Long Island and New Jersey

"What a stage set we have for this tour. Eddie is all over it He pops up at the end of Maiden and then he comes out in ETMD and shoots the audience, what’s he like? We are having a great time and love this new record as I said before, it’s great to play live."

On board flight from New York to Toronto

Time- 1:30pm
Sunday 15th October

Well, well, well here we are on our way to Canada.
On board today we have: Ian, ‘mines a large glass of red’ Day, Rod. ‘I’ll have a beer’, Smallwood, Steve, ‘give us a wee dram of scotch’ Gadd, Janick, ‘make it a large one’, Gers, Dave, ‘you deserve it’, Murray, Bruce, ‘will it do Mach one’, Dickinson, Adrian, ‘where’s the nearest river’, Smith, Steve ‘He gets it in the end’, Harris, Kevin, ‘It’s not as big as a G200’, Godlewski, (he is our flight booker) and me good self.

We have two great shows under our belt and boy were they fun. The first was Nassau Coliseum in Hemp ‘kin stead Long Island.
A place not unfamiliar to me self.
(Rod has kept you up to speed with his diary from the road for the first five shows).

We hit the stage running at 9:05pm and had a blast. The intro tape started and then we were off. Sound was a wee bit strange at first but settled down nicely. The new material is great to play live. I have to pay special attention to the metering of the songs, so I use two metronomes and program each one to the next song down the list. It has been going great. We are still making a few errors here and there but each show just gets stronger and stronger. The vibe is immense on stage; the drama of the new stuff is magical.

There are a few problems that we have encountered so far. The main one being the temperature inside the venues. As the weather is changing the ambient temp has dropped so we are feeling it more on stage. Bruce needs to have it hot. The hotter the better, I have to agree. I like it toasty. The sound for me is a lot better when it’s hot. The reaction to the new material has been in the main very strong, a few of the fans are still being rude and shouting out for the older stuff but we carry on and do the set as is.
What a stage set we have for this tour. Eddie is all over it He pops up at the end of Maiden and then he comes out in ETMD and shoots the audience, what’s he like? We are having a great time and love this new record as I said before, it’s great to play live.

My beautiful wife Rebecca, came to the show but she has a very sore knee and had to spend most of her time in the dressing room. But what she did get to see she really enjoyed. She had some friends with her and they all had a great time.
Thanks to my mates Carey and Kurt and their chum John for coming up from Florida to see us and my band mates from ‘VOX’, Davey, Donny, Nick, Johnny Mac, and Bobby, you rule guys and of course their ladies. After the show we headed back to the hotel and I had an early night. Me misses went for a wee drink with her pal Norma Jean to celebrate her birthday. I was tucked up in bed by 2am.

The second show was at the Meadowland arena in New Jersey.
What a great night.
We played a little better, I thought, than the previous night but again we seem to get stronger as we go. I had a great night on the tubs and really enjoyed this evening the best so far. Again it was very cold inside the venue and we had the same trouble at first with the sound on stage. It didn’t take Dougie very long to sort it and we were off again. A few errors crept in here and there but what a great show. I do keep saying it but we are having a blast.

I have a great new drum kit for this tour it is a Premier series Premier kit. I had them do a special camouflage finish on the shell, it has come out beautiful. Paiste made some very special cymbals for me they are all reflected finish Signature series with the exception of the 17” rude. They sound great. Also got a ‘kin 40: symphonic gong that gets a good thump a couple of times on this tour. I’m using ‘The Beast snare drum, the same one I used on the record. It’s my 402 6/12 x 14” Vintage Ludwig Supraphonic. Beautiful sounding drum. I bought this drum in 1975 when I was in New York with a band called Streewalkers. A big thank you to all my friends at Premier/Paiste. It was at this time that I met the one and only Rod Smallwood. He was tour manager for Cockney Rebel.

Well, I’m signing of now.
Stay safe and well.
God bless you.
Nicko.
 
"Before the gig Dean and EMI presented us with a whole load of awards - triple platinum (300,000) for NoB and Visions DVD, double platinum for about 6 other albums, gold for Ed Hunter and a special award for career sales of over 2 MILLION albums in Canada!"

Rod Smallwood has posted another tour diary, this time from Toronto... keep reading for the full article.

TORONTO - TUES OCT 17 - 12 NOON

We got in from NY on Sunday arriving at the hotel late pm. Time to unpack and meet up with Dave and Val to go through a few things, then met up with about 10 people from our label here - EMI Canada. The President Dean is an old friend who has been with EMI Canada since our first album in 1980 and he has always been a great supporter of the band. Others like Al, Brooksy and Steve have also been working with us since the eighties and its always good to see them. We all went our for a great dinner in a very flash and excellent restaurant then on to a club til the early hours.

Suffering a bit next morning - bit of a lie in!! Worked in pm and down to gig at about 6. Before the gig Dean and EMI presented us with a whole load of awards - triple platinum (300,000) for NoB and Visions DVD, double platinum for about 6 other albums, gold for Ed Hunter and a special award for career sales of over 2 MILLION albums in Canada. You will recall we got presented gold for AMOLAD in Montreal too. I am sure Admin will get some pics of all this to put up on the site. It has pretty well always been great for us here and we always enjoy coming - great audiences, a great label - and once again about 11,000 gave us a terrific reception. It certainly seems that by far the majority really appreciate us playing the whole new album. Hope so anyway!!

The only downers were some sound problems for Bruce which gave him a few problems on vocals, but few would have noticed, and once again the bloody AC. I left the mixing desk at one point to yell at the hall guys. It was warming up nicely til about 3 numbers in then the AC went on. When l went back l saw there was a great big door open right behind the stage. It was cold outside so a great draught was blowing in right behind the stage. They were loading in food, can you believe that - they had all day to do it but they have to wait til we are on stage. This is becoming a personal crusade - warm halls for band and fans. I don't know about you but when its cold and a bit drafty it really affects my enjoyment of the atmosphere. We will get there!!! Anyway l am not going to mention this again!!

Anyway great show. Went straight back after for an early night so l could be up early and catch up on Europe emails today. Dave, Jan and l came straight off stage in to the car and back to the hotel. There were about 6 "fans" there with piles of stuff to autograph. "Great show" they said. "You got back quick" l said. "Can you name 3 tracks off new album?" Looks of bemusement. Yes more ebay traders - no real fan would leave and miss the encores to get back to hotel. These are just wankers trying it on to get stuff signed to sell on ebay. We are very careful about this and this is why we only ever really sign one item per fan - although speed of course comes into that too if there are a number of fans.

Anyway need start packing to get off to Detroit. Quieter show tonight - probably around 6,000. Disappointing. I guess Detroit is no longer self proclaimed Rock City but sadly there is very high unemployment. Hopefully though they will be a good crowd. Doesn't matter how many as long as they are into it!!!! On the positive side found out yesterday that LA is already sold out - 16,000. The last gig here is gonna be a stormer!!
 
Iron Maiden's still heavy
British metal monsters enjoying a 2nd go-round


By Bob Gendron

Hurdling sandbagged amplifiers and raising his left arm in sync with swelling crescendos, Bruce Dickinson wasn't taking anything for granted. On a mission to keep the near-capacity crowd fully invested during Iron Maiden's non-nostalgic set Wednesday night at Allstate Arena, the singer doubled as a sorcerer, philosopher, dreamer and commander, his fireball energy leading the charge as his band staked claim to rare late-career relevance.

Legends in Europe but usually subject to parody in the U.S., Iron Maiden is in the midst of one of the best and most surprising 2nd Acts in metal history. The transformation began when upstart artists began citing the Brits as a key influence and continued during 2005's Ozzfest, on which the band gained the respect of younger audiences, an effort that culminated with its recent "A Matter of Life and Death" album debuting in the Top 10.

Not content to follow the conventional veterans path, Iron Maiden opened its 110-minute concert by performing its latest record from start to finish, executing the feat without any major hiccups. Granted, Dickinson couldn't hit every upper-end high, and cheated by drifting over certain words. Yet his low vibrato, choral wail and soaring range remained largely unscathed, and his narrative mastery set mood and tone. The sextet's three guitarists handled intricate passages, legato solos and trade-off harmonic leads with aplomb, while galloping rhythms flexed and folded. Despite lengthy songs, nothing dragged.

"Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" played hide and seek with sonic shadows. "The Longest Day" emotionally conveyed the sickness, trauma and impending doom of combat, while mud-trudging riffs evoked the struggles. With its spooky nursery-rhyme beginning and hangman-noose sway, "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" came on as a chilling ghost story, its nightmarish melody reaching for salvation like a hand desperately waving out from under a tombstone.

True to form, the group came equipped to reinforce its war-themed presentation. Illustrative banners hung behind a bunker-design stage; searchlights swept the venue; a tank turret swiveled and pointed at the audience; and the band's mascot, Eddie, emerged as a 15-foot-tall soldier. His appearance preceded an encore of blueprint cavalry-marching metal that ceased when "Hallowed Be Thy Name" signaled the witching hour's arrival.
 
Rod Smallwood has checked in from Tokyo, Japan on the A Matter Of Life And Death World Tour:

"The show at Verizon Amphitheatre LA (October 21st) was all we could have hoped for and more. I got down there at about 5pm to check it out and meet some old friends from out old label in America Capitol. They did great by us in the eighties and l have always kept in touch. It was perfect weather for the gig - warm, sunny and little or no wind - for outdoor shows any wind can play havoc with the sound. Checked in with Dougie our sound man - we usually get a great sound at this gig and the layout of the arena is really good for sound and that night would prove to be no exception. Had a wander round outside and on stage and backstage - great vibe everywhere, you can feel the really good shows beforehand usually..."

Bullet couldn't do this show so we used 3 Inches of Blood who did really well. Had a chat with them afterwards. Nice blokes - made a mental note that they would be good to use in future if it came up.

Saw a number of other old friends of the band and myself leading up to going on. Its good to keep in touch with people. One amusing incident was when l was walking past the side of the stage and 3 guys walked quickly past onto the stage holding cups of beer and wearing only vip passes. Vips don't get you on stage and l certainly don't want anyone on stage slopping round beer in open cups so l called them back straight away to ask where they thought they were going and basically throw them off. Nicko's drum tech Charlie came over and said it was a friend of his - a fellow Canadian - Woody Harrelson!! Got to be one of my favourite actors who has made some terrific movies (and TV) so they were asked to get off more politely!!

Anyway the gig was amazing. I already told you it had sold out over a week before (16,000) and we really limited any comps the hall/promoter/band often request so the fans could be there not liggers!!! The atmosphere was terrific and the crowd did us proud. Thank LA . Ranked almost alongside Quebec as the best of the tour so far. The seats there rise steeply from the front of the stage where there is a pit for about 200 and at the back of about 1200 seats are about 4000 on the lawns. I like to go onstage for the last encore song to see the audience and here is looked amazing - everyone stood with arms held high lit by the blinders. Definitely had goose pimples.

This was the last show in north America and the whole thing went extremely well. Band really starting to fire up now and all production and sound aspects working well. We were concerned going into it how the US audiences in particular would react to us doing the whole of the album - we thought it may be hard work but every night the audience was with us. So thanks to every one of you.

As you all know we have been making tickets available a few days in advance of public on sale date for the online and fan club. So really every show the front should be you guys, can you let me know via your online BB if this has worked - did you get the tickets you wanted. We want to ensure that our best fans get the best tickets so let us know.

After the show we hung around back stage for an hour or so talking to old mates and meeting people. Got back to hotel about 2am and up at 10 to pack and get to the airport for the long flight to Tokyo. Everyone in great spirits and well pleased with the tour so far, very enjoyable. Long flight - read some English papers l picked up at LAX, watched a couple of movies (had to turn off Jack Black's new movie Nacho Libre as so bad - surprising as he is talented and smart but what a load of cobblers) nearly finished The Afghan, cat napped a bit but tried to stay awake as we arrive in Tokyo on the evening - the flight is about eleven and a half hours, arriving Tokyo Narita at 6pm. No problem going through customs and immigration, pretty quick and painless then in vans to hotel. I read a bit and crashed out.

Woke about 5am and pulled myself out of bed about 7. Here the promoter and record label leave gifts in your room of beautiful baskets of fruit so ate some of that and tried to get online. More problems... Its my connection to the Sanctuary server that's the problem, no-one else gets the problems l am getting. It overprotective with firewalls and stuff to make it almost impenetrable. Gets you really pissed off. I have to try about 10 times to get any connection then it goes again so l am having to do things on word and copy and paste so l don't lose work all the time.

Anyway enough for now. Day off today then the legendary Budokan tomorrow so more after that."
 
MaidenNorway.com has posted a couple of recent entries in Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain's online diary, which is available only to Iron Maiden Online Club members (official Iron Maiden fan club). Read on for the pieces.

In somehow related news, Iron Maiden's new album, "A Matter of Life and Death", has sold 118,000 copies in the United States since its Sept. 5 release, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Los Angeles

On board flight SQ 011 From L.A. to Tokyo
Time: 5:30pm Japan.
23rd October 2006

Well, well, well here we are traveling at 40,000 feet over the ocean on our way to Tokyo. We were in LA last night rocking to 15,000 fans at the Irvine meadows show. It was a blast. I again didn’t have the best night at work but we still played our socks off and the audience was well into it I can tell you!!!

In the afternoon I had a round of golf with me old mate Pat Perez and an old school chum of his, Kevin. We played at a course named Strawberry Farm. Not a bad track but the tee areas were a little scratchy to say the least. We had a tee time at 11:52am. Pat picked me up at the hotel around 11 and we went straight to the course had a wee warm up and then hit the links. It was a smashing day, sun shinning and about 80 degrees with light breeze a perfect golf day. Praise the Lord!!

Well, I was amazed at watching Pat do his stuff so close up, he is an amazing player. He clobbered his first drive 320 yards down the pipe, dead straight as well. A thing of beauty. We had a blast. Pat shot two under par for the day what a round it was I was blessed and honored to play a round with him. He had not played in almost 6 months due to an injury to his elbows, the dreaded tennis/golfers elbow. ‘Kin two under. He should have that problem more often,TEEHEE!!!!!!! Kev did well too, he had only played 4 rounds of golf before that day but he has after all got a great teacher in Pat. His best drive was almost 290 yards. What’s that all about??????

I didn’t do me best round but I sure had a great day and it was going to get better.

We finished at around 4pm and went back to me hotel to shower and change. Pat and Kev used my room and then they went to the bar to meet Kevin’s brother Chris and his mate Jeremy. We all met in the bar for 6:30pm and went over to the show.

I got the guys settled and then went to check me tubs. All was well there and then I went to get changed ready for the show. We all had a few nerves as you do on these kinds of big gigs and were slow in getting ready, well, I was especially. I then went and did me little routine on my practice kit.

We hit the stage at 9:15pm. The show seemed to go by very quickly and it seemed like all of a sudden we were at the end. The crowd was amazing. Thanks L.A.

After the show I went and met with my friends Kelly Paiste and her chums Erin, Gary, Justin and Mike. We had a couple of drinks and then decided to head back to the hotel and have a nightcap. Well, the ‘Kin bar was shut it was after all only 1:05 in the morning. There were two barmen at the bar when we arrived, they were cleaning up. I asked them why they were closing up shop so early and the geezer said Welcome to Newport Beach, cor blimmy mate what’s up with that.!!!

So we said our farewells to one another and I headed up to me room. I had a few things to pack so I got that done and was pretty much spent by the end. I got showered and hit the hay.

I got up at 9:30am and was ready to meet my car for the ride to the airport at 10:45am. It was another beautiful day. When I arrived at the check in, Steve and Ian were already there. They had just got their boarding cards but they waited for me to get mine and we all went through security together. It was very easy today not too many people at the security screening point. We went to the lounge but had to take a bus there. Strange deal never had to do that before. I guess that the airline were having there lounge rebuilt.

So that’s about it for me. I’m going to try and send me diary over the free internet that the airline offer. Hope it works.

Speak at ya later.
Stay safe and well.
God bless you all

=Nicko=


Chicago

Hotel room in Newport Beach CL
Time: 6:30pm
21st October 2006

Well, well, well, Chicago, Chicago, I love it. What a great show. We were on fire and all having a wonderful time.

We arrived from Detroit the night before at around 1pm. I went straight to me bed while the rest of the chaps went out for a bevvie.
The next day I popped out to a vintage drum shop that me old china, Bill Ludwig, suggested. It was Steve Maxwell’s Pro Percussion on North Michigan Drive. What a great shop loads of vintage Rogers drums, not too many Ludwigs, which is what I was more interested in. I perused around there for about twenty minutes and then headed back towards me hotel. I was on the hunt for a new pair of shoes. I found a pair in a shop just around from the hotel. I headed over to my room for a rest.

Harry and myself left for the gig at 5:30 pm and arrived at 6: 30pm. He went and had a massage and I popped up to check out me tubs. Tonight was the last show with Bullet. A big Thank You to them for being such a good bunch of guys and playing their socks off each night. Good luck too you guys!!!!!

A few of me chums turned up and I had a chance to see them back stage before the show. Sorry too all for the ticket problems that we encountered but these sorts of things happen from time to time. Great seeing, Lisa Ludwig and her chums, Darren Sachs who by the way gave me a wonderful golf shirt, (that got used today)
Paul and his pal from Willow Creek and to everyone else that was there. Thanks for coming.

We hit the stage at 8:35pm and had the best gig of the tour so far. I didn’t play my best but the rest of the guys rocked the house down. No major problems reared their ugly head and all went great. The audience was on fire and was with us all the way. We are at our peak now and things are really hitting up. The crowd was right there. They loved the new stuff live and rocked even harder when we kicked into FOTD. It was a truly great show.

We did a runner after, but had to drive to Midway as the plane could not land at O’Hare. We were at the airport at around 11pm and were airborne at 11:15pm. Ian had arranged a beautiful G4 for our long journey over to L.A. It was a larger plane than we were using before. This one had places for 15 people. Lots of room. We played some cards to while away the journey and of course drank copious amounts of red wine.
We arrived into LAX at 2pm and we all went our different ways.
We all are staying in our preferred hotels. Most of the guys are in Santa Monica but I like where I am. Steve is over here with me but in a different hotel and Ian is at my hotel.

Yesterday I got up and went to have lunch with my friend, Kelly Paiste, unfortunately Erik her husband is over in Switzerland on business so it was just the two of us. After lunch I went and met a friend of hers to play some golf. His name is Gary. We teed off at 2pm and were joined by another friend of Gary’s on the 9th hole. His name is also Gary so I had to address him as G man. (funny that, because today we played again and I had on my FBI shirt that Darren had given me). We had the best time; I wasn’t playing very well until after G-man’s arrival with a six pack of Coronas. Great what a libation can do for you I can tell you!!!!

We finished up and had a farewell drink together. Kelly had arranged a limo to take me back too the hotel so I was back in my room by 7:30pm. I had a wash and went for a stroll. I found a great restaurant about half a mile from the hotel and treated meself to a lobster dinner. It was scrumptious.
After dinner I walked back to the hotel and then went to bed early. I had arranged to play golf again with Gary. He picked me up at 9am and we were on the tee for 9:50am. G-man arrived and so we had a threesome. Sounds rather rude don’t it!!!!!TEEHEE.
We finished the round and I didn’t do as well as the day before but a good time was had by all.
Funny, we are going to dinner tonight, Guess where. Yes, you got it. The Lobster restaurant. I can’t wait. Well I best be off as I’m in need of a shower and I have to get ready.

Take care and be well
God bless you all.
Ta Ta.

=Nicko=
 
U kojem topicu se nalaze informacije o putu u Milano, ne mogu to nikako naci (pritom mislim na one detaljnije, ne na ovaj novi topic kojeg je Stipe neki dan napravio)?
 
Gul_Ranek said:
U kojem topicu se nalaze informacije o putu u Milano, ne mogu to nikako naci (pritom mislim na one detaljnije, ne na ovaj novi topic kojeg je Stipe neki dan napravio)?
Click to expand...
druga tema na vrhu, sticky
 
In the 8 November edition of the Clarin newspaper, it is announced that Maiden will tour South America in 2007.

A tour of this nature has been hinted at several times. Whether you consider this a confirmation or not is up to you.
 
Snake said:
In the 8 November edition of the Clarin newspaper, it is announced that Maiden will tour South America in 2007.

A tour of this nature has been hinted at several times. Whether you consider this a confirmation or not is up to you.
Click to expand...

iskreno, baš me to i ne oduševljava jer ne kanim u j. ameriku na koncert, nemam toliko para
 
jel tko zna ima li još koji koncert da je cijeli snimljen?
volio bi imat još koji osim hartforda

( i boston akojeg supravo skidam)
 
pa dobro ja nepitam na kojem sajtu ima,neg el mi netko može dat link! jučer sam tražio i nema!

btw. pričamo o video bootlegu,right?
 
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