Terça-feira 12 Dez 2006, 6h:45
Mon 11 Dec – Iron Maiden, Trivium, Lauren Harris
Having ordered my tickets whay back in March, this was going to be a gig which I thought would be an anti-climax. I'd hyped it up so much that I thought it couldn't reach my high expectations. This Iron F'N Maiden for God's sake, only like, one of the founding fathers of heavy metal and still one of the greatest bands ever.
I was wrong. Holy crap. Having got outside the CIA by 5:45, the queue was still pretty long. Entertainment was provided by James annoying the touts. Tout goes "Spare tickets anyone?", James shouts "Spare tickets?". The tout turns and James shouts back "Nope, sorry mate". Absolutely hilarious. They started to let us in earlier than the 6:30 door time on the tickets as well, probably due to the cold weather.
The merch wasn't as expensive as I expected it to be. I got the Eddie Gun t-shirt for £20, which is much cheaper than the £25 or so I was expecting.
We had what seemed like a long wait for Lauren Harris, during which time, I was signing body parts already :S. Anyway, Lauren Harris probably only got a reaction because she was gorgeous and wore very little, including skipping wearing any footwear. The music wasn't fantastic, even if the bass player looked like a cross between Marty Friedman around Risk-era Megadeth with the short hair, and the Godly Al Pitrelli. The guitarist looked like Jerry Cantrell and wasn't that bad to be fair. Didn't recognise any of her songs, so no set from her.
Trivium came on and were quite impressive. At which point I'd like to say how pissed off I was that both Lauren Harris and Trivium were bottled by "fans" on the floor. Although Lauren Harris's inclusion was slightly debatable as she's Steve Harris's daughter, Trivium were hand-picked to play this tour, surely showing the respect Maiden give the new lot of metal (even if it is metalcore). I also want to say how fucking annoyed I was at members of the crowd who seemingly had no care for others in the pit. Even though I wasn't in the pit, before I even got outside, about 5 people were saying how they were trampled on and shown no care for by other people who didn't get them out. I used to think Welsh crowds were good, but judging by these standards, I'm not exactly impressed. Anyway…
Trivium opened with Entrance, which is a quality opener, and played most of their video stuff, along with some material from their latest effort, The Crusade. Those that came thinking Trivium wouldn't be that good I think should go away fairly impressed. They were much better than their infamous Download 06 performance which was admittedly terrible. They closed with Anthem and Pull Harder, which I expected from the start. Unlike DragonForce last week I think, Trivium had an energy on stage. They really got the crowd a lot more involved than the Force. Paolo, bless him, looked so damn small, but packs one hell of a punch on bass. Corey was pretty damn good on guitar, and Travis was ace on drums, even if they didn't play their Megadeth cover this time around. Setlist went like this…
Entrance Of the Conflagration
Detonation
Like Light to Flies
A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
Unrepentant
To the Rats
Ignition
Anthem (We are the Fire)
Pull Harder On the Strings of Your Martyr
After about a 30 minute change over, Iron Maiden finally tread the stage. Holy shit. As soon as Nicko came out the place was deafened. Different World was awesome, even if everyone got crushed towards the front. Anyone who disses A Matter of Life and Death can go to hell. It's absolute quality live. The stage show, as you would expect from Maiden, was awesome. Bruce was as on form as ever, and during a little speech about the album, he promised to "fucking nut" the guy who booed when he said they'd play the whole of the album. Still, as soon as they finished playing the Legacy, they played Fear of the Dark, which kept most happy and was unbelievable live. Followed by the traditional closer of Iron Maiden, the stage changed from a London during The Blitz setting to a massive tank with Eddie in the turret which got huge cheers. After a short break to reset the stage I'm assuming, Bruce returned, with an amusing story about how he didn't know any Welsh, except one thing he learnt from Ronnie James Dio, of all people which was "Iechyd Da", which means Good Health, although Bruce himself was skeptical of the saying, questioning whether he thought it actually meant "Fuck Off". Bruce really should have had more banter with the audience, it's stuff like that which makes him an absolute legend. The old classics followed up: 2 Minutes, Evil That Men Do, with the appearance of one Edward T. Head, and finally, Hallowed Be Thy Name. Bruce thanked us for coming and told us "we'll see you in the Summer…hint, hint", aluding to their rumoured Download headlining slot.
Maiden's set was:
Different World
These Colours Don't Run
Brighter Than a Thousand Suns
The Pilgrim
The Longest Day
Out of the Shadows
The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg
For a Greater Good of God
Lord of Light
The Legacy
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden
———————–
2 Minutes to Midnight
The Evil That Men Do
Hallowed Be Thy Name
The atmosphere for Maiden was much better than the support, but Maiden's sheer energy throughout the show was pure excellence. They were definitely the best live band I've seen, but the whole show was just awesome, and if you get the chance to see them on this tour, do it!