Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

If there’s one thing you have to be careful of in the music world, it’s not having a support band that put on a better show than you. I’ve seen it happen – Pantera opening for Megadeth, Machine Head opening for Slayer… Airbourne came very close to doing it with Iron Maiden this evening.

Not to say that Maiden’s set wasn’t spectacular (I’ll get to it in a moment), but Airbourne – quite simply – rocked. Immensely.

According to the ticket, they were due on stage at 19:30. By my watch, they kicked off a minute or two early while Gillian was having a chat with her mates outside and I was making impatient “will you hurry the fuck up?!” gestures. What can I say? I like Airbourne. The lads had 45 minutes to warm the crowd up for the might Maiden, and they didn’t waste a second of it.

Track after track was played, applauded and then followed up with another. Given they only have two albums, a 45 minute set isn’t too hard for them to fill especially when there isn’t a single bad track on either LP. With the limited stage set and time, there weren’t any insane activities from lead singer/guitarist Joel, which was a shame, but didn’t really detract from a frenzied, active, loud, brash set.

Well done to them and I can’t wait to see them again.

And on to Maiden who had around two hours to fill once they took to the stage a little before 9pm. They opened with tour and album titler “The Final Frontier” (8:42) and plodded on into “El Dorado” (a shade under 7 minutes). “2 Minutes To Midnight” was a welcome relief and the crowd visibly and audibly erupted when the backdrop revealed the upcoming song. I could almost be unkind and say that people finally woke up… OK, I will. Up until this third song, I couldn’t see a single person around me bouncing, shouting, punching the air or singing. In fact, even applause after the first two songs was rather scant.

So, great, they’re onto the old stuff at last. Phew. Bruce even went as far as to say that the band had 14 other albums to take music from other than the new one. Good.

Then they launched into nine bloody minutes worth of “The Talisman” from The Final Frontier. Bloody hell. The crowd, again, died. A few people near me wandered off when the next track – “Coming Home” (thankfully comparatively short at under 6 minutes) kicked off. Whether they went home or to the bar, I don’t know.

Image by Iain Purdie via Flickr

This is exactly what happened at Sonisphere last year and why I was so disappointed with them then. The Iron Maiden fan club (and a couple of other people) responded to my disparaging tweet on the night with “What do you expect from The Final Frontier tour?”. I’m at a live Maiden show, I don’t give a bugger what album they’ve just released. I expect a fast-paced show with a ton of classics, not almost half of the performance being taken up with slow, dirgy, rambling, boring songs I don’t know. yes, I have the album. No, I don’t like it. Listened to it, consigned it to the same pile as Virtual XI and Brave New World.

If you’re going to support a new album, don’t fill it with songs that are so long. I saw Judas Priest the night before and I know far less of their back catalogue. However, if a song came on I didn’t recognise then I only had to wait 3-4 minutes, enjoying the pretty lights, until the next track.

The show improved, however, with the backdrop swishing back to introduce “Dance of Death” (OK, another long-ish one at just under 9 minutes, but at least it’s a good song) then “The Trooper“. Awsome. “The Wicker Man”. OK, one of the better songs off a fairly weak album. “Blood Brothers”. Pretty much the only other good one.

Oh. Then nigh on ten minutes of “When The Wild Wind Blows”. I was asleep on my feet by the time this was halfway through.

The rest of the set was, thankfully, excellent. “The Evil That Men Do“, “Fear of the Dark”, “Iron Maiden”, “The Number of the Beast”, “Hallowed be Thy Name” and “Running Free“. Oh, and of course the appearance(s) of the Eddie.

However, it still galls that out of a 2-hour set we got almost 45 minutes of new material. That’s an average of nine minutes per flipping song. What else could they have filled some of that time with? I’m not going to list all the songs I’d rather have heard, but judging by the grumbling from around me at the gig and outside as the crowd filtered out I was by no means in the minority at missing out on some classic tunes in favour of long, rambling new ones.

In future, I think I’ll be basing my decision to see Maiden on the strength of the current album or by checking out playlists from earlier performances on the tour if it’s possible. And if the tickets are gone before then? Well, it’s money saved.

P.S. The only worse decision I can recall Iron Maiden making was actually at the first gig I ever saw them at. They were touring in support of the No Prayer For The Dying album despite it not having been released as yet. Precisely one song was available (the single, “Holy Smoke”) and yet they played a good handful off it. If my memory serves, these definitely included “Tailgunner” and “Mother Russia”, possibly others. They then played the exact same set a couple of months later when they re-toured larger venues after the album’s release.

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Iron Maiden / Airbourne, Glasgow SECC

I could point you in the direction of Iron Maiden‘s back catalogue. They’ve got a 13-minute opus based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge‘s Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Alfred Lord Tennyson‘s Charge of the Light Brigade inspired “The Trooper”. Sci-fi is embraced with “To Tame A Land“ (Frank Herbert‘s Dune).

Let’s not forget that singer Bruce Dickinson is (as well as a qualified commercial airline pilot and near-Olympic standard fencer) a history student. As a result, a large number of their songs are about historical events and characters. “Alexander the Great”, “Run To The Hills” (the genocide of the American Indians), “Where Eagles Dare” though based on a film and novel is set during WWII – as is “Aces High”.

Anthrax went for the more simply-titled Indians in their work about the destruction of the native American population. Their song “Among The Living” is based on Stephen King’s novel The Stand. “I Am The Law” is based on literature, though that’s the comic book character Judge Dredd! “Black Lodge” was inspired by David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and which the series’ score conductor Angelo Badalamenti helped write.

Metallica got in on the act with songs such as “For Whom The Bell Tolls” based on the work of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. Slayer are well known for documenting serial killers and war-related atrocities in their songs. Megadeth have tackled freedom of speech.

These are just well-known examples.

Now, however, I give you something new. To me, anyway. Thanks to Andy for sending me the link to this new way for children to be taught Shakespeare – using the power of MMEETTTAAALLLLL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQkzHU_U45s

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Who said metal is for the uneducated?

Guitar Hero: Iron Maiden

Dear Sony,

A simple request. You own Iron Maiden. You own the rights for the production of PlayStation software. I demand that you use these to force the manufacturers of Guitar Hero to do an Iron Maiden edition.

We’ve got an Aerosmith one with Metallica on the way (sadly including a load of crap from recent albums). Maiden have countless classics out there and as far as I’m aware only two have been used in past Guitar Hero games (“Number of the Beast” in III and a cover of “The Trooper” in the XBox 360 version of II, I think).

Who wouldn’t want to riff along to “Aces High” or “Fear of the Dark“? And think of the backdrops that could be used. Classic Maiden live stage sets, Eddie in his multiple forms… It’d shift thousands!

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Guitar Hero: Iron Maiden

Iron Maiden

I know I’m late mentioning this but I only just found out. After begging you to vote for them a few weeks back, it turns out that Iron Maiden were runaway winners of this years Brits award as Best British Live Act.

Their acceptance video is below, and I’ve pinched the following text from Metal Hammer. I couldn’t put it better – why they deserved to win.

1. The award was for Best British Live Act. They ARE the best British live act.
2. Twickenham. Moonchild was enough to make the toughest headcase blub into his pint.
3. The Brits committee are paid to represent the best of British music and that’s truer of ‘Maiden than it is of anyone operating in British music. Shame it took them 34 years to realise it before finally nominating them, eh?
4. Churchill’s Speech. Churchill’s fucking speech! If you don’t get chills from it, you’re not human. There’s not a better live intro tape going.
5. Bruce Dickinson’s energy. I’m a 25 year old who goes to the gym regularly and he knackers me out just watching him. Hats off!
6. The ‘Harris guitar/machine gun with foot on the monitor’ routine. If you’re a bass player, you’ll have done this at least at one point in your life. if you’re not a bass player, you’ll have done air-guitar like it countless times.
7. The ‘Somewhere In Time’ tour. Unbelievable scenes. Woah, Leslie. Aye Carumba. Holy shitballs. Shall we keep going or have you got the hint?
8. Eddie. Imagine a big, evil looking zombie c*nt popping out behind Chris pissing Martin? Didn’t think so.
9. Iron Maiden are as relevant in 2009 as they’ve ever been. To be in your fourth decade as a band and to achieve that is something that cannot measured.
10. Because the finest metal act and one of the greatest bands that the world has ever seen should be recognised in their own bloody country. the rest of the world have got it for long enough, it’s about time the crusty fuckers that dish out mainstream awards realised this.
11. Because they’re Iron fucking Maiden.

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Maiden: Best British Live Act

Vote Maiden!

Iron Maiden have been nominated for Best British Live Act in the Brits this year. Given that the other acts are commercial shit, do take the time to visit the site, register and VOTE MAIDEN!

You don’t have to vote for any of the Best British Single entrants which is also on the same form. Which is a good thing as every single one is more excruciating than a knitting needle through the eardrum.

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Vote Maiden!