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Iron Maiden
The Forum, Inglewood, CA
February 19, 2008
By Dan Wall
Set
List: Aces High, Two Minutes to Midnight, Revelations, The
Trooper, Wasted Years, The Number of the Beast, Can I Play with
Madness, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Powerslave, Heaven Can
Wait, Run to the Hills, Fear of the Dark, Iron Maiden. Encore:
Moonchild, The Clairvoyant, Hallowed Be Thy Name. 2 hours.
When
reviewing concerts, I don’t write a lot of notes about that
night’s performance. I have a pretty good memory, and I like to
watch everything, let it soak in, and then take a stab at
describing it here on the CCR website. Such was the case at
Tuesday night’s Iron Maiden show in Los Angeles.
Aside from
the set list you see above, the only thing I wrote all night was
“European crowd,” meaning that the mob gathered that night was
reacting much more like a metal crowd you would see at a show
overseas, and not like the typically laid-back (and drunk)
crowds you usually see in the U.S.
Much to my
surprise, the next day I read a blog from Anthrax guitarist
Scott Ian. In it, Ian described the over-the-top crowd as almost
like a “European crowd,” which means I really know my shit or
that was one helluva of a guess. I’ve never been to Europe,
though, relegated to viewing my European crowds on DVD and
reading about them over the Internet, while Ian has been many,
many times. Suffice it to say, the crowd was the real star of
this show, which was incredible when you consider how good Iron
Maiden was.
The venue
really helped, and I’ve always loved the Forum. The home of the
Los Angeles Kings and Lakers for 32 years, the venue is now just
an old concrete barn (like the Cow Palace in Northern
California), but those kind of places are great for letting
metal crowds go crazy in them. It’s hard to get to, in a bad
neighborhood and falling apart, but doesn’t that just scream
metal.
Buoyed by a
crowd that was on the verge of hysteria all night, Maiden came
out cranking on all cylinders at 9 p.m. and didn’t let up for
nearly two hours. Playing on a stage influenced by the cover of
its
Powerslave
album and the
Live After
Death
live album that was produced on the tour to support it, the band
played all of its 80’s classics underneath a huge, colorful
light system, with fireworks, flames, smoke and numerous
backdrops adding to the atmosphere of the show that harkened
back to the good old days when arena rock was king and Iron
Maiden was one of its biggest stars.
I say that
because there are not a lot of metal bands that can still draw
sell-out crowds to huge, old hockey stadiums anymore. If this
was the 80’s, and Maiden was 20 years into its career then, it
might not be this big because there were so many other great
arena rock bands. There was always another show and another band
ready to take your place in the spotlight. In this current
market, however, Maiden continues to sell concert tickets (and
churn out great, vital, new music) because it is one of the best
heavy metal bands of all-time, and there aren’t many others
treading the boards that are consistently this good.
As far as
the individual band members go, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson
kept his numerous personal opinions to himself (only reminding
the crowd that it wasn’t too far from this spot that he was
attacked onstage by Sharon Osbourne and her entourage-you know
the story), preferring to sing--and he sounded great all night,
his huge, air raid siren voice reaching the farthest reaches of
the venue. He worked every inch of the large stage, often
leaping and bounding on a huge ramp system that rimmed the amp
line and over the stage monitors to the lip of the stage, where
the most over-the-top fans were going berserk.
Elsewhere,
bassist Steve Harris (whose daughter Lauren opened the show with
a five-song set that was politely received despite that fact she
is not a metal singer) was his usual self, fingers flying,
playing faster than anyone alive, singing every word to the
band’s big hits along with the crowd and resting his leg on the
front monitors in his trademark pose. Guitarists Dave Murray
(the technician), Adrian Smith (the riff master) and Janick Gers
(the crazed rock star) provided all of the huge riffs and solos
from the records at deafening volume. And drummer Nicko McBrain
was as solid as ever, hammering away on his huge kit, making the
noise of three men, as Harris tried desperately to keep the
whole thing together. He did, but the five musicians were
steaming along like a runaway freight train all night.
I’ve always
been impressed with the band’s tandem guitar leads, an influence
that they picked up growing up in England from legendary guitar
bands like Wishbone Ash and Thin Lizzy. But instead of ripping
those bands off, Maiden took that sound and made it its own, and
that sound is the cornerstone for all of its biggest songs.
Along with
the guitar sound, the other thing that drives the band’s music
is the huge, anthemic choruses that pop up in just about every
song it plays. And when the crowd picks up on those choruses or
the stadium chants that have become parts of songs like ”Aces
High,” “The Trooper” and “Fear of the Dark,” the whole thing,
with band playing on 10, Dickinson revving things up and the
crowd sounding like a big, evil choir, becomes almost larger
than life.
Eddie, the
band’s monster mascot made just one visit, dressed like the
character from the
Somewhere in
Time
record, as Dickinson explained that the band’s jet (which he
pilots) couldn’t hold all of the band’s props and toys. When the
group returns to America (and Southern California, along with
other Western cities) in May, the show will be much bigger (hard
to believe) and Maiden will bring out “as many Eddies as we can
fit on the truck,” according to the singer. |
