(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa66/dracolupus/maidenticket.jpg)
Ever since 1999, when Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith (the latter missed out on the Boston date. His father passed away and he had to return to England) rejoined the band, I have seen Iron Maiden every time they have come through Massachusetts (I'm not going to New York to see them. Fuck that. It's New York.) And thus began the ritual.
The ritual consists of the following steps. In the week prior to the Iron Maiden concert, the participant listens to Iron Maiden and ONLY Iron Maiden in preparation. This is done in chronological order. For example, you listen to Iron Maiden (the album), then Killers, then Number of the Beast, then Piece of Mind, etc, and so forth.
You listen to the whole of each album, as painful as that might sometimes be (Quest For Fire off of Piece of Mind. Alexander the Great off of Somewhere In Time. All of Dance of Death. But it must be done).
I mean, you can listen to other stuff, like your mom talking about how you never call her and such, but as far as music goes, it must be Maiden and only Maiden. If you start to hear other stuff, go for a smoke. If you don't smoke, I dunno, take a shit or something.
Now. The day of the concert, you listen to the album Iron Maiden once again in its entirety. This is to ensure Steve Harris (and the rest of them by proxy) maintain a state of deathlessness until the next tour. It's continuity. When you get to the song Iron Maiden (yes, my favorite band, Iron Maiden, has a song called Iron Maiden off of the album Iron Maiden. If you liked Iron Maiden, this wouldn't even need to be explained. If I have to explain, see Denim and Leather by Saxon), you remain unshirted. You spend that whole album getting ready for whatever you are doing for the mundane part of the day except for the shirt, while listening to the album. But the shirt must wait, and you must be topless during the song Iron Maiden. You meditate during the bass solo, and when the guitar kicks back in, you don the shirt you purchased at the last Iron Maiden concert in Massachusetts (or wherever the fuck you live).
You go to work and twitch.
You go to the concert in musical silence, and twitch.
You have, strangely, moderate amounts of alcohol before you go in (this is MAIDEN dammit. YOU MUST BE SOBER).
You patiently endure opening acts (sometimes this is as awesome as Motorhead. Sometimes as disappointing as Lauren Harris [daughter of Steve Harris] or Clutch.)
Doctor Doctor comes on.
Commence ritual throat damage.
Enjoy the Maiden in reverence.
When Maiden does the song Iron Maiden, repeat the lustration from earlier, except, remove the t-shirt from last time, and don the one you bought today, right when Bruce says "Scream for me Mansfield! SCREAM FOR ME MANSFIELD!!! ALRIGHT!!!!"
The new shirt is thus consecrated.
Enjoy Hallowed Be Thy Name and two other encore songs.
Long drive home to Boston, partially deaf and talking about how awesome Maiden is. Listening to Maiden is forbidden at this time. Listen to something else entirely. I may be an uberfan, but I'm not some asshole who leaves the parking lot blasting To Tame A Land. I just heard that shit. For a week. Let's hear some Rammstein or something.
Recover.
Twid,
No other band gets this treatment.
Oh, uh.
You may also notice in the pic that the ticket says Tuesday June 26, 2012.
Right now in Boston it's 12:26 am, Wednesday June 20, 2012.
This means that the Maiden Ritual is commencing at some point today.
I approve of all of this except for the part where you find Clutch disappointing.
though in all fairness, of the 4 times I've seen them they've shown up wasted drunk and stunk the place up twice and killed it twice, so you might have caught them on one of Neil's "special" nights. :lulz:
I'm also pretty bummed that I might not get to see them. If it turns out that I am out of a job after this trip, I won't be able to justify spending the money. If I'm not out of a job after this trip, I'll have to fly back to VA a day before they play in WA.
Quote from: Echo Chamber Music on June 20, 2012, 05:29:11 AM
I approve of all of this except for the part where you find Clutch disappointing.
though in all fairness, of the 4 times I've seen them they've shown up wasted drunk and stunk the place up twice and killed it twice, so you might have caught them on one of Neil's "special" nights. :lulz:
I'm also pretty bummed that I might not get to see them. If it turns out that I am out of a job after this trip, I won't be able to justify spending the money. If I'm not out of a job after this trip, I'll have to fly back to VA a day before they play in WA.
The only time I've seen Clutch was the same tour that Bruce and Adrian came back. NO ONE was interested in seeing anyone but Maiden. The guy from Clutch even commented on it. They were the only opening act. If it were any other tour, I would have given them a little more respect. That's just a hard bill to deal with and everyone was on a reunion tweak in an inappropriately small venue (The Orpheum just outside the Boston Common).
Also part of the Maiden Ritual-
You carry a Union Jack, regardless of your ethnic background and how offensive that might be to your ancestors. You display it proudly without obstructing other concert goer's views. I mean, you don't want to be a dick like you were on your 19th birthday, right?
(Iron Maiden played Mansfield again on August 6, 2000)
Also by them do you mean (presumably) Maiden or Clutch?
If it's Maiden, start up a collection. I'll throw you a tenner.
yeah, opening for Maiden would be a hard gig for anyone, and Clutch (as awesome as they are) isn't even remotely similar so I could see there not being much of a crossover crowd.
And yeah, I meant Maiden. If it turns out I am going to be home when they play in WA I'll probably just sell some weed or something to scrape up the loot. I've never seen them, and that's gotta be fixed by hook or by crook.
Quote from: Echo Chamber Music on June 20, 2012, 05:47:57 AM
yeah, opening for Maiden would be a hard gig for anyone, and Clutch (as awesome as they are) isn't even remotely similar so I could see there not being much of a crossover crowd.
And yeah, I meant Maiden. If it turns out I am going to be home when they play in WA I'll probably just sell some weed or something to scrape up the loot. I've never seen them, and that's gotta be fixed by hook or by crook.
Fuckin' hell, you've never seen Maiden live!?
No wonder you hate Fear of the Dark!
Yeah dude, we gotta make sure you catch them. Seriously.
Best concert Ive been to when I saw them back in 2000 with Halford and Queensryche. They played a fricken 2 hour set and it was two hours of win!
Queensryche seems like a perfect opening band for them (at least, back when Queensryche was good).
That was a pretty good opener for them.
I got a kick out of dio opening for them. That was the same night as motorhead i think.
Quote from: Echo Chamber Music on June 20, 2012, 12:24:18 PM
Queensryche seems like a perfect opening band for them (at least, back when Queensryche was good).
Unfortunately, Geoff Tate was having a rough night that night. The rest of the band were firing on all cylinders, and wisely stayed away from their crappy Hear in the Now Frontier album and focused mostly on the Mindcrime album.
The worst opener for maiden though was ozzfest. I also got hit with a cup of vomit during their set. No shit. People just started throwing stuff at each other.
when I saw Iron Maiden on the BRUCA AND ADRIAN ARE BACK OMG!!!11 tour, megadeth warmed up. they sucked.
But I approve of the ritual.
Also: Quest for Fire & Alexander the Great are AWESOME songs! :argh!:
Quote from: Waffles, The Iron on June 22, 2012, 02:07:20 AM
when I saw Iron Maiden on the BRUCA AND ADRIAN ARE BACK OMG!!!11 tour, megadeth warmed up. they sucked.
But I approve of the ritual.
Also: Quest for Fire & Alexander the Great are AWESOME songs! :argh!:
Quest for Fire would have been an ok song if Bruce didn't hit that high note in the first verse.
Alexander the Great would have been awesome if it wasn't a history lecture. And this is coming from a guy who's both an Iron Maiden fan and a History Major.
Maiden ritual- check
Union Jack- check
Tickets- check
weird but of hair that I missed when I buzzed- taken care of.
Iron Maiden- is gonna get you no matter how far/wants you for dead
Quote from: Iron Twiddleton on June 26, 2012, 06:19:37 PM
Maiden ritual- check
Union Jack- check
Tickets- check
weird but of hair that I missed when I buzzed- taken care of.
Iron Maiden- is gonna get you no matter how far/wants you for dead
Iron Maiden rocks!
Who are they opening for?
Alice coopers opening for them
You know, sometimes your ability to play the straight man, regardless of the circumstances, is kind of spooky.
How do you mean sir?
Ok i admit that made me crack up when i read it. I dont think anyones commented on that before let alone call it spooky. I am honored.
Although, it kind of stops any sort of riffing on the joke.
About an hour and a half ago at guitarcenter
clerk: hey man you going to see them tonight?
Me: yeah how bout you?
Clerk: nah. My drummers going though
band on tour picking up replacement part: MAIDENS IN TOWN?!?
me: yep. well theyre in mansfield tonight.
other band member: awww... were playing obriens tonight!
me: thats unfortunate timing.
On the way to the bank ten minutes ago.
Dude in his mid fifties who doesnt look like a metalhead at all: hey! You going to the show tonight?
Me: :blink: yeah man you going too?
Dude: no im to old.
Me: youre never too old.
Dude: youre not going to be running late are you?
Me: meeting up with friends at 6
dude: have fun tonight!
Me: will do! See you at thre next one!
Quote from: Iron Twiddleton on June 26, 2012, 08:49:09 PM
On the way to the bank ten minutes ago.
Dude in his mid fifties who doesnt look like a metalhead at all: hey! You going to the show tonight?
Me: :blink: yeah man you going too?
Dude: no im to old.
Me: youre never too old.
Dude: youre not going to be running late are you?
Me: meeting up with friends at 6
dude: have fun tonight!
Me: will do! See you at thre next one!
This is what happens when no bastard listens to Ian Anderson.
Musically or advice wise?
I'd like to see an Iron Maiden show just for the experience. I'm not even all that big a fan, but I've heard their sets are killer. My sister and brother-in-law are going there tonight. Enjoy, dude.
Im not getting the reference...
Last time i went a bunch of friends did too and then they were like "ok now we get why youre all about them." it is quite the experience. This will be my eighth time seeing them which means theyve definitely surpassed everyone else that isnt local in amount of times seen.
New t shirt purchased. Watching alice cooper and smelling someones "burnt offerings"
Quote from: Eater of Clowns on June 26, 2012, 09:16:31 PM
I'd like to see an Iron Maiden show just for the experience. I'm not even all that big a fan, but I've heard their sets are killer. My sister and brother-in-law are going there tonight. Enjoy, dude.
They are. I don't own a single Iron Maiden album. I went because they were playing in Portland (Maine), and metal bands, never, play in Portland, certainly not bands like Maiden, Queensryche, and Halford.
Killer show. They rocked full out from the first chord to the last cymbal crash. They haven't lost a step and put most new metal bands to,shame.
The reverend speaks the truth.
Approximately ten minutes to maiden. Eventually it will be two minutes to midnight.
I am going to hurt tomorrow.
HELL FUCKING YES!
DUDE! I'M GOING TO SEE THEM IN CHICAGO ON THE 5TH AND I CAN'T WAIT. THIS WILL BE MY SECOND SHOW AND I'M SOOOO FUCKING STOKED! I'M TAKING MY WIFE (WHO HAS SEEN THEM LIKE COUNTLESS TIMES) AND MY SON.
THIS 8 YEAR OLD HASN'T BEEN TO A CONCERT BEFORE IN HIS LIFE. FIRST CONCERT. IRON MAIDEN.
YES.
Quote from: Bu☆ns on June 27, 2012, 05:59:55 AM
HELL FUCKING YES!
DUDE! I'M GOING TO SEE THEM IN CHICAGO ON THE 5TH AND I CAN'T WAIT. THIS WILL BE MY SECOND SHOW AND I'M SOOOO FUCKING STOKED! I'M TAKING MY WIFE (WHO HAS SEEN THEM LIKE COUNTLESS TIMES) AND MY SON.
THIS 8 YEAR OLD HASN'T BEEN TO A CONCERT BEFORE IN HIS LIFE. FIRST CONCERT. IRON MAIDEN.
YES.
Your son's on the right track!
It was one hell of a show.
Oh also:
SET LIST SPOILER, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER
Main Performance:
Phantom of the Opera (this did me in)
Iron Maiden (which always precedes the encore)
Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Prisoner (Based on the television series. Listen up BBC dorks, if you don't like Maiden yet....)
Number of the Beast
Run to the Hills
The Trooper
2 Minutes to Midnight
Wasted Years
Moonchild (Opening song)
Can I Play With Madness
The Evil That Men Do
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (FUCK. YEAH.)
The Clairvoyant
Afraid to Shoot Strangers (I was particularly pleased by this, and my ability to sing along)
Fear of the Dark
Encore:
Running Free
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Winston Churchill's Speech/Aces High
Aside from the two songs from Fear of the Dark, one of which they always do regardless in bold (Fear of the Dark and Afraid to Shoot Strangers, which admittedly is a lame title but really really excellent song about the Gulf War), this was essentially a repeat of the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son tour. Indeed, it is being called "Maiden England (Seventh Son tour), North American Tour 2012." I have a VHS of Maiden England in Nottingham dated November 27 & 28 1988. Songs on that VHS that were not played tonight:
Still Life
Die With Your Boots On
Infinite Dreams
Killers
Heaven Can Wait
Which I would have been chuffed to hear, but I am fine with what they did tonight.
Oh, and Alice Cooper was cool too.
Also, I need to get my VCR working....
And shirt that was consecrated tonight:
(http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa66/dracolupus/TwidMaidenShirt2012.jpg)
I had a couple of options. I was torn between this, and the one that displayed the Union Jack on the front, a la The Trooper (which I already have), but the US and Canadian flags on the back
OR
The shirt that took The Trooper design and made Eddie an American Cavalry Officer rather than a member of that retarded light brigade (that got wiped out against the Russians for following really really bad and vague orders that were interpreted totally incorrectly. Which made them UK heroes) carrying the current American Flag on the front and on the back US Flag as of admission of Colorado (1877-1890).
Nuck the Cafucks. I'll take US History for 1890, Alex.
Seriously, redoing Crimean Eddie for local history, pretty damn awesome.
Comparison with the original Trooper shirt:
(http://www.80stees.com/images/products/Iron_Maiden_The_Trooper-T.jpg)
Glad it was a good show. Wish I could've been there. My wife is going to see Cinderella later this week at Hampton Beach, NH. Unfortunately we have no one to watch the kids overnight so I'm not able to go. :cry:
Amazing show!!!
Best first show ever for the boy. He had the best time. The old rockers sitting in front and behind us really made him feel at home.
Also thanks for the playlist...it was nice to be able to get my boy prepared.
I was wondering what they were going to do with those two amazing solos in Afraid to Shoot Strangers. Needless to say I was very happy to find that they extended the first solo and nixed the second...made SO much more sense for live performance with three friggin guitarists.
Also, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was so solid that if that's the only song they played, I'd have gone home happy.
Bonus: The many different Eddies were the ACING on the cake.
Quote from: Bu☆ns on July 06, 2012, 06:37:12 AM
Amazing show!!!
Best first show ever for the boy. He had the best time. The old rockers sitting in front and behind us really made him feel at home.
Also thanks for the playlist...it was nice to be able to get my boy prepared.
I was wondering what they were going to do with those two amazing solos in Afraid to Shoot Strangers. Needless to say I was very happy to find that they extended the first solo and nixed the second...made SO much more sense for live performance with three friggin guitarists.
Also, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was so solid that if that's the only song they played, I'd have gone home happy.
Bonus: The many different Eddies were the ACING on the cake.
Maiden is always solid. They don't fuck up. Ever.
One of the things that I've always loved about Maiden: there's one kind of Maiden fan, and that fan is a person between the ages of 10 and 60. It's one of the biggest trips, just the generation spanning camaraderie.
Hell, even today, I was wearing a Number of the Beast shirt (truth be told, my whole load of laundry was Maiden shirts, which, I obviously have very many of, due to the concerts and general fandom), and someone passed me on the street TODAY saying, "It was a great concert!"
Fuck man. Maiden is better than the Red Sox winning the World Series.
Also, I was pleased that they played Afraid to Shoot Strangers at all. Say what you will about Fear of the Dark as an album, that song is the tits.
And anytime that Seventh Son of A Seventh Son is played, God himself descends from the heavens and kicks back and listens to the glory. I felt very proud to nudge my keyboardist during that and go "hey, look over there. This is not a recording."
I'm also glad that Maiden went back to their original logo. It's a very minor thing but:
The original logo up until and including X-Factor:
(http://www.metalsucks.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Iron_Maiden_album_cover.jpg)
From Virtual XI onward:
(http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/images/covers/iron-maiden-virtual-xi.jpg)
The bottom bits are cut off.
Funny note:
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son was their 7th studio album.
X Factor was their 10th
Virtual XI was their 11th.
That is the extent of Maiden numerology, other than, of course, SIX! SIX SIX! THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST! HELL! AND FIRE! WAS SPAWNED TO BE RELEASED!
And you know, Burns, it was kinda funny. I forgot, consciously that you were going too.
All day today I had the song Iron Maiden stuck in my head, nad just how fucking awesome it is live. The studio recording doesn't do it justice. Hell, I was playing the opening riff as a warm up at band practice tonight.
Afraid to Shoot Strangers, live at Bruce Dickinson's "final" concert in 1993:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTJlLG9u4pE
The song Iron Maiden (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2zgyd12Dcc) (I put the new shirt on around 3:00) live in Brazil on the Brave New World Tour. While Bruce and Adrian had come back at this point this was the first footage of them all reunited. At the end, where they start chanting, it is reminiscent of Bruce's solo project, also with Adrian "Ole Ole Ole, Brusay Brusay!" (note also the animitronic Eddie as a Wicker Man. The single off of this tour was The Wicker Man (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3L3TWwdxpo). This was the tour that I had my 19th birthday spent.
And by comparison, Bruce's solo project live in the same country:
Dammit. Waffles help me out with the Ole Ole Oleeeee Bruceeee Bruceeee.
But a song from that tour:
(this song is awesome btw)
Darkside of Aquarius live in Sao Paolo, and a song that makes Bruce definitely heavier than Maiden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ya1TUJgiLsQ
Also, even though Bruce is my god, he has awful fashion sense...
Goddamn it
Won't you come in to my room
Want to show you all my wares
Want to see your blood
Want you to stand and stare
See the blood begin to flow as it falls upon the floor
Iron Maiden can't be fought
Iron Maiden can't be sought....
OH WELL
Wherever, wherever you are
IRON MAIDEN gonna get you no matter how far
SEE THE BLOOD FLOW
Watching it shed
Up above my head
IRON MAIDEN
Wants you for dead
Repeat, aside from SCREAM FOR ME LOCAL PLACE
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son live in 1988:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_7vwC0cV6c
Back in the day when I switched from guitar to bass, this was the first song that I could play on bass. I was a guitarist first, mind you:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEEA9T2YbfM
I did it all without a pick too, even though I now rely on a pick (nasty habit from when I wore contacts regularly. You will not believe how bad bass tears up your finger skin).
I get this odd feeling that you sort of like the "heavy metal" quintet known as Iron Maiden.
Actually, I think they are a sextet these days.
Yes. Sextet.
And Maiden? Nah, they're washed up hacks.
Thanks for the links....there's SO MANY it's nice for someone to pick out some essentials.
And, to be honest, I haven't even begun to touch Bruce Dickinson's solo stuff.
Well....to be totally honest, I'm still fully absorbing Iron Maiden's stuff....my wife is about nine years older than me and was a Maiden fan before me. I've decided to not let the same thing happen to my son.
But all three of us are still singing the songs from last night, today.
Quote from: Bu☆ns on July 06, 2012, 06:19:14 PM
Thanks for the links....there's SO MANY it's nice for someone to pick out some essentials.
And, to be honest, I haven't even begun to touch Bruce Dickinson's solo stuff.
Well....to be totally honest, I'm still fully absorbing Iron Maiden's stuff....my wife is about nine years older than me and was a Maiden fan before me. I've decided to not let the same thing happen to my son.
But all three of us are still singing the songs from last night, today.
\m/
Maiden were/are exceptionally talented at writing hooks that stay in your head for days. Run to the Hills being the classic example. I can't hear that song, not even just the chorus, and not be humming that fucker for weeks. Total metal earworm.
I listened to both X Factor and Virtual XI today. I like them. Blaze isn't bad on those albums. Live, on the other hand.... he just couldn't handle the Bruce Material.
Of course, Sign of the Cross, The Clansman and Futureal sound MUCH better with Bruce.