This is a rough draft of the "special report" that I'll be filing for
Detritus 'zine this coming week... it still needs a lot of tweakin' but
I think the Metal Geekness shines through most admirably.
CONCERT REVIEW:
Iron Maiden/Trivium/Lauren Harris
PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ - June 14, 2008
I celebrated my 38th birthday at the end of May, and my ticket to this concert was a gift from my brother. Imagine my surprise when I opened my birthday card from him and found a seating chart to the PNC Bank Arts Center folded up inside, with a section circled and “YOU ARE HERE ON JUNE 14th FOR IRON MAIDEN” written on it! I hereby nominate my brother for Metal Sainthood.
Saturday the 14th was hotter than Hades, with temperatures in the 90s accompanied by major humidity, so when our group of ‘Edbangers (my brother and I, plus pals Glenn and Bob) arrived at the PNC Bank Arts Center we knew it wasn’t a question of “whether” there would be a thunderstorm, it was merely a question of WHEN. Fortunately it didn’t matter to us either way, since our seats were located under the roof of this open-air amphitheater -- though I’m sure the sight of those darkening skies sucked for the fans that were sitting out in the open on the lawn section.
We reached our seats just as Lauren Harris’ (a.k.a. Steve Harris’ baby girl) set was coming to an end. We were surprised to hear her band already on stage as we walked through the PNC gates; apparently the start time of the gig was bumped up a half hour to accommodate the last minute addition of Trivium to the bill, who were only appearing at the New York area Maiden gigs. So unfortunately I have nothing much to review as far as Lauren’s set goes, because all I heard was “Thank you very much, New Jersey, have a good night!”
After a quick stage changeover came Trivium, a band I know nothing about, and after witnessing their energetic but uninspiring set, I’m not sure I want to know much more either. I had heard that Trivium were “heavy on the old school Metallica worship,” which sounds fine on paper. When the band first trod onstage and started riffing I thought “Hey, not bad,” until the vocalist opened his mouth and ruined it. Why must every thrash band these days utilize the WOOOOARRRRRRGH vocal style? With a more palatable vocalist this band would’ve been a lot more interesting to my ears. I apparently wasn’t’ the only one, as the seats were only half full for the duration of Trivium’s set, and the majority of those who were watching them appeared as uninterested as I was. Trivium’s vocalist did his best to get a rise out of the thin audience, but he was fighting an uphill battle. As far as this Maiden crowd was concerned, Trivium was merely an obstacle to get through before the good stuff started.
Once Trivium left the boards, the action shifted to the show going on OFF-stage, as Mother Nature let loose with an absolute gullywasher of a thunderstorm that was quite amazing to watch. High winds whipped rain through the seats and lightning blazed across the sky. The thunderstorm actually got more applause and screams than Trivium did!! It was quite humorous to see all the seats that had been empty during Trivium suddenly become filled as literally
thousands of patrons rushed in to get out of the downpour. The precipitation would continue throughout the rest of the evening, thankfully it didn't affect the show (though I heard that the same storms knocked out power for about an hour in the middle of the R.E.M. gig that was going on at the same time out at Jones Beach on Long Island...haha!).
Numerous chants of “MAID-EN! MAID-EN! MAID-EN!” later, the lights went down again and “Doctor, Doctor” blared across the PA system, which was then replaced by the famed intro tape of Winston Churchill’s speech. When the lights came up and Iron Maiden appeared, blasting into “Aces High,” I immediately became sixteen years old again. I certainly had no complaints about the set list, as it was almost all golden nuggets from Maiden’s vintage era. This was my third Iron Maiden show and each time I’ve seen them now, I’m still amazed at Bruce Dickinson’s nonstop stage moves and acrobatics… the guy is older than I am, yet watching him run, leap, hop, and charge around the stage makes ME tired!! Bruce was in fine voice this evening, showing off some nice chops on “Revelations,” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (yup, all 14 minutes of it!) and “Powerslave” in particular.
A quick side note: the highlight of this show for me was FINALLY getting to hear Maiden perform “Run To The Hills” live. As I mentioned, this was my third Maiden show and until tonight I had never seen them play the song that got me into the band many years ago (when I first saw the video on MTV as a twelve year old). After nearly every song I was muttering to myself “Come ON you guys, pleeeeeaaase play Run To The F**kin’ Hills this time!” When that famed guitar riff finally blared out and they ripped into “Hills” at last, I damn near screamed myself hoarse as my inner Teenage Metal Dork sang along with every precious lyric. Simply put, a Metal Dream come true at last!!
Towards the midway point of the show I did notice that the band’s sound was starting to get muddy – the guitars began to sound a bit off and it became harder to hear Bruce’s vocals over the distortion. (Though to his credit, Bruce powered through it with authority!) I assume that the damp weather and oppressive humidity was finally taking its toll on the equipment (one of the hazards of playing in an outdoor venue, I suppose!), but it didn’t distract me from enjoying such late-in-the-set classics as “Heaven Can Wait,” “Moonchild” and the underrated “Clairvoyant.” Eddie made two onstage appearances in the show – the classic “Giant Mummy” Eddie popped out from behind the drum riser and shot sparks at us during “Iron Maiden,” then the Cyborg Eddie from SOMEWHERE IN TIME wandered out during “Moonchild” (or was it “Clairvoyant?” I forget now). When Maiden finally capped off the evening with a shower of fireworks at the close of “Hallowed Be Thy Name” I daresay that nobody left the venue unsatisfied. Of the three Maiden shows I’ve seen over the years, this was definitely the best one, and I heartily recommend that if the SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME tour will be hitting your area this summer, that you do whatever you have to in order to be there!! Up The Irons!!
SET LIST:
01. Intro - Churchill's Speech
02. Aces High
03. 2 Minutes to Midnight
04. Revelations
05. The Trooper
06. Wasted Years
07. The Number of the Beast
08. Run to the Hills
09. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
10. Powerslave
11. Heaven Can Wait
12. Can I Play With Madness?
13. Fear of the Dark
14. Iron Maiden
ENCORES:
-----------------------------
15. Moonchild
16. The Clairvoyant
17. Hallowed Be Thy Name
Subject: Fat Freddy's Iron Maiden Concert Review!! 
Sun Jun 15, 2008 9:24 pm
