theJOKERiv's Iron Maiden Concert Review

Show: Iron Maiden/Lauren Harris
Date: 6/18/08
Place: Merriweather Post Pavillion

I set off on my adventure to see Iron Maiden for my second show of the Somewhere Back In Time World Tour. I left work early to head up from Virginia to Maryland - OK, it;s not that long of a trip since I live in Northern Virgina (part of the Washington, DC Metro area) and MD, WV and DC are "commutable" distances. I left the house around 1pm to the beat the DC traffic - it's alot like LA or NYC traffic - it sucks - when you can listen to A Matter Of Life & Death all the way through on really bad traffic days, your commute sucks! The venue that Maiden would play, the Merriweather Post Pavillion, is between Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD in a town called Columbia. This would be my first show at this venue.

I also was part of the Iron Maiden Fan Club meet up prior to the show at a place called Champps. Good meetup, nothing but Maiden shirts in the bar area of Champps. They even played nothing but Iron Maiden songs from 2pm until I left (and kept playing Maiden until the last fan wnet to the show!)

I headed over to the show at around 5:30 - when the gates opened. I didn;t need to get there that early, but I wanted to see if they had an event T-Shirt, which they didn't.

The venue is literally in the center of the city of Columbia - the mall is directly across the street. I got good advice from the locals to park at the mall and walk across the street to the venue so I wouldn't have to take 2 hours to get out of the venue after the show. The advice paid off well!!! I was home by midnight and the venue is about 70 miles from my house.

I got to the venue, picked up a T-shirt for me (with the cover of the the somewhere back in time disc and dates on the back), grabbed a drink (they had a Mojito bar - but the mojitos sucked! Way too much lime!!) Spent some time with the fan club (many who have seen multiple shows on the tour including the previous 3). I had reserved seats, so I didn't need to grab my spot in the pit.

The Venue - having never been to Merriweather Post (named after the founder of the Cereal company) - is an older ampitheater. It opened in 1967 and has played host to everyone from Led Zepplin to Maiden (on the World Slavery tour none the less!!!). It's the typical covered area (pit followed by seating) - lawn in the back. The biggest thing I notice upon arriving was that the stage area was the size of a high school auditorium!!! It was amazing how Maiden fit the stage show in the area! The first row of lights was hanging over the pit! The distance between Nicko's drum riser and the end of the stage was about 1/2 the area of what they usually have!

At 7:40pm it was time for Lauren Harris to come omn and I took my seat - I was dead center 7 rows back from a small pit! Great seats!!! I had already seen Lauren at the Izod show in March. She had a different guitarist than that show - as other have mention, he did look like a Zak Wild wannabe. She put on a good seat telling the crowd this they were the best crowd yet on the tour - which made we wonder how bad the rest of the crowds were! She ended and it was just time to wait for the main act!!!!

Doctor Doctor by UFO came on, so I knew it was time. I had my ear plugs in and I was ready - the short video of Maiden on the first leg flying on Ed Force One was shown. Churchill's speech - then the intro to Ace Highs, the pyro and MAIDEN!!!! The crowd was going nuts! The venue seats 16,500 and it looked sold out - nothing but people to the back of the lawn, no empty seats in the pavillion. From Aces High into 2 Minutes to Midnight to Revelations! What a GREAT track to experience in concert!!!! The crowd was really into it. The trooper was up next (another crowd favorite!) The band was having a great time - laughing, doing the "metal poses". Bruce was dropping the British flag on Nicko and Jannick while they were playing. Jannik was himself, but not dancing as much - more head banging and fighting with the stage monitors! Dave sounded great, of course Steve and Nicko where tight, Adrian was kicking it!!!

Wasted years was on tap next - all you heard when the first chorus started was the crowding singing "From a coast of gold". A reading from the book of revelations was on tap next, with an appearance by animatronic devil, followed by Can I Play With Madness?

Next up was the Epic track, the rime of the acient mariner!!!! Bruce went into a long story about Coleridge and the poem and then introduced it just like Live After Death - here's what not to do if a bird smurfs on you! The band was incredibly tight! Bruce's vocals soared like an albatros in high flight! The fog, pyro and lighting was amazing for this song. Then, just like Live After Death, it was into Powerslave!!!! Bruce even wore the mask. I hope he got a new one since the World Slavery tour or that thing would be nasty to wear.

Heaven can wait complete with contest winners (from radio contests and fan club draw - I didn't win )

Crowd favorite Run To Hill was next. The band seemed to be having a really good time - during the chorus, Jannik and Dave did the "hair band" sing along - singing into Adrian's mic from each side - they were both laughing like crazy after they each "run to the hills, run for your lives!"

The sounds of "oh oh oh oh oh oh oh" filled the air during Fear Of The Dark. On to Maiden's self titled song and a visit for a very large mummy named Eddie!!! He looked awesome and had great movement!

Maiden left the stage, only as we know to return for Moonchild!!!!!!!!!!! Bruce told the crowd the next tour would be an album tour for a new album (that will be a first day buy for me!). The Clarivoiant brought the second appearance of Eddie, this time in Cyborg form! He short his gun at the crowd, he helped Jannick and Dave play guitar! Then he laft and Iron Maiden finished teh set with Hallowed Be Thy Name.

This show was even better than the Izod show in March. The band really feeds of the audience - the crazier they got, the harder they worked!!! I though they were having a great time at the Izod show, but they seemed to have even more fun at this gig. Bruce sounds great - my opinion is that he signs better now than he did in the 80's. Jannick, Dave and Adrian were awesome and Steve and Nicko were very, very tight.

After the show, my only regret is that this is my last Maiden show on this tour. I look forward to the next tour. In a few days, the band will head to Europe for Leg 3 and the HoM mebers in Europe get to write the next review!