Well I thought I would have a stab at my first review for this forum and what better way to start than with review of my all time favourite band Iron Maiden.
I want to start this review by trying to convey just how much I was looking forward to this concert. I have seen Maiden 12 times before this and have never seen a bad performance. They are simply one of the best live bands I have ever seen but this particular concert seemed to instill extra excitement. The hype machine claimed this was a return to 80's, a rereation of the live after death stage show with a set list that would make any fans of Maidens eighties music weep with joy. I had always envied the older Maiden fans who had got to witness the band live in the eighties and this as my chance to relive this for myslf.
The day started off well. A good car run with little traffic got us their in plenty of time. The weather was pretty good as well, a little windy but overall sunny and warm, good for an open air concert. This was my first time at Twickenham stadium and I must say I was very impressed. A huge stadium with plenty of entrances which meant no queue at all to get in. Impressive considering that their must have been at least 30,000 people there. Good facilities, lenty of food and drink stalls and merchandise stalls which did help limit queues again. Also being a smoker this has to be one of the most smoker friendly venues I have ever been to in England. So far so good....
I managed to see the 2nd half of Within Temptations set and all o Avenged Sevenfolds set. Both bands gave a good solid performance but really everyone was only half interested, just hanging aound waiting for Maiden.
Around 8,00pm a huge voice rings around the stadium announcing Maiden will be on soon. Everyone rushes to get into postion and at around 8.15pm the monitors flicker and the sound of Churcills speech sends shivers down the spine then the pryo explodes and Maiden come blazing onto the stage with Aces High. I must admit, at first I was thinking whats up with the sound as Bruces voices seemed to change very noticably in volume in the first few minutes but by the time 2 minutes 2 midnight kicked in this was rectified and the sound remained at an extremely high standard throughout the entire concert.
My first disappointment was that, IMO, the stage set didn't seem to be as lavish as I was expecting but that soon got forgotten as the band turned in, as usual, a great performance. How bruce has the energy at his age to bound around the stage as much as he does for 2 hours i don't know. His stage banter showed he was in good form as he tried to understand why Maiden was so big considering none of the band has been on a reality tv show or checked into rehab "what have we done wrong" he asked.
The band ripped through a greatest hits set which, from memory comprised of (cant remember exact order) Aces High, 2 minutes 2 midnight, revelations, the trooper, rime of the ancient mariner, powerslave, number of the beast, run to the hills, can I play with madness, wasted years, fear of the dark, heaven can wait and iron maiden, before they came back for an encore of moonchild, the clairvoyant and hallowed be thy name.
The bands performance was, as always, amazing. My only gripe and this would only be minor was that having seen Maiden quite a few times before I would have liked a bit more variety with the songs. With such a rich back catalogue it would be nice to hear something other than run to the hills and 2 minutes to midnight but hey, got to hear rime of the ancient mariner so shouldn't really complain.
overall this was a great concert made all the more special by the fact that this might be the last time some of these songs are ever played live seeing as Maiden have always maintained they will never do a Kiss and continually tour their greatest hits. This was one last thank you to the legions of new fans the band has attracted in recent times. Bruce did announce that we should see a new studio album next year and then plans for a tour of said album then the band will sit down and decide where to go from there. The thought of no more Maiden is to horrible to even think about so for now just concentrate on the memories of a great gig from the biggest and best metal band on the planet.
Subject: Iron Maiden LIVE! Twickenham Stadium, England 5th July 2008 
Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:00 pm
