Hi Folks,
I arrived at the concert (March 16th) at 8:25pm, about 5 minutes before Maiden went on, so I missed the opener. I'll put this in point form since I'm feeling lazy now:
Attendance - well, I don't know the sheer numbers, but the general floor admission was about %50 full, and the seating everywhere else was about %85-90 full. It was a good turn out, and the vibe/atmosphere from everybody was much better than when I saw Maiden at the ACC back in Oct 2006 (AMOLAD tour). There was a good mix of young and old in the crowd, and everyone seemed to gel well. Nobody threw a drink at the band this time in Toronto. In 2006, somebody chucked a beer at Adrian two songs in and nearly hit him...Bruce didn't notice, so he didn't say anything back then.
My seat - I was up in the top level (section 321) in the top row (1
, but because I was about mid-way down the length of the arena (stage right), the view was still very clear, and I could see everything without a problem. It worked out well since I prefer a birds-eye view. The other bonus was I got mildly high because of all of the pot-smoke rising up, and it didn't cost me a penny.
Performance - each individual in the band performed as per their usual individual reputation (e.g. Jan = sloppy and butchered H's solos, Dave = creamy, Bruce = nutbar, etc..). The guitar tones were good for modern Marshall amps, and the overall sound mix was good. Bruce wasn't drowned out by everyone elses volume. Oh, and the show was ****ing loud! I expect my ears to be ringing for the next two days. Not bad for a band of 50 year-olds.
Stage - The basic physical stage set-up is still the same after all of these years, but obviously with the paintings/props and details coming from the Powerslave art direction. As you probally know be now, the walk-on Eddie during the
Iron Maiden, was the SIT Eddie, but a brand new one. It looks noticibly different from the one on the SIT tour back in 86/87. They used much more pyro on this tour than on recent tours, and they used it to good effect.
Man of the match award - Adrian upped his game to his old 80's level (his peak IMHO)..he was absolutely on fire and really going for it. He tapped out more notes on his guitar during his solos, than Peter North taps cheerleaders. It was also good to see that he dropped his Fenders for this tour and brought out his Jacksons. One of them was the old SIT/SSOASS white Jackson with the
black pickguard. The other one was pure white, and had a single coil pickup in the neck position; he never had this one during the eighties, so it must be fairly new. He brought out the old Gibson SG for a few tunes, but alas, his old Lados still seemed to be locked away in the pyramid. I was going to take my Lado Earth and offer to lend it to him, but I passed. LOL.
Setlist - If the fans who are reading still don't know it at this point, turn off your computer right now!!! However, I will say that I saved my bathroom break for when they played Fear Of The Dark.
Merchandise - overpriced as usual but a good variety. I'm not really a T-shirt guy, and I wasn't about to pay $20 for an Iron Maiden coffee mug. I ended up buying the little tour book/poster that folds out for $15 since I wanted a memento (besides my ticket stub) from the show
Hookers outside - everybodys got their vice! Just kidding.....maybe.
Cheers
