Iron Maiden Revisited

On Wednesday night my brother Matt and I managed to catch Iron Maiden playing at Jiffy Lube Live at Bristow, in northern Virginia.   While I’m trying to avoid simply blogging about literally every concert I see, in this case the topic merits some serious attention for various issues.

First, thank you Matt for the tickets.  These were Pit – up against the railing as close to the band as possible short of being on stage.  We were towards the left, but the various band members, with the obvious exception of drummer Nicko McBrain, came by our side of the stage.  Nicko did come by to satisfy a nearby fan’s request for a drumstick – who was a fellow Clutch fan, in fact with several sticks from JP already.  

Opening acts.  If there is a temp agency for opening acts, Raven Age definitely came from it.  Matching outfits, forgettable tuneage, standard issue banter, this is a band remarkable only for its mediocrity. 

For their part, Maiden obviously started out as an opening act back in the day (the early ‘80s), with the Beast on the Road Tour in 1982 being their first headlining tour, though some legs of that tour were as an opening act to various other bands such as Rainbow (Ritchie Blackmore’s post-Deep Purple solo band) and Judas Priest (Screaming for Vengeance).   In 1980 we were supposed to see KISS in Paris, France, on their Unmasked Tour at Hippodrome de Pantin (now the Zenith) on 9/27, but that show was cancelled, and our friend’s father took us to see “Airplane!” on the Champs Elysees instead.  The opening act on that tour was Iron Maiden, back when Paul D’ianno was still singing. 

Set.  Since the Book of Souls tour was back in 2017, this was the Legacy of the Beast Tour.  I posted a link to the setlist for those inclined to satisfy their curiosity.  They’d already done a prior tour in which they only played songs from the first four albums – and Janick Gers was still happily twirling away – this time it was the best of the first sixteen albums.    Remarkably that included two songs they recorded with Blaze Bayley on X Factor and Virtual XI (1995 and 1998).  We won’t hold our breaths waiting for Ozzy Osbourne to sing “Heaven & Hell” or “Born Again”.   For me the highlight was “Revelations”.

Dickinson cheekily inferred in his stage banter that there will probably be another new album from the band forthcoming.  In the meantime we enjoyed the older material.  “Run to the Hills”?  “Hallowed Be Thy Name”?  Yep.  “Alexander the Great”?  “Rhyme of the Ancient – MARINER!”?  “The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner”?  Don’t want to spoil it for you….

Janick Gers.   Despite Adrian Smith’s return to the band in 1999 along with Bruce Dickinson, Gers remained with the band, Maiden joining Lynyrd Skynyrd in having three guitarists (no “Freebird” cover yet forthcoming – perhaps an all-covers set, preferably including “Cross-Eyed Mary” and “Rainbow’s Gold”, is in order).   I picture the following scenario playing out. 

Rod Smallwood (Iron Maiden manager).  “Well, thank you for your service, Janick, but with Adrian back we won’t be needing you any longer.”

Janick.  “I thought you might say that, [hands Rod an envelope of compromising information] so you might want to look at these.  The Daily Mail and the FBI might have some interest in what’s here….”

Rod (clearly surprised and embarrassed but quickly regaining composure).  “We’re glad you’re continuing with us, Janick….”

Nonetheless he romps around the stage with energy and enthusiasm, whether it’s a late model song he helped write or an earlier song he had nothing to do with.  In fact, all the band members seem to share his agility and enthusiasm.  Adrian Smith does the best at hiding his own – affecting coolness instead.

Actually, this band has been around since the late ‘70s, with Bruce Dickinson singing the majority of this time (1982-1993 and 2000 to the present).   That’s over 40 years.  The band has never broken up during all this time.  Here I am, leaning against the barrier to stay up and generally preferring to sit for most concerts these days, and here the band members – except for Nicko – are romping around for the duration of the set, just under two hours.  A look at the tour itinerary on the back of the t-shirt shows the tour is just over two months, generally with a day off between different cities.  It covers the East Coast of the US, Chicago and some mid-west shows, and the West Coast with L.A. and Oakland.   This doesn’t include dates overseas:  Europe, Asia, South America – Brazil are HUGE Iron Maiden fans – and maybe even Antarctica if Bruce can land Ed Force One there. 

Ed Force One.  In addition to fencing (fighting with swords, not selling stolen merchandise), singer Bruce Dickinson also qualifies as a commercial airline pilot, competent to fly jumbo jets.  So the band acquired (leased, purchased, stole, I have no clue) a 747 for their exclusive use, which they call “Ed Force One”, and which Bruce flies himself (let’s see Paul or Blaze do that).  This lets them fly to places like India, Brazil, and Westeros, and other places they might not otherwise tour.  Mick & Keith have their own mobile studio?  How cute.

West Ham.   It’s no secret that bassist Steve Harris is a major fan of English Premier League soccer team West Ham FC, “The Hammers”, from southeast London.  The story is he wanted to play for them but for whatever reason could not.  The irony is that Harris is far better known with Iron Maiden than he would ever have been with West Ham, which never matched London rivals Chelsea or Arsenal – or Liverpool or Manchester United – for success in the Premier League.  Outside its home territory I dare say 99% of West Ham’s fans are actually Iron Maiden fans.  At the last show I was up close wearing a West Ham jersey and got Harris’ thumbs up of approval.  This time around I was wearing a Clutch shirt, but noticed no less than 3 three fans wearing West Ham jerseys.   For their part, Maiden have been selling their own jerseys, and I’ve seen that some appear to be Maiden versions of existing designs (AC Milan and German national team).   Anyhow, Harris has various West Ham items on his person – decal on his bass, seal on his tank top – and the team’s crossed hammers crest featured in the stained glass backdrop for “Revelations”. 

“Don’t Be That Guy”.  In the movie “PCU”, Jeremy Piven’s character Droz tells Jon Favreau’s character Gutter not to be “that guy” who wears the t-shirt of the band he’s actually going to see, at their show.  I found that advice idiotic.  Droz, you’re more important than Parliament-Funkadelic?  You’re cooler than George Clinton?  I don’t think so.

 A Maiden show is unique in this regard.  It seems at any other show, 50% of the audience is wearing the band’s t-shirt, the other 50% taking Droz’ advice and wearing other band’s t-shirts, or even sports jerseys or whatever.  At a Maiden show it looks like 80% of the audience told Droz to get lost.  I don’t think there’s another rock band as diligent at producing its own shirts as Maiden is.  For any given tour you can expect 4-6 different designs, including many designs exclusive to the venue itself.  If you’re going to collect things, Iron Maiden concert t-shirts is a good idea, especially as this can include the afore-mentioned soccer jersey variants which are now getting more numerous by the year.  And at non-Maiden concerts you can usually count on seeing at least one person wearing a Maiden shirt – maybe as a matter of principle or expressly assigned for that purpose.  So this time around, despite not sharing Droz’ attitude, I wore a Clutch shirt figuring that the MD band was in more need of exposure at an Iron Maiden concert than concert t-shirt kings Maiden themselves.  The oldest shirt I saw was a World Piece Tour (1983) item, worn by a guy who looked old enough to have seen that show as a teenager.  

Women and Children First.   Metal concerts are notorious for this business where the lines for the restroom are heavily switched on the M side.  Maiden, the second half of the name notwithstanding, are no different.  However, the women I saw at this show appeared eager and sincere in their appreciation and frequently sang the lyrics along with me reliably, accurately and above all enthusiastically.  They were not reluctant concert companions.

Fortunately most of the children I see also seem to be thrilled to be there.  Last year I saw one boy who was definitely not sharing his parents’ enthusiasm; kid, you’re cooler than Maiden, so you can act bored?  I don’t think so.  This year the kids were with the program.  If there’s one problem is that they are usually much shorter than the adults, so the parents really have to work around that.  The security won’t let the kids up on the parent’s shoulders.  Front row of the seats might be the best for kids who aren’t adult height.

A Few Props.   All too often you hear about how great a band is live.   Why?   Why is Iron Maiden that great live?

A.         Energy.  I’d heard the first album through Powerslave but didn’t feel compelled to see them in concert.  Then I heard Live After Death, recorded on the World Slavery Tour (1984-85) for the Powerslave album.  WHOA.  The live versions were faster, more intense, far more interesting than the studio versions.  For the next album, Somewhere in Time, I made it a point to see them live.  They came to Paris when I was in Maryland, they came to Maryland when I was in Paris, then they finally came back to Maryland again and I was able to see them (4/7/87 as noted below). 

B.         Props. The stage show is fantastic.  This time around we got an inflatable Spitfire for “Aces High” (which they play in Germany, by the way), Eddie lurching around for “The Trooper”, an inflatable Icarus for “Flight of Icarus” (make sure you get the inflatables right, Derek) and a big inflatable Eddie skull for the encore.  Few bands can top the stage presence Maiden have.  One thing you don’t get is simply the band members coming out on stage playing their instruments looking bored.  And this is in addition to their own excitement and enthusiasm, not instead of it, so the band complement their props and background, rather than relying upon it.  Total package.

C.         Bruce.  I didn’t see the band with Paul or Blaze, so I can’t compare them.  But Bruce Dickinson consistently brings the goods.  Excellent voice, great presence, a good selection of different outfits and costumes to suit the various songs, and above all the clever wit and dialogue he gives us,: e.g. playing in Virginia, a song called “The Clansman” – which any idiot knows is about Scots/Picts – he gives us the useful reminder that the song’s title is spelled with a C and not a K.  That’s in addition to his fencing and pilot skills, from this, the band’s implausibly overqualified vocalist.  Rest assured, you will be entertained. 

Current Track Record.  Now I’ve seen Iron Maiden 8 times:  4/7/87 Baltimore Arena; 8/8/88 Cap Centre; 2/1/90 Patriot Centre; 7/29/03 Merriweather Post Pavilion; 7/24/05 Ozzfest Nissan Pavilion; 7/20/10 Jiffy Lube Live; 6/3/17 Jiffy Lube Live; and 7/24/19 Jiffy Lube Live.  Add to that a Bruce Dickinson solo show at the Birch Hill in New Jersey 10/3/97 and Paul D’ianno at Circo Voador in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 1/19/05.  

Bruce Dickinson

By now most of us are familiar with a popular heavy metal band, Iron Maiden.  They began in London in the late 70’s with original singer, Paul D’ianno, replaced him with Bruce Dickinson in 1982, briefly replaced Dickinson with Blaze Bayley from 1993 to 2000, and have continued with Bruce back on vocals from 2000 to the present.

Samson.  This was another New Wave of British Heavy Metal band, led by guitarist Paul Samson.  Their first album was as a three-piece, Samson singing as well as playing lead guitar.  Dickinson joined, then known by his stage name Bruce Bruce, and having a mustache.  He’s on Head On and Shock Tactics, two fairly decent albums.  Ironically, Iron Maiden drummer Clive Burr had been in this band earlier, before Dickinson joined.  Also, they have an instrumental track credited to Steve Harris (“Thunderburst”, from Head On), which is essentially “The Ides of March”, which appears on Killers.

Quality-wise I’d say this is competitive with early Iron Maiden.  His voice is already well-developed and easily recognizable.  If you like his material, by all means add these two to your collection.  I’m glad I did. 

Iron Maiden.   He joined Maiden in 1982 and features on what I consider their best album, Number of the Beast.  From there it’s:  Piece of Mind, Powerslave, Somewhere In Time, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (concept album), No Prayer For the Dying, and Fear of the Dark.   This era is best illustrated with the Live After Death live album and video recorded on different nights at L.A. during the Powerslave tour.   It’s capped off by Raising Hell, filmed on the tail end of the Fear of the Dark tour.  The bass is nonexistent and the crappy magician screws things up, but for a guy who’s already quit the band by that point, Dickinson does a fairly good job.

From 1993 to 1999 he pursued a solo career (see below), returning in 1999 to record Brave New World, Dance of Death, A Matter of Life and Death, The Final Frontier, and Book of Souls, a double studio CD. 

Solo.  As noted, he went solo.  My brother saw him on one of the earlier tours (in 1990, meaning Tattooed Millionaire), while I saw him in New Jersey in 1997 on what would have been the Accident tour.  Albums:  Tattooed Millionaire, Balls to Picasso, Skunkworks, Accident of Birth, The Chemical Wedding, and Tyranny of Souls.   To me these all sound the same and also sound – surprise, surprise – very similar to Iron Maiden.  But none are crappy, the standard being consistently high.  Leaving aside whichever bizarre idiots out there prefer Paul D’ianno or Blaze Bayley, if you’re an Iron Maiden fan, do yourself a favor and add 6 albums to your collection.  You’re welcome. 

Style.  BD has a strong voice with impressive vibrato.  I haven’t noticed any deterioration over the years.  Live, he has a tendency to chat with us between songs, but I’d say he has a good sense of measure to keep it reasonably brief.  Perhaps a spoken word tour would be nice.  [Although I never had the pleasure of seeing Frank Zappa, as opposed to his son Dweezil, play music live, I did catch him give a spoken word lecture at University of Maryland.  Unfortunately I can’t remember the substance of his speech, but suffice to say everyone was highly entertained.]  At the solo show my brother saw, he reminded the French audience chanting “EE-RON MAI-DEN” that “ce n’est pas Iron Maiden, c’est Bruce Dickinson!”   At our show at the Birch Hill he pissed off my friend Ken by accusing Soundgarden of ripping off Black Sabbath without giving due credit – whereas Ken and I were well aware that Kim Thayil was open in acknowledging Iommi’s influence.   Contemporary interviewer to Thayil: “Maybe you should be paying royalties to Tony Iommi.”  Thayil: “Maybe”.

Cancer.   Recently he caught cancer, but it was diagnosed fairly early.  With characteristic aplomb, he went ballistic and conquered it.  Neil Peart’s wife should have consulted him, were it not that her cancer took her 20 years earlier (at which point BD was going solo).

Hobbies.  BD loves to fence – fight with swords, not sell stolen merchandise.  He reached a point almost good enough to compete in the Olympics.  On tours he’d bring his epees and practice whenever possible.  His flight hobby reached the point of being able to fly commercial jumbo jets, and when Maiden acquired their own jets, he flew them himself.  In addition to the logistics of keeping everyone, band, crew and equipment, on the same plane, it also allowed the band to tour many places like Brazil, India, Antarctica, Mars, Middle Earth, Melnibone, etc. which most bands tend to ignore because they don’t actually exist. 

Autobiography.  Bruce Dickinson, What Does This Button Do?   From his childhood in England, born in 1958, raised partly in Sheffield, he also worked with Ian Gillan – his idol – early in his career.  From early bands, to Samson, to Iron Maiden, his solo career, and back with Maiden again, it’s here.  Don’t ask who he’s married to, though:  he kept his social life off-limits (Rob Halford).  I found it a bit long on his fencing and flying, but the anecdotes and honesty were more than entertaining enough to make this an enjoyable read.   

Hair.  Yes, oddly enough, I have a comment about this.  As a fan of heavy metal, my inclination and preference is to have long hair.  Unfortunately, my lifestyle as an attorney has largely prevented this.  Moreover, my hair has a tendency to curl up when it gets longer, and I don’t have the time to allow it to grow longer and curl down.  HOWEVER, for my senior year in high school in Paris, I did achieve the unlikely and sadly brief distinction of having long hair, which was cut during summer 1986 before going to college.  My high school graduation picture and UMCP student ID photo are the last surviving evidence of this. 

Anyhow.  When it came to getting it trimmed, I would take a picture of Bruce Dickinson to the stylist to assist them in knowing what look I was going for: IRON MAIDEN.  This was ages before the man himself cut his hair, prior to his return to Maiden in 2000.  After copying him, now he’s copying me.  

Iron Maiden - Live After Death

I recently picked up the DVD of “Live After Death”, Iron Maiden’s classic 1985 Long Beach Arena show in 1985 on the World Slavery Tour for their Powerslave album.  Apparently this had been on VHS for ages (and I know I’ve seen it, although I never bought it) but until now had not been released in DVD format.  The second disc includes footage of Iron Maiden in Eastern Europe on the same tour (behind the “Iron Curtain”, as these countries were still communist at that time) and Rock in Rio I, which complements their more recent Rock in Rio (III) DVD.

I have two caveats about the quality of this, and then I’ll move on.  First, the original double LP included a 4^th side recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on the same tour, and included “22 Acacia Avenue”, “Children of the Damned”, “Die With Your Boots On”, “Wrathchild”, and “Phantom of the Opera”.  This segment was missing from the original CD release of the album and apparently not filmed, as it hasn’t even showed up in this collection.  The second caveat is about “Running Free”, which Bruce Dickinson needlessly extends by another 5 minutes with that inane call-and-response segment.

Having said that, this DVD captures not only Iron Maiden at their peak, but also the whole 80’s metal movement.  The setlist alone is excellent: “Trooper”, “Revelations” (my favorite, aside from “Strange World”, which I don’t think we’ll ever see played), “Powerslave”, “Hallowed Be Thy Name”, “Number of the Beast”, etc.  I’ve heard “Run To The Hills” a few too many times to get excited about it anymore.  Bruce Dickinson is at his best, jumping around and still in long hair.  His inter-song contributions – especially this bit about Queen Victoria smoking hemp to alleviate her menstrual cramps – are a far cry from “are you ready to rock, motherf**kers???” we usually can count on from the likes of Motley Crue or Skid Row.  Dave Murray and Adrian Smith trade off their melodic, winding solos; Steve Harris attacking us with his Fender Precision Bass; and (zzz) Nicko McBrain going nuts behind the drums.  No sign of Blaze Bayley or Janick Gers; I never liked Bayley, and while Gers is a decent guy, he doesn’t seem to add anything except another guy running around with a guitar.  (Rik Emmitt: “More necks, I need more necks!” and “More frets! I need more frets!”)  Most importantly, the result is not some incessant wall of noise, but a coherent, tight, well-organized array of sounds which all fit together and give us metal at its finest.

Background.  Emerging from the slums of East London amidst the punk era of the late 70s, Maiden finally secured a record deal in 1980 after 3 years in the trenches of the club scene and scraping enough cash to make a crude demo, the Soundhouse Tapes.  After two albums with the original singer Paul D’ianno (not a bad voice, but a bit rough around the edges), Iron Maiden and Killers, the band dumped D’ianno for Bruce Dickinson and took off with Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, and Powerslave.  Along with Def Leppard and Saxon, Maiden are one of the few bands of the so-called New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) to survive into the mid to late 80s and make it big. 

Tour.  By this time they had 5 albums, three with Bruce Dickinson, and toured Powerslave as the World Slavery Tour.  The stage setup was amazing: elaborate backdrops, Egyptian motifs, and a huge Eddie.  Even the floor had Egyptian designs.  Contrasted with AC/DC’s bare stage with just Marshall stacks, or the Grateful Dead with their “wall” P.A. and carpets on the floor, this was even more outrageous and ambitious than even the prior stage masters, KISS.  This was metal at its most extravagant and self-indulgent, but somehow it worked, because the music was just as monumental, bombastic and dramatic; in other words, metal at its peak, at its best. 

It started in August 1984 in Poland, and continued for practically an entire year, even to Rio de Janeiro Brazil for Rock in Rio I, in January 1985, in front of 300,000 metaleiros, after Whitesnake and before Queen, the headliner, before finishing up in July 1985 in California.  Countries: Poland, Austria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, UK, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Finland (August-November ’84), Canada and USA (November ’84-March 1985, except for Rock in Rio in January), to Japan and Australia (March-May ’85), then back to the US from May to July.  The P.A. system put out 152,000 watts, the monitor system was 21,000 watts, and the lighting alone was 7,000 watts.  They recorded and filmed the live album over 4 nights at the Long Beach Arena in L.A. on March 14-17, 1985.

Band.

Bruce Dickinson (vocals).  Nicknamed “Air Raid Siren”, Dickinson was as much an improvement over D’ianno as a Z06 Corvette is over a standard Camaro.  He’s got a top quality voice, sings so you can actually understand the words, and chats between songs almost as wittily as Ian Anderson.  He’s probably one of the top singers in metal, or music, period.

Dave Murray (guitar).  Along with Harris, one of the only original members.  I love his long blond hair consistently – from 1977 to this day – parted in the middle, and his innocent-but-hiding-some-dark-secret impish smile.  His solo style is melodic; his top solos are “Powerslave”, “Strange World”, “Phantom of the Opera”, “22 Acacia Avenue” and “Revelations”.  Murray is probably one of the most underrated metal guitarists.

Adrian Smith (guitar).  Quiet, unassuming, yet hardworking and competent, Smith is like the Brad Whitford of the band.  He plays off Murray well (they’re old buddies from before Iron Maiden) and they never step on each other’s toes.

Steve Harris (bass).  Clearly the anchor of the band.  He’s a big fan of West Ham United (east London Premier League soccer team), Wisbone Ash, and Jethro Tull.  He’s also the leading writer of the band’s music and lyrics.  There would be no Maiden without ‘Arry.  He attacks his Fender Precision Bass with passion, jumps around the stage, and lip syncs the words he wrote for Dickinson to sing.

Nicko McBrain (drums).  I really don’t have much of a discerning ear for drummers besides distinguishing styles at the extremes (Neil Peart vs. John Bonham) so I won’t comment on his technique.  He acts a bit loony as part of the “drummers have to be the animal” act, but is actually pretty smart and articulate.

Eddie.  Their mascot since the early days.  It’s not clear WHAT he is, or what he’s supposed to be, but he appears in some form on every album, in various clever forms on their T-shirts, and has some stage presence at every show, be it an oversized dummy lurching around on stilts or an inflated mummy blown up at the back of the stage.  Megadeth have their persistent wanna-be Eddie, Vic Rattlehead (better to rip off Iron Maiden than Metallica, huh?), and even Motley Crue tried (for about a nanosecond) to weasel in with lame-ass mascot of their own.  But there’s only one Eddie.

Brazil.  While Maiden struggle to fill modest venues these days in the US – and are only playing one show in the UK on this tour – in Brazil it might as well still be 1985.  They headlined their night at Rock in Rio III (which was taped and filmed) in January 2001, yet again in front of 250,000 screaming Brazilian metal fans.  They continue to pack the crowds in there, a feat they could never repeat in the US.  For a country known for bossa nova, “The Girl from Ipanema” (Stan Getz or Frank Sinatra), and all that soft, tropical music, Brazil outclasses the US and UK for sheer metal devotion, even to this date. 

UP THE IRONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!