Running To The Hills- Iron Maiden Razor Review Inclusive

I know its going to come as a great shock to most of you, but I went to Iron Maiden last week.

It was more than just a gig however, it was a story that took a whole weekend to unfold, after waiting a lifetime for the opportunity to see the band that I have constantly been blown away by since I started listening to music some 25 years ago.

The first highlight was getting involved with the Maiden Fan Club who had organised a bus trip on gig day as a fundraiser for Canteen, to fight cancer affecting kids. What a cause. We even got some kids into the gig, preferential seats, backstage, etc. They deserve every good thing we can give them, what a privilege to be involved.

The first mission was on Saturday to meet the crew of "Ed Force Two" as our bus was lovingly christened, and pick up my t-shirt, et al. Josh and Jordan came along, and did a great job of sweet talking a couple of young blonde lasses. Problems ahead in 15 years I fear....

From there Saturday night morphed into a very nice dinner for Paul who was back from OZ for the weekend. And then out on the town...never before have so many Iron Maiden T-shirts been present in downtown Christchurch. What a night. We even ran into Tall Paul...tramping buddy from the Jaffabowl, who I have a habit of running into in the most unexpected situations!



Ah....the Crew :) As always thats Razor in the thick of it.

This guy from Sweden had the dudes from KISS tattooed on him, thats devotion above and beyond...

So anyway, gig day. People had come from Denmark, Sweden, the UK, Germany, Australia, and I'm sure many other places just to see the tour. The devotion of Maiden fans is up there with that of the top British soccer clubs, its just complete madness! We had two buses on Sunday, Ed Force Two and Three and did the rounds of ChCh for several hours, including a surreal BBQ at Scarborough where a Brass Band just happened to be playing. Lets just say we weren't sure how popular 100 Iron Maiden Fans were in this setting, but the good folk there really pitched in to the Canteen Fundraising. Hats off.

Eventually it was gig time, and after a long and entertaining drive across ChCh in Ed Force Two (you heard us before you saw us) we set about auctioning off everything that wasn't bolted to the bus, and then in we went. The Obligatory Warm Up Act from ChCh, Tainted, played a solid set. Lauren Harris, Daughter of the Maiden bass player Steve Harris followed with a very tight set- and her guitar player is I swear the spitting double of Zakk Wylde.

Then the main event. I won't dismember it song by song, but suffice to say the sold out Westpac Arena spent 2 and a quarter hours in complete and utter awe. I had high expectations, and they were all met. Some wag wrote in the media that the only problem with the gig was that its going to be impossible to go to any other gigs this year as the bar has been set so high. I completely endorse that statement!

There were more pyrotechnics than I thought possible, especially indoors- at one point they pretty much had the whole stage on fire. Bruce had the crowd in the palm of his hand for the entire set- there aren't many frontsmen in rock who carry that sort of charisma. Loved his two fingered verbal salute to the establishment hot on the heels of Maiden being named "Best Live Act" at the Brit Awards.

All the expected songs were there, outrageous guitars, the galloping bass of the finest technician of the rock world, and Nicko hidden behind his drum kit going berserk for the whole set.

In a nutshell, they delivered the perfect gig. My highlights? Hard to nail out anything in the mix of excellence, but Phantom of the Opera, The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner and Hallowed Be Thy Name were my personal high notes among many.

And the best news, they are coming back in 2010/11!

I'm going to stop before I lose my entire blog readership from boredom, but this was special. A concert of a lifetime.

So it has been written, so it has been done. :)

UP THE IRONS!!!!!

Razor Rating: THE MAXIMUM POSSIBLE