Iron Maiden:
Rock'n Roll is Not About Jennifer Lopez and Her Ass. Or Is It?

By Charles Redell

I always thought that a band was still good if they could get and keep 50,000 screaming people on their feet for an entire (or at least the majority of a) show. I first formulated this thought when I was 13. At that time I was still going to the shows of bands that played huge shows on a regular basis. My first ever concert was The Who's 25th anniversary tour and I’ve seen more music at Madison Square Garden than I have sports. I even saw Bruce Springsteen from the floor. Twice. In New Jersey.

Until tonite at Iron Maiden though, I’d never realized how true truly impressive it is to keep 50,00 people screaming and dancing for a whole concert. But since Iron Maiden was only able to do it to 2,000 or so folks and for only most of the time, I realized that not everyone screams for every song at every arena rock show. Still though, they provided a solidly entertaining spectacle (not to mention some of the best people watching on the planet).

Iron Maiden did try their damndest to keep us all up and slamming for the whole show. After starting with the first three tracks from the latest album, they played one from "our Jurassic period" and continued with what were apparently classic Maiden tunes (I should say that I know next to nothing about Iron Maiden. On the way to the show I was given a brief run down of Maiden history and told about the first singer who left after the second album, why there are three guitarists, and all about the departure and current return of the lead singer –the only one who mattered apparently). This mini walk down memory lane culminated in a tirade about what Rock ‘N Roll is about and what it is not about ("[It's not]…about drugs and Jack Daniel and Van Halen or their groupies. And it's not about Jennifer Lopez and her ass. It is about the music. And that's what this next song is all about!") From that, they took us into the anthem Blood Brothers.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure that I got the full Iron Maiden experience. While they had no problem keeping us on the floor up and moving (mostly because there were no seats), it was obvious that about a quarter of the way in that the band lost all their energy and almost their will to go on. After their first show stopping tune (somewhere in the middle of the first walk down memory lane), which started out with the lead singer flying in strapped to a pair of angel wings, all the spectacle seemed to have wiped them out. As close as I was (about 15 or so deep) I could look in their eyes and see them fighting to find some energy and get the night’s job done. It wasn’t an easy task. Two or three songs at a time would pass while the band was obviously going through the motions and waiting to get to the next fun one. Eventually they would, and for 8 to 12 minutes, the show was completely high energy and great again, until the next 4 song lull.

The highlight of the show, for me anyway, were the lights and effects. Nothing equals a heavy metal concert when it comes to pure visual stimulation and Iron Maiden, I’ve been assured, is one of the best. Although the Tacoma Dome was partitioned off so that only about a quarter of its seats had been sold, the tour itself was still a big one. There were at least 12 different set pieces flown in and out from behind the drummer. 4 of them actually held the singer on them. Their lights, while simple in design, provided some truly beautiful and perfectly coordinated images. And of course, there was fire and lots of it. Nothing improves a show like fire and stuff blowing up, so when you look at it, really, Iron Maiden put on a great show considering how much they lit things on fire. That, I definitely appreciated.

Iron Maiden is no different from their aging and tired fans though. They're both just working stiffs who have to do the same damn thing day after day. But I can’t really hold their boredom against them. I don’t care what band I’m in, I'd be bored too if I had to play the same 17 or so songs over and over again for 20 plus years. I do have to hand it to these guys: For a band that’s been together doing the same thing for this long, they can still tear it up when there’s a chance for all three Lead Guitars and the Bass to solo in full Heavy Metal position at the foot of the stage.

Copyright, Charles Redell 2000

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