Set list used in Europe/Toronto Concert
as near as I could tell !!
1) The Wickerman
2) Ghost of the Navigator
3) Brave New World
4) Wratchild
5) Two minutes to Midnight
6) Blood Brothers
7) The Sign Of the Cross
8) The Mercenary
9) The Trooper
10) Dream Of Mirror
11) The Clansman
12) The Evil That Men Do
13) Fear Of The Dark
14) Iron Maiden
15) Number of The Beast
16) Hallowed be thy Name
17) Sanctuary
From Electric Basement
6 THE NUMBER OF THE BEST? THE NEW MAIDEN INVADE HUNGARY!
6/22/00
By Ed Kunkel
Ok, here is the deal with the show - It was great!
There is no way not to see them when they hit the Garden or
wherever we go for some weekend road trip. You have to see the
show. I'm curious to see what if anything they do differently.
You knew it was going to be good from the start because they had
to move it from the original scheduled place because they sold
too many tickets. I would say there had to be between 7500 -
10000 people there. The scene was great. The only thing that
bugged me was all the bouncing around. What is it with the
bouncing? These Europeans love to bounce. By the time I arrived
there I could hear Dirty Deeds playing so we finished our beers
and were walking in. I was carrying the portable camera which the
guards at the gate wouldn't let me carry in. They wouldn't even
let me speak to anyone so even if I had contacts I wouldn't have
been able to use them. We walked in and walked over to the beer
tent and waited online while Dirty Deeds finished up. By the time
we got two beers each (4 beers, a mini sandwhich and some giant
pretzel like thing at a total of $6) and started walking in the
in between music ended and the stage lights went dark.
Niko came out and showed everyone he is as ugly as ever and the
crowd went crazy as he made his way behind the drums. 3
guitarists and Steve Harris ran onto the stage and immediately
started playing as Bruce Dickinson ran in to sing The Wickerman.
The stage show was cool and simple. On either side were two giant
tapestries of Eddy's face outlined in the clouds and the current
backdrop was the album cover. Rising up in the back came the old
breadman himself (striking resemblance to Jon). Actually, come to
think of it that is where Bruce ran out from. As soon as The
Wickerman was over they broke right into Ghost Of The Navigator.
Janick was doing his usual routine of playing around and running
all over which he did through the entire show. Steve Harris and
Dave Murray were also running around constantly and Bruce was
climbing all over the place. Everyone had life except for Adrian.
At times he seemed like he was nailed to the floor.
When the song ended Bruce finally spoke. Of course nobody but
myself and a handful of others knew what he was saying but every
time he said Budapest the place roared. He went on speaking about
the new album and before he broke into the title track he did his
usual "Scream For Me Budapest (Long Beach)." When that
song ended, and yes even though not many people here have
probably heard the album they were still really into it, they
broke into Wrathchild. They played 2 Minutes To Midnight before
they went back to the new album and played Blood Brothers. Before
they did Bruce was talking again telling everyone how Iron Maiden
stays true to form, they don't care about flashy trends and still
play good hard metal. He was even screaming about how shitty M
fucking T fucking V sucked. He went on to say we were all
together blah blah blah and then sang Blood Brothers. When the
song was ovr the stage went all purple and the chanting monks
started. The place was going nuts and so was I. I couldn't
believe they were going to play Sign Of The Cross and I was
psyched they were going to. The backdrop was all black and slowly
rising up from the back came Bruce on a cross with angel wings.
They were screaming and right on cue he was dropped on stage and
started signing. They cut part of the song in the middle but let
me tell you it sounded incredible. That song was made for him.
When Sign Of The Cross Was Finished it was back to full force
attack with The Mercenary. When that song ended the Backdrop
quickly lit up and everyone knew the next song was The Trooper
and the place went crazy again. Bruce was running all over the
place waving the British flag and it was funny to hear everyone
try to sing but when it came to the whoa oh oh oh parts the place
was loud as hell. These Europeans know their whoas. After that it
was time for my favorite song on the new album Dream of Mirrors.
One word, killer! During this song Judit told me that she loved
the concert and thought Iron Maiden was great. This coming from a
girl who begged me not to go to the show. I was happy to have
helped convert the girl but damn it cost me the next day when she
begged for some CD's. Especially the new album, the last two (can
you believe it) and Fear of The Dark. That's another song these
Europeans really get into. I'll get to that later. Let me mention
one thing that I just remembered that annoyed me. At the
beginning of every song you would think they were going to play
Can I Play With Madness by the way Nicko started each song. That
bugged me but made me happy when each time it wasn't that shitty
song. Next to The Assassin that has to be the biggest waste of
Maiden album space ever.
OK, Dream Of Mirrors ends and the back drop quickly changes to
Eddy from Braveheart. Again the place goes crazy and I am psyched
again because they start The Klansman (the way it should be
spelled). The only thing that could have made the song better was
if the giant Eddy that comes out on stage came out in a big white
robe. But who am I to complain. As soon as that song ended they
broke into The Evil That Men Do. The way they were playing it
sucked that this was the only song they did from Seventh Son.
Come to think of it it sucked that they did nothing from
Somewhere In Time or No Prayer For The Dying. A stirring
rendition of Public Enema #1 would have taken the house down.
Maybe when they do the Metallica orchestra tour they will do that.
Now comes the time when the Europeans really went berserk. As
soon as Bruce said the word Fear they finished the rest and
bounced non stop for about 7 minutes. Of course doing there whoa
whoas as loud as possible. Listen to the version on A Real Live
One which sounds great and you can compare the two. The only
difference is that being in the audience you realize how loud it
really is. I just wished the Eddy as a tree backdrop was in place
to make the whole seem just feel right. It was time for an encore
on The Wickerman to rise up behind the stage and out popped a
screaming girl. She was the victim of the Iron Maiden. I
immediately knew the show was soon be over which sucked but
enjoyed the little theatrics that a 31 year old man (?) shouldn't
be enjoying. Then again I figured there were 40 year old men
doing it and I know two 33 year old men that would be enjoying it
just as much as myself (The guilty shall remain nameless but you
know who you are). This is when Eddy made his only appearance and
he and Janick had there little battle. The way the costume was
setup you would have thought he was gay the way his hands flopped
at the wrists. On the way back you would have thought he was
going to battle Adrian but I guess he figured he was already dead
since he was motionless. The band made its way off the stage to
the sounds of screams going back and forth between Bruce and the
victim.
Immediately the Maiden chants started. Within two minutes you
could see The Number Of The Beast backdrop be put in place on the
dark stage and those who could see it started screaming (I
believe they were screams of joy but then again with all the
bouncing they might have sprained their ankles as a collective
group). Then came the introduction and the classic spewed forth.
By now I was bouncing like crazy also because I really had to
piss but being the stubborn American on foreign shores I endured.
Especially when they started Hallowed Be Thy Name. Now anyone who
knows me knows how I feel about that song so no description is
needed. And anyone who thinks different then me can politely go
fuck them self, Robert not withstanding. The night ended with
Sanctuary. Why, I don't know but I could have chosen about 30
other songs I would have liked to have heard. All in all it was a
fucking killer show. If I could have I would have seen them every
night. Trust me when you do see them you will NOT be disappointed
unless you are a big fan of Adrian and activity.
