Maiden in Toronto

[AxlVanHagar]

I'm about to start getting ready to head up to Toronto for tonight's show at the ACC. I'll post my thoughts/review here when I get home, probably around midnight or so.

Up the Iron's!!

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n300/axlvanhagar/headbanger3gn.gif

[AxlVanHagar]

Ok , just got back from the show and wanna write this while everything is still fresh including the ringing in my ears.

Quick note here, Lauren Harris, yes 'arry's daughter, was the opener. It was a quick spunky set and she didn't take any crap from the fans.

On to the main event. Maiden played to a sold out Air Canada Center of 19,800. The crowd was absolutely rabid tonight. Very loud and boistrous throughout the entire show. The show opened with what appeared to be footage from ealier dates of the tour so far. Fun fact: I was in the anti-Jannick section apparently. Everytime his face popped up on the screen the majority of people in the section booed!:D Not sure if it carried to any other sections but it was damn funny. Footage changed over to some flying "ace's" along with Chuchill's speech adn we were off an running.

Ace's High followed immediately by 2 Minutes To Midnight were played to perfection! Bruce really was on top of his game tonight, really nailed those high pitched screams.

A lengthy rant from Bruce about MTV and people that watch concerts through their cell phones and Revelations was up. This one seemed to trip the boys up somehow. Not exactly sure what was up but it was off. Everyone was a little out of sync somehow except Jannick. He was WAY off! Completely butchered the solo, wrong key, wrong notes, wrong timing. Since the whole band seemed slightly off with this one I'll write it off to some sort of tech issue. Perhaps the monitors.

Anyway they quickly redeemed themselves with The Trooper. I wish I could tell you how well Bruce hit the opening verse but I can't since the crowd completely drowned out his vox. They went ballistic for this one. By the time the song finished the crowd just kept cheering and chanting Mai-den *clap* *clap* Mai-den *clap* *clap* Mai-den *clap* *clap* The band seemed genuinely taken aback with the outpouring enthusiasm of the crowd. Bruce wound up sitting on the drum riser with a chesire cat grin and drank it in. I half expected him to bust out the David Lee Roth classic "Lookit all the poeple here toniiigghht!" After 2 or 3 minutes of non stop chanting and cheering he advised the crowd to simmer down as "we have plenty more for you. There's still lot's to come." And there was. the rest of the set list was as follows.

"Wasted Years"
"The Number of The Beast"
"Can I Play with Madness"
"Rime of The Ancient Mariner"
"Powerslave"
"Heaven Can Wait"
"Run to the Hills"
"Fear of The Dark"
"Iron Maiden"

Encore
"Moonchild"
"The Clairvoyant"
"Hallowed Be Thy Name"

All played to perfection. Bruce came the closest I've ever heard to nailing the scream in Number of the Beast. He and the band were really top notch.

This was I think the 14th time for me seeing them live and quite possibly the best I've ever seen them. The only hiccup in the show was Revelations, everything else was off the charts. If tonight is any indicator of what the rest of the shows will be like GO! If they come to your town , go! If they come within reasonable driving distance , GO!

Maiden does not get much better than this folks. It's the type of show I wish some of the uber-fans on these forums could have seen. I'm looking at you Crimson Saint. You're brain may have exploded. That's how good they were tonight.

As an aside Bruce mentioned they will be hitting Vancouver, Calgary, Regina, Winnipeg and I think he mentioned Edmonton as well. So take heart fellow Canucks! He also said they did notice how fast Toronto sold out and hinted that they will be back in Toronto this summer. I've been hearing rumblings of a summer show at the Molson Amphitheater so that pretty much confirmed it.

[madog69]

i was there to..... and your right that was one of the best shows i've seen of Iron Maiden...i hope they do come back to Toronto cause that show is worth another look or 2;)