|
So, my brother and I fly down to LA to see Maiden at the Forum. The place was absolutely electric and completely packed. You could not have gotten another person in there with a crowbar. No bullshit amphitheater, no reserved seating crap, just a good, old-fashioned arena rock show complete with massive stage show, festival seating and great music. Maiden’s stage setup was similar (but not exact) to the Powerslave tour in 1984. They came out with Aces High and let me tell you, the place went ballistic. Bruce Dickinson rules, plain and simple; great voice, charismatic style, and incredible stage presence, the guy is truly the complete package and all you could ever ask for in a front man. Also, the surprise of the night for me was how well Adrian Smith played. You tend to forget how many great solos he plays on their vintage material.
From there, they blasted through their retro set, which was the same as has been posted out there. While everyone out there is raving about them playing Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner - which was great - the highlight for me had to be Revelations; truly mind-blowing. Stated simply, Iron Maiden is a band that is incapable of putting on a bad show.
Now, to be fair, something negative but completely true needs to be stated. In fact, it shocks me that this is not brought up more: In 30 years of going to rock concerts, I have never ever seen a bigger tool on stage than Jannick Gers. I have no idea what purpose he serves in the band - other than possibly comic relief. He doesn’t play solos, write songs, or really do anything other than act like a complete moron/poser. He must have naked pictures of Dickinson or something. There’s just no other rational explanation why he’s allowed to be up there. One nice thing is that he spends almost the entire show on the right side of the stage as you’re facing it. So when you’re getting your tickets, make sure to buy them so that you’re sitting on the left side, that way you can almost tune the guy out and enjoy just the original 5 guys - almost. Make sure you do this, cuz you’ll thank me later!
Anyway, so the night before the show, my brother and I are hanging out at The Rainbow, drinking and smoking at the outside bar. The place just drips heavy metal, even now after all these years. So who walks in? None other than Lemmy himself. He takes a seat right next to me at the end of the bar and starts playing video poker. For the next 2 hours, he sits there, mainlining Jack Daniels and Marlboro Reds, getting pissed off every time someone interrupts his video poker game to get an autograph, or invite him to some party - which happens roughly about every couple of minutes.
Now, there are many different types of people: White/Black; Male/Female; Republican/Democrat; etc. and there’s one universal truth in this world that ALL of them can agree on: Lemmy Kilmeister is one of the ugliest human beings Planet Earth has ever produced, whose prime years as a rock star ended 2 decades ago. Keeping this in mind, one person in this stream of well wishers stood out. This chick could not have been over 22 years old and was one of the most stunning creatures I’ve ever laid eyes on. Let’s just say that at that point, Old Lemmy closes down the poker game, slams the remainder of his Jack, and promptly leaves the place, with the aforementioned Stunning Creature in tow. Unbelievable. Talk about an odd couple. You’ve got to love L.A. […and the heavy metal music biz! - Genghis]
- JP from SF despises the 3rd wheel
Trackback(0)
 |
Tour 2008 
TrackBack URI for this entry
Subscribe to this comment's feed