Metal Iain wrote:Put it this way: Maiden are fucking gant live. Recordings all the way.

Ludicrous.
I have hundreds of maiden bootlegs and i've never heard one bad show, also both times i saw them they were amazing.

Throsh wrote:

Metal Iain wrote:Put it this way: Maiden are fucking gant live. Recordings all the way.

Ludicrous.
I have hundreds of maiden bootlegs and i've never heard one bad show, also both times i saw them they were amazing.

Yeah, they looked like a really good live band at one point. I went to see them about five years ago anticipating a great gig but was yawning towards the end of the set. For some reason, I wasn't on the sauce that night so it made it worse still. I think it was a combination of a completely predictable set which contained few of their best songs, Bruce's piss-poor patter and the fact it was at the SECC (crap sound). Can't really blame the venue on Maiden but I wasn't impressed with them in the slightest. A couple of my mates were of the same opinion. I really can't see myself paying to see them again.

I generally like seeing bands chopping and changing their sets a bit. Not that they were particularly tight or anything but seeing Jump In the Fire and Hollier Than Thou at my first Metallica gig was pretty amazing. It ranks up there with W.A.S.P. opening with Inside the Electric Circus for me. If I see one song I didn't ever expect to hear live at a gig, I'll generally go away happy. That happening at a Maiden gig is highly unlikely. They need to play Heaven Can Wait more often!

Metal Iain wrote:I know! Honestly, they're the last band I thought I'd be able to say that about but they bored the arse off me so badly that I chose not to see them on the AMOLAD Tour. Thank Christ I didn't go because, as much as I like AMOLAD, I think I'd actually have left the gig half way through had they tried to play that album in its entirety. The fact that they never choose sets to cater for their die-hard fans also irritates me immensely.

You do actually have a couple of valid points there - I imagine you saw them on the DOD tour, which wasn't great (as it was a pretty average album), and yes, the AMOLAD tour was fucking boring for a Maiden gig, I can't deny that. But I reckon if you saw them on their latest tour, you would've had a much better time, the setlist was much better, and they played Heaven Can Wait (as well as Poweslave, Rime, Moonchild and The Clairvoyant!), and it was amazing. In fact the Early Days tour before AMOLAD came out was also amazing. But yeah, I do definitely agree that the fact they never cater for their die-hard fans is very annoying, but they make up for their laziness in set-lists with their performance. Seriously, for a band that old they still have some fucking awesome energy and amazing stage shows, and they still remain one of the best, if not the best, live bands I've ever seen (I think I've seen them seven or eight times now!). I'm amazed every time I see Bruce Dickinson run up and down the stage non-stop for nearly 2 hours, it's amazing.

Oh yeah, and they do actually usually have pretty shit sound live, their live sound engineer is obviously rubbish... but still, they're the best band ever, so it's ok.

The early days gig was fucking amazing. If they played that kind of gig more often (why can't they just do 5 nights at Hammersmith or something instead of Twickenham?) then I would probably be willing to pay 50-60+ quid.

My Maiden gigs:

Earl's Court 2003 - Dance of Death
Hammersmith Apollo 2005 - Early Days
Earl's Court 2006 (both nights) - AMOLAD
Brixton Academy 2007 - AMOLAD
Twickenham 2008 - Live After Death #2

I must admit that Twickenham was the best of the lot. Such an amazing atmosphere and an utterly brilliant set. All three AMOLAD gigs were OK, although the fact that it was AMOLAD made me long for the encore - which isn't really a great thing to be doing when watching Maiden.

Why all the AMOLAD hate. I went to see them on the AMOLAD tour so I could hear AMOLAD songs...y'know...

Shouldn't complain..when..and yeah

Put simply - AMOLAD is the worst Maiden album bar the Blaze years and NPFTD.

Well obviously, but it's still a good album. I went to see them on the tour to hear the songs. You shouldn't complain that you went to see them on a album tour and they played the songs off that album. Just silly...

I'm not complaining about hearing the songs full-stop, just the fact that they played the entire album - I don't like AMOLAD anyway, but at least if they played a handful of tracks the effect on the gig would be limited.

Hahaha, I never realised you had to endure the whole of AMOLAD THREE times Craig Once was enough for me, totally naff album. I think my two favourite Maiden shows would be Early Days at Hammersmith and Twickenham.

I think a lot of gigs depend on where you're standing for them - if at all.

I saw Maiden at Earls Court in December 03.

Last minute tix = shit tickets right at the back, ...right at the top.

It was like watching TV with a bunch of grannies.

Throsh wrote:

Metal Iain wrote:Put it this way: Maiden are fucking gant live. Recordings all the way.

Ludicrous.
I have hundreds of maiden bootlegs and i've never heard one bad show, also both times i saw them they were amazing.

*cough* Blaze Bayley *cough*

I've heard bootlegs from his time with Maiden and he can barely sing Bruce's songs

That's like talking about Ripper era Priest Steve - as if anyone cares!

Yeah, everyone knows Blaze is hilarious, there's no discussion to be had really there. In his own band though, I do have to say I like him. I can't help but be in slight awe of him when I see him live though, just for his unbelievable true passion. I mean, he's hilarious, but he really does love heavy metal. Who on earth would be happy to go from playing in Iron Maiden to headlining a gig at the Bedford Park in Streatham, probably the most horrible rubbish venue I've ever been to? And he loved it. I have to respect him for that, he really does just love his music, he's so passionate about it, and you can see that so clearly, in his interviews, by the way he performs live, even by the expression in his voice on his albums. So as hilariously bad as he was in Maiden, I still have respect for Blaze for that reason. And also his wife just died, which is very sad. But he's carrying on because she told him if she was gone she'd want him to carry on with his music. So that's nice. He's a good man!

James wrote:What I'm saying is which of those two factors do you think are more IMPORTANT for a band to be good?

Gigs. Recordings can be made all sparkly and nice. Live is how they really are. Vocals on Violator are a prime example, different live than on cd, but both are still amazing.