1/24/2004 - Hammerstein Ballroom NYC
Ok, this review will not be like
the rest. This was the first (and probably last) show that I
traveled any real distance to.
As such, I am going to give the whole sordid tale of the entire
adventure.
IF you have no interest, and only want to know about the show,
then skip down to the show section (in bold print).
If you want to see the sightseeing pictures we took while we were there, they can be found on this page.
First, this is how things were
supposed to work.
Me, and my 13 year old daughter.
Trip to NY city via Grayhound bus.
Leave Erie PA at 11:30 PM Friday night. Make a connection in
Buffalo, stop in Syracuse then on to NYC 10:50 AM.
Bus out of Erie didn't show up until 12:45. Sitting around
waiting in Erie really sucked. Small place, no TV, nothing at all
to do. Didn't help that the place was supposed to close at
Midnight. Luckily, it didn't really screw up any of our transfers
because they were running late as well. Ended up in NYC at a
little after 11.
The Port Authority terminal there is HUGE!
Soon discovered one problem to our plan. There are absolutely no
storage lockers in the whole place!
Seems they got rid of them after 9/11. So we end up stuck
carrying our one bag around with us all day long. Of course it is
loaded with pop and munchies (candy bars and cookies), so it was
fairly heavy.
After familiarizing ourselves with the terminal, and just
generally looking around, we decided to see where the venue is.
Have no trouble finding our way around that area of the city. The
venue is 6 blocks down from the Port Authority.
Go down 8th to 34th, find the place no problem. Take a few
pictures, then head back up 9th, back to the terminal, because,
it was freaking cold!
Walk around the terminal some more to warm up. Look around and
finally buy some souvenirs for my wife, son, and mother. (just
what we need, weigh down the bag even more :-)
Go out and walk around the city to see what we can see. Come
back, and get something to eat and warm up again.
Decide to walk down to the Empire State Building and get some
pictures.
So we go back down to 34th and go down a few blocks to the ESB.
Thought about going in and going to the top, but the one entrance
we passed was closed :-( Probably another one open, but we didn't
feel like looking for it. Decided to keep walking down 34th to
see what there was to see. Why not, we both like to walk, and it
isn't that cold anymore. The wind has died down, and the sun is
out. Get down to like Madison Ave. and think about turning
around. The we notice a body of water off in the distance, and
figure what the heck, let's see what is there. Ended up walking
down to the East River (didn't know what it was until I got home
and checked a map).
Then we turned around and walked back. That was when we
discovered another problem. There is no where to sit at the port
authority. No benches, no chairs, nothing. Except of course if
you go in one of the places to eat. Since we had already eaten,
we weren't hungry. Go back to the pizza place we ate at before
and got 1 piece of pizza and a pop. Picked a booth in the back,
and just stayed there for a while. Did I mention that I was still
breaking in a new pair of hiking boots?! My son's dog had chewed
up my shoes on Tuesday, so my boots were less than a week old. Up
until now, they had been pretty comfortable, but after all the
walking, they had started to rub on my ankles.
Another strange thing. Time is passing very slowly throughout
this whole adventure. At this point, it is only like 2 PM. Four
and a half hours until the concert starts, and we are trying to
come up with some things to do.
Originally, had hoped to attend one of several fan meet-ups
taking place. One problem. They are all at bars. In NYC, they
won't even let a minor in the door! This concept is new to me.
Since Everywhere around me will let kids in with their parents,
especially in the afternoon (hey, how do you think I learned how
to play pool?)
So needless to say, that idea is out, since I cannot leave Britny
to fend for herself.
So there isn't much for us to do, except walk around. Next, we
walked down to Times Square. (at least I think it was Times
Square, lots of flashing lights, and signs leading me to believe
that is where we were) Thought about hitting Madam Tussaud's wax
museum, but the line was huge, and we didn't want to wait in one
spot that long. Wandered around there for a while, gawking at
everything (hanging out under some of the hot lights to warm back
up). Then we went back to the port authority and leaned against
walls there for a while.
Finally it was time for the doors to open for the show.
We walked down to the venue, and the line of people go all the
way down the block, and start wrapping up around 9th.
Take our place, wait in line for almost 45 minutes. Then got
turned away at the door because our bag. Aaaaaarrrrgggggh!
After a little quick thinking, I found a near-by bar that let me
stash my bag behind the bar for a decent tip :-)
Not actually from this show, but a nice shot of
their stage set
This is what it looked like inside Hammerstein
Back in line. Of course it
is freezing, and the wind is whipping, but at this point, we
don't care. We are gonna see Maiden!!!!!
Get inside, and the place is already packed. We talk about trying
to move our way up through the crowd on the floor (the whole
place is general admission). After a little discussion, we settle
on hanging back. We were just to the left, and behind the
soundboard. Right at the top of the two steps leading down to the
floor. Perfect view across the top of everyone's heads. Better
yet, there are a couple speakers right next to us as well!
Sure working our way up front would have been great, but the odds
of us getting up there and holding that spot were slim. Didn't
want to take the chance with my daughter.
Arch Enemy comes out to open. Never seen them before, and only heard a few songs that I have downloaded off their website. The tunes were rockin. I couldn't understand a word the singer was singing, but I liked it. They have a female singer that sings in a very husky/growley type voice. We were enjoying it immensely. I saw quite a few other fans just standing there shaking their heads. I don't know what the problem was. Sure they aren't anything like Maiden, but they were good, crankin, with some awesome guitar work, and an awesome beat/tempo.
Next came Maiden. It's
been a few years since I have seen them with the full stage show.
I had almost forgotten how mind-blowing it can be!
They had this whole castle them going with their stage set. It
was great.
The new tunes were awesome performed live. I really liked the new
album anyway, and had really enjoyed some of the live recording I
had already gotten and listened to, but to see and experience the
whole thing was just........ more than I could have hoped for.
The light show really complimented the feel of the whole gig too.
During the machine-gun-like drum parts of Paschendale there were
4 white lights on either side of the upper stage section flashing
on/off in a fast random pattern that just sold the whole gunfire
effect.
Bruce wearing the mask during Dance of Death, his infantryman's
uniform during Paschendale, just the whole performance was
beautiful. Especially the giant Reaper Eddie at the back of the
stage during Iron Maiden!
The lone drawback, was the smallish crowd due to the venue.
Hammerstein only holds 3000-4000 people. That small of a crowd is
hard to hear over everything else. So during the audience
participation, it seemed kind of weak, but it seemed like
everyone was really into it.
The band was fired up. They were tight and hitting on all
cylinders.
You could tell they were all really into it and having a blast.
Now for the downside.
First was the constant flow of people either going out onto the
floor, or getting off the floor. It was a major distraction to
trying to watch the show while people were pushing past all the
time.
Next was the major bummer of the night. Some idiot in the balcony
spilled/threw his beer right on the sound desk. Lost most of the
sound at the end of Iron Maiden. They were going off the stage
after that song anyway in preparation for the encore. Bruce came
out and apologized for the delay and explained about the sound
situation and said they would be back out in a few minutes. After
a while, the band came back out and announced that there was no
hope for the sound and they would have to end the show.
This was a major disappointment. To the credit of the fans, they
did not get pissed and start trashing the place, or start
trouble. Most gave the band a round of applause!
Overall, it was a great
night of good tunes, awesome show, and all out musical enjoyment.
Britny has a stiff neck from headbanging so hard. We both were
almost hoarse afterwards, and dripping sweat from jamming so
much. Also, we both have a little ringing of the ears 24 hours
later.
Now things turn to crap again. I stop and get our
bag on the way back to the port authority.
We have about a 50 minute wait for our bus, but since the line is
getting long, we decide to wait there instead of wandering
around. While we are standing there, some security guy comes
along and starts going over everyone with a metal detector and
checking through all the bags. Doesn't make much sense to me. If
they are going to check stuff, shouldn't they check when you come
into the city, not when you are leaving ????
Anyway we get on our bus, get situated and underway. The bus is
supposed to go from NYC at midnight, to Carlisle, then on to
Pittsburgh at 7:15 AM, where we have an hour and a half layover
before getting a bus to Erie. We were supposed to be back home at
12:10 PM. Boy was that wrong!
Shortly after leaving, we of course went to sleep. Next thing I
know, the driver is coming over the intercom saying something
about detouring to Philadelphia to change buses because of
problems with the heat on this one.
So we go to Phily and switch buses. On to Carlisle. By the time
we get there though, the driver doesn't know if we are going to
get to Pittsburgh on time. Unfortunately, the soonest we could
get to Erie from Carlisle is 11:30 PM, so we decide to take our
chances of making it to Pittsburgh on time.
On the way to Pittsburgh, the driver detours again. This time to
Breezwood. Something supposedly wrong with this bus too. After he
pulls it in the garage for a few minutes and goes around the
parking lot a few times, we re-board.
We ended up getting to Pittsburgh at 9:30 AM. Over 2 hours late,
and no chance of making our connection!
So then we have to wait there until 12:45 PM to get on a bus
going to Newcastle, Youngstown, Kent, Akron, then Cleveland.
From there, after a short layover and a transfer, we are off to
Ashtabula then Erie, where we arrive at almost 8 PM !
For an idea of how far out of the way we actually went, here are pics of the route we were supposed to have
And the route we actually took.
With all that said and done, it was all worth it.
But I would never do it again.
Iron Maiden setlist
Intro
Wildest Dreams
Wrathchild
Can I Play With Madness
The Trooper
Dance of Death
Rainmaker
Brave New World
Paschendale
Lord of the Flies
No More Lies
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden
Bruce's speech