8/3/2005 - Molson Amphitheater
My daughter and I had a
blast.
This was my first time up to Canada. (well, I don't
count my 6th grade field trip).
Had a little delay at the boarder crossing. They had us pull off
to the side while they checked our ID's and looked the truck
over.
Suppose this would be a good time to mention we rode up with a
friend, his brother, and his cousin. 5 people in a truck. Yes, it
did have a back seat, but that was really packed with 3 people in
it. Also made it hard to sleep. (the drive was like 4+ hours)
The venue was very nice.
Really different having the concert hall in with a big water
park.
We got there early, so we spent some time wandering around
checking things out. (even though we had PIT tickets, we didn't
see the sense in waiting in line and fighting for position all
day) Our traveling partners bought their tickets at the venue
when we got there, so they were somewhere in the seated section.
Once the gates opened for the concert, we went in, and checked
things out. Walked around and got the lay of the land (still
no urge to go stand in the pit).
The lawn area was very small compaired to what we were used to at
Blossom. Though the concession areas were much nicer.
Checked out the goodies for sale. The crowd at the sales tents
were huge, and it took forever to fight through to buy anything.
We both decided to get the exclusive shirts. Wish I would have
had more money to spend as they were selling for a couple hundred
dollars on ebay since they were only available at the Quebec and
Toronto shows. But the booth didn't take Master Card [grumble]
Then we sat down an relaxed. Wanted to save our energy until we
actually needed it.
Actually even got something to drink which is unusual for us
because the prices at events like these. Though with the
conversion rate, I think things were actually less expensive than
at home.
There was some local band playing on the asphalt before the show,
and between Mastadon, and Maiden. They were pretty good, but I
can't remember their name. We just sat at a picnic table and
listened to them. Then we listened to Mastadon, which we had no
interest in catching. And from the sounds of the music, weren't
even worth going out onto the lawn to catch.
After a while we headed
down to the pit. Took a while to get there.
Between fighting through the crowds, then having to stop to get
wristbands, etc.
When we finally got there it was reasonably full, but not packed
yet.
We took up position on the right side of the crowd and started
working our way closer to the front and more in towards the
stage.
We weren't pushing our way through, or being obnoxious about it.
Just whenever there was a space, we would move into it. We
managed to get about 6 people from the stage, and just even with
the edge of the stage when the band started. In the initial push
that ensued we gained a little more ground :-)
Did I mention it was pretty warm?
Well, it was. Especially once we got into the pit with all those
other people.
We were sweating before the band even started.
Here is a pic that was
taken at the show that gives you an idea of how close we were.
That is us that is circled in the pic. Britny on the left, and me
on the right.
The band was blistering.
They were really fired up.
I think partial because they hadn't had a Maiden crowd for a few
weeks. They had been touring on Ozzfest where they got a mix of
people, and were only headlining the nights when Ozzy couldn't
perform with Sabbath.
They were all fired up and having a blast. Which really helps
enhance a performance.
The audience were no slouches either. We were showing our
appreciation and getting them even more wound up.
Janick was his usually
goofy energetic self. Going wild all night
Bruce was on fire, and his vocal performance was one of the best
I have heard in a while.
Steve of course was also all over the place, singing along and
just hammering away at his bass.
Dave was even more lively than usual. He is usually walking
around with his big grin, but he was even more animated than I am
accustomed to.
And Adrian was the one who surprised me the most. In the old
days, he wasn't very active. More intent on his playing than his
showmanship. But the last 2 times I was close enough to see him
he has really changed. He is much more animated. More lively, and
does a lot more crowd interaction. He really seems more relaxed
and seems like he enjoys himself a lot more during the shows now.
The setlist was.
Intro
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Another Life
Prowler
The Trooper
Remember Tomorrow
Where Eagles Dare
Run to the Hills
Revelations
Wrathchild
Die With Your Boots On
Phantom of the Opera
Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden
Running Free
Drifter
Sanctuary
A real nice mix of the old
classics from the first 4 albums.
It was a real blast to hear some of the old gems played live
again. Especially since some of them haven't been done on stage
for a looooooooong time.
Another Life sounded so great with 3 guitars.
Only bummer was, we didn't get the new intro they had been
playing for Where Eagles Dare and we didn't get to see the
inflatable Eddie that comes up from behind the stage.
Though we did get to see Bruce come out in what looked like full
Canadian Mountie uniform during The Trooper. And the big Piece of
Mind era Eddie walking around the stage.
We also got to see Bruce
completely loose his train of thought when giving one of his
speaches. Someone tossed some fake breasts up onto the stage.
Bruce picked one up while talking. Looked at it, and completely
lost it :D
He tossed one to Janick who put it back stage, and tossed the
other one out to the crowd.
We had a blast.
The crowd was great. Not a whole lot of pushing and shoving.
Though early in the show some idiots thought they would try
'moshing'. Some of the Maiden veterans quickly educated them
otherwise though.
I was really proud of my daughter. I was somewhat worried about
her being in the pit. Though I knew she was pretty tough, I
didn't know what the crowd would be like. At first I kept her in
front of me so I could keep the idiots off her back. But as
things progressed we ended up side by side as I workd farther
into the crowd and kind of pulled her with me.
She held her own no problem :-)
I watched with amusement as she took care of several people that
tried to muscle past her. And soon enough they learned to give
her her space. It was great watching her pumping her fist in the
air with the music, and bringing the elbow back on anyone trying
to crowd her without missing a beat. Or when the big guy beside
her thought he would push past in front of her. When she brought
her knee up into the pressure point on the side of his leg, and
he almost fell to the floor because his whole left side had gone
numb momentarily, I almost doubled over laughing.
We, eventually got up to about 3rd person back from the stage,
just left/center of Janicks spot on the stage. We were pretty
content to hang there. The people in front of us were fairly
short, so I didn't see a need to try and push past them. Though
there was a bit of time during a big push (think it was either
when the band came back for the encores, or when eddie came out)
that Britny did push her way up to the railing for a bit before
being pushed back to her previous spot.
Didn't get any wristbands
or picks yet again :-(
Though I did get on the setlists taped to the stage!
We were completely shot
after the show. We probably lost a few pounds from sweating.
Our voices were almost gone. Our ears were ringing.
It was the greatest concert of my life. Never before had I been
in a pit like that. Cleveland 03 was close, but this one topped
it, if for no other reason than I was there with my 14 year old
daughter!
