7/15/2010 - Blossom Music Center
My daughter and I had a
fun.
We arrived well before the show started, though a little later
than I had hoped.
Ran into a lot of road construction on the way, so traffic was
something of a nightmare.
Started off with LAWN tickets. I haven't had much cash so I had
to settle for some cheap tickets I scored on ebay. We upgraded
them at the show, but all they had left was SEC 38.
So, we were all the way in the back left corner, about half-way
down the last row.
Not the best seats we have ever had, but it was still a great
experience.
The weather was pretty
good. A bit on the warm and sticky side, but not too bad.
Not as bad as I had feared from the weather forecasts.
We sat on the lawn while waiting for Dream Theater to start.
There was a nice breeze out there.
Didn't know much about them. Only thing I had really heard was an
official bootleg of them performing Iron Maiden's Number of the
Beast.
They seemed ok, though not quite my type of stuff.
The music was good, but not knowing any of the lyrics kept me
from really getting into it.
At least to me, most of the songs seemed to be much like all the
other songs. So after a while it got boring. Especially since
everyone stood up as soon as they came out. So just standing
there in the heat was a little draining.
We did get some entertainment from the teens in the row in front
of us. They kept doing goofy stuff and head-banging here and
there.
But, about 3/4 of the way through the set, we decided to go sit
on the lawn and listen to the rest of the show in relative
comfort.
After DT's set, we made our way across to the other side to hit the drinking fountains and stretch our legs a bit. Then back to our spot on the lawn to kick back and relax until Maiden came out.
When Doctor, Doctor kicked
in we made our way to our seats (about 40 feet away).
Then the intro started, the background of the stage lit up
(looked like an outer space type thing), and the screens came
alive!
It felt really epic and a great build-up for the boys to come out
and take the stage.
Then they hit the stage
running with Wicker Man.
Not really my favorite track from that album but I can see why
they opened with it.
High energy with an easy chorus.
Was much happier with the next song, Ghost of the Navigator. Good
atmospheric tune to get you in the mood for a Maiden show. And
seemed to be received well by the audience.
Which BTW, was huge!
The seats were filled, the lawn was packed. Bruce said there were
over 10,000 in attendance. I think that number was a little low.
Wrathchild and El Dorado seemed to loose the crowd a bit. Not
much audience participation for either one. And since El Dorado
was new, seemed like not many knew it.
It does sound much better live, than the single they released
online.
But Dance of Death fixed that. Crowd loved it, and I was happy we
got it.
Maiden has been rotating DOD and Paschendale in their setlist. I
like both, but think DOD is a much better song for the show. It
just has more energy and the fans get into it more. There was
tons of clapping along during the slower/quieter parts.
Breeg was another song that didn't get a lot of reaction.
But These Colors really got people's attention.
Which built even more when Blood Brothers followed it. The crowd
loved it. Clapping and singing along.
Wildest Dreams seemed to dip a little only to come back stronger
with No More Lies!
Brave New World kept the energy going, and when they followed
with Fear of the Dark, the place almost exploded.
Then, when Eddie came out during Iron Maiden, the place went
crazy.
The place seemed to lose
some of it's energy after the encore break though.
666 kicked it of all right, but during Hallowed I saw most just
standing there, and a lot were eve sitting. Not sure if they were
just out of steam by that point, or not familiar with the song.
Running Free seemed to bring things back up though. Lots of sing
along in that one, and the crowd did not disappoint.
GREAT SHOW!
And a great night.
A few overall
observations.
I'm really glad they stuck to mostly newer songs. Don't get to
hear them done live much, and it was very refreshing.
The stage show, as usual was excellent. Cool backdrops, great
lighting. Walking Eddie, and the guys seemed to be on fire.
Feeding off the crowd.
No giant Eddie behind the stage this tour though, and I don't
remember any pyro at all.
There was some fog, but I don't think there was any fire,
fireworks, or flashpots.
Didn't really take away from the show, just something I realized
after the fact.
There were a few times that Bruce's singing kind of bothered me.
Not sure if his mic was cutting out on him, or if he was skipping
words here and there. And early in the set, it seemed like he
wasn't holding the notes as long as he used to. Though by the end
of the night, he seemed to be on top of his game.
It was also nice to hear quite a few parts with backing vocals
from the rest of the band.
It's not something Maiden does a lot of, so, it was nice to hear
it.
I was kind of worried
about our seat location.
I've been spoiled lately, but either being in the PIT, or on a
general admission floor for most of the shows I attend. Being in
seats, and so far back and to the side, was quite the change.
I was worried I would spend most of my time watching the screens
instead of the stage.
Thankfully, that didn't happen. I only glanced at the screens
occasionally, usually to see some of Bruce's facial expressions,
or other odd things.
This way, I got to enjoy the full stage show, and light show.
Even that far back, I could still see what was going on, pretty
good. And most of the time, the screens weren't showing what I
was watching.
The main drawback to our
locations was some of the people around us.
Just seemed to be taking me out of the show as I kept getting
interupted by their actions.
The kids in front of me were kind of annoying at times. But hey!
At least they were into it, and rocked-out most of the night. So,
that was a cool kind of distraction.
I felt bad for the lady next to me, because she kept getting
frustrated with not being able to see around the tall teen in
front of her.
Then there were the 2 guys in front of us. Who spent most of the
night trying to carry on a loud conversation with no regard for
the fact that there was a concert going on. And that everyone
else wanted to see, and hear, that concert.
In the end though, who cares. IT WAS MAIDEN!
SETLIST
UFO Tape of
Doctor Doctor
Intro-
Wicker Man
Ghost Of The Navigator
Wrathchild
El Dorado
Dance Of Death
The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
These Colours Don't Run
Blood Brothers
Wildest Dreams
No More Lies
Brave New World
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden
Encore Break
The Number Of The Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Running Free
Outro