iron maiden

My daughter and I had fun.
We arrived well before the show started, though a little later than I had hoped.
Ran into road construction on the way, so traffic was a bit of a nightmare for a short stretch.
This was the first time at this venue, so I tried to leave with plenty of time to spare.
The weather was pretty good. A bit on the warm and sticky side, but not too bad.
Not as bad as I had feared, as we had been in the midst of a real hot spell.

The venue is part of a big water / amusement park, which lead to a few things being different.
Instead of a pavilion, the stage was under a giant tent. Kind of like a circus.
Also, since this wasn't originally designed to be an area for a stage, the floor was flat.
Which lead to the stage being a lot higher off the ground than most.
Which meant the barrier was way back, so those in the front could see over the lip of the stage.

As you can see, the pit was pretty small-ish.
This was between groups, when we were going back to the pit to get a spot for Maiden.
Durring Cooper, we were about that far back, but dead center.
Durring Maiden we were a lot closer to the stage.

You can see in the first pic, just how high the stage actually was.
And in the second you can see how far back that put us.
There were only like 2 rows of people between us and the barrier.

After we got inside the gate, we had a quick look around, then made our way to the pit.
Not too long after that, Alice hit the stage!
It was great!
Been a long time since I was up close for a Cooper show, he is just as good now, as he was then.
Britny snagged one of his batons that he tossed out. I almost got a pick, but gave it to the guy who told me it was under my foot.
Almost had my head taken off by a few other picks. Man those guys playing for Alice can really sling those things.
I really like the band he has playing with him now. Very tallented. They bring a lot of energy and fun into the show with them too.
Only bummer was a shortened setlist due to him being the opener.

Alice Cooper
01. The Black Widow (with intro) 02. Brutal Planet 03. I'm Eighteen 04. No More Mr. Nice Guy 05. Hey Stoopid 06. Billion Dollar Babies 07. Feed My Frankenstein 08. Poison 09. Wicked Young Man 10. Killer 11. I Love the Dead (excerpt only) 12. School's Out

51 minutes

Then it was off to sit and chill a bit on the lawn. Relax, have a smoke, and just people watch.
Then it was back to the pit for the main event. Things were quite a bit more crowded now.
Still got a good spot on the right side of the stage. We alway like to be on Janick's side.
Lots of older fans don't care for him, or his playing style. But we love his energy, and his antics.
We ended up with about 2 rows of people between us and the barrier.
The show was amazing. I expect nothing less from Maiden, and they always deliver.
It's been 24 years since I've seen some of these songs done live. Was great to experience it again.
Especially since I was up in the cheap seats when 7th Son was toured.
Lots of pyro. Excellent light show. Some cool backdrops. And lots of Eddie props!
The crowd was really into it, and the got the band really amped too.
Bruce let the crowd sing a lot more lines than he normally does, because we were just
that loud.
Only downer, is that they couldn't use one of their big Eddies due to the small size of the stage.

Iron Maiden
UFO Tape of Doctor Doctor Intro- Moonchild Can I Play With Madness The Prisoner 2 Minutes to Midnight Afraid to Shoot Strangers The Trooper Number of the Beast Phantom of the Opera Run to the Hills Wasted Years 7th Son of a 7th Son The Clairvoyant Fear of the Dark Iron Maiden Encore Break Aces High Evil That Men Do Running Free Outro

122 minutes	Click for more pictures.

Then, it was over. Monty Python blairing through the PA system, the lights were on, and everyone was starting to leave.
Had to stop on the way, and grab a shirt. Took me a bit to decide which one I wanted.
Then it was waiting forever to get out of the parking lot, and then find our way back to the interstate.
That has got to be the worst thing about any show. Waiting to get out of it.

IRON MAIDEN '12