IRON MAIDEN: BIG BAD & BOLD IN MONTREAL
“Dio RIP,” a white banner commanded attention from the crowd that had gathered – sweaty and eager – into Montreal’s Bell Centre Wednesday night. It was only fitting that homage be paid to the late Metal legend; the bill not only boasted metal icons Iron Maiden, but recognized prog metal band Dream Theater. For those of you who haven’t been paying attention to the rock or metal movements for the past thirty odd years, Iron Maiden is one of the pioneer metal groups, sharing the early British new wave metal stage with Dio’s group Black Sabbath. However, as the skinny, tattooed Maiden fan to my left pointed out, “It’s hard not to know who Iron Maiden is.”
The cross section of concert goers was a motley crew of young boys in AC/DC shirts, men spanning about three generations, and a handful of acid-wash jean sporting girlfriends. The overall mentality, despite the sterile, overpriced atmosphere of the sports arena, as summarized by the back of the t shirt of the man in front of me, was “Rock ‘N Roll, motherfucker.”
Regrettably, I had missed Dream Theater’s early set, and filed into the packed arena just in time to see the stage curtains pull back to reveal a starlit backdrop. Smoke emanated from the ceiling, lights dimmed, and the six current members of Iron Maiden hit the stage, launching immediately into Brave New World’s Wickerman. Vocalist Bruce Dickenson was a dynamo of energy in army pants and a worn black shirt that declared ‘Psych Ward’ on the front that was noticeably torn by the end of the set. While Dickenson was almost satirically balls to the wall, guitarist Janick Gers’ studded leather pants and wild blonde hair personified seventies rock almost as much as Steve Harris’ triumphantly sweaty brown locks and bass playing.
The crowd’s response to Wickerman was absolutely deafening, and as the Bell Centre’s spotlights illuminated hundreds of raised fists – most forming the requisite metal devil horns – it was obvious the room was in for quite the night. Dickenson jumped and posed and provoked the crowd, seeming to orchestrate the arena full of metalheads into a jumping, fist raising choir. The set – except for the requisite Iron Maiden ‘closer’ and the encore (Number of the Beast, Hallowed, and Running Free) – was essentially composed of material released after 2000. Although the crowd seemed to appreciate the classics, tracks from Brave new World and Dance of Death were well suited to the current lineup and style. El Dorado, the only song included from the August slated Final Frontier album, was received well. A rough bassline harkens back to their older material – perhaps due to the fact that Final Frontier was recorded at the same studio as Piece of Mind (1983) and Powerslave (1984).
“There are more things on heaven and earth,” a disembodied voice bellowed, introducing Dance of Death’s title track “Than are dreamt of in your philosophy…” bringing to mind a music critic friend of mine who described this Final Frontier tour as ‘Thinking Man’s Metal.’ Despite the instinctual urgency; the time signatures, guitar riffs, basslines, vocals, and themes of both Iron Maiden and Dream Theater can hardly be described as simple.
For the majority of the show, Dickenson addressed the concert in French. In the Belle Province’s language, he asks, “Out of all of you, who here is at their first Iron Maiden concert?” To which there was a smattering of applause, “Welcome them, Montreal! Welcome our new brothers and sisters!” The ground floor ceased to be a cluster of the city’s fathers, respectable workers, and friends, but a sweaty, noisy mass of undulating fists, forming the requisite devil horn symbol.
“Scream for me, Montreal!” Dickenson provoked the audience. “On the seventeenth of August, who’s going to make Final Frontier the number one album in Canada? You are!” While other bands would shrink before such a blatant marketing scheme, most bands can’t boast fifteen studio albums and over a hundred million discs sold, worldwide, especially when most of their songs are too long for Top 40 status. Oh, and then there are the monsters. Between the ten foot tall green monster that picked a fight with Jerg before playing air guitar behind Harris, to the red eyed, smoke surrounded devil mechanism that rose up behind the band during Number of the Beast, the band held on to their reputation for eerie symbolism and badass monster cameos (yes, Eddie was featured on several album art backdrops). Although some Maiden fans may demand more of the group’s early material, the set did a good job of covering all the bases. If the Final Frontier tour is any indication of Maiden’s August release, expect their new material to pay homage to the band’s early career, while adapting to their current lineup and maintaining relevance. Don’t worry, Maiden fans; the group is still big and bad and twice as bold.
Photographer Nour Haik was also at the concert; click here to check out her photos now!
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