I am going to put this on the main page as I consider this progressive metal, but feel free to move it if you think it should be off topic.
I saw Iron Maiden with opening act Ghost at The Hollywood Casino Ampetheater in Tinley Park Illinois last night. I have been a Maiden fan all my life, but had not seen them since the “Somewhere In Time” tour way back in the 80’s. I am also a big fan of Ghost so I was really looking forward to this one.
The afternoon did not start off so great. Normally from my home town to Tinley park the drive is just about exactly 2 hours. We thought we left plenty early enough. Unfortunately as soon as we hit the Indiana border we also hit non-stop road construction. It was basically bumper to bumper traffic from then on and the trip took significantly longer than what is typical. We had to scrap plans to hit a brewpub for some dinner and beers before the show. I honestly don’t know how people in the Chicago area deal with this traffic every day. I am spoiled living in a small city. Anyway, about the show……
Tinley Park is your typical large outdoor “shed” type of venue. It had been quite a few years since I had been there, but nothing much had changed. Parking lot security cruises around looking for evil tailgaters. The beer selection is lousy and ridiculously overpriced. The men’s bathroom has troughs instead of urinals straight out of the 1940’s. The sound is typically muddy and not clear. Not my favorite place to see a show, but what are ya gonna do right?
Ghost was up first doing an hour long set. As mentioned earlier, I am a big fan so really enjoyed it. Having seen them as a headliner with their own production, seeing them as an opening act with a truncated set was a bit different. They cut back on some of their usual shtick, and Papa’s in between song banter was much reduced. From where we were sitting, the sound was pretty muddy and it was often difficult to understand what he was saying when he talked. When I have seen them before the guy is pretty funny, but that was a bit lost in this set. Another thing that did not really work in Ghost’s favor is they started the show with some of their best material and I think some of the momentum died out a bit as the show went on. The combination of “Square Hammer” and “From The Pinnacle To The Pit” are great openers, but kind of hard to follow up for an audience that is there for another band. All that being said I enjoyed the hell out of their set and they seemed to get a pretty good reaction from the Maiden faithful.
After about a 45 minute break, UFO’s “Doctor Doctor” blared over the sound system signaling that the show was about to begin. Many in the crowd were singing along, then the houselights went down and Maiden roared onto the stage with a blazing version of “If Eternity Should Fail”. The set list was a really nice mix of songs from the new album “Book Of Souls”, more recent albums like “Brave New World” and old classics. Bruce Dickenson was in amazing form. The man is 3 years older than me, but never stopped moving the entire show. He ran all over the stage, jumping around, and generally doing a 2 hour aerobic workout. It made my knees hurt just watching him. His voice was in incredible shape and I honestly think he is singing better today than he did when he was younger. Considering he just recovered from throat cancer makes it even more mind blowing. Everyone else in the band was at the top of their game as well. 3 guitars hammering away, Steve Harris running around like a man half his age, and Niko McBrain pounding away on a huge drum kit. The stage set was a typical Maiden over the top production, with pyro, large inflatables, and of course Eddie. My only minor complaints would be with the sound. As I mentioned earlier, this venue is notoriously muddy sounding and Maiden was no exception. Although better in sound quality than Ghost it was still sometimes difficult to pick up what Bruce was saying when he talked between songs. I also did not really like the way they had McBrain positioned on stage. He was kind of buried in between the amps and not really easy to see. I think it would have worked better to have him on a riser where you could really see what he was doing. These are both very minor complaints though, as it was an all-around fantastic show. The crowd was all over the place from little kids to senior citizens. For a big arena type show everyone seemed pretty cool and behaved themselves for the most part. In an era where many of my generation’s bands are either a shadow of what they used to be or just going through the motions, Maiden really are still as good as they ever were. If you are a fan, and this tour is coming to your town, it is a great double bill.
Here were the set lists:
GHOST:
SQUARE HAMMER
FROM THE PINNACLE TO THE PIT
RITUAL
CIRICE
YEAR ZERO
ABSOLUTION
MUMMY DUST
MONSTRANCE CLOCK
IRON MAIDEN:
IF ETERNITY SHOULD FAIL
SPEED OF LIGHT
WRATHCHILD
CHILDREN OF THE DAMMED
DEATH OR GLORY
THE RED AND THE BLACK
THE TROOPER
POWERSLAVE
THE GREAT UNKNOWN
THE BOOK OF SOULS
FEAR OF THE DARK
IRON MAIDEN
ENCORES:
THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST
BLOOD BROTHERS
WASTED YEARS
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Originally Posted by Jerjo
Some of those kids are spot on. Up the Irons, my young friends!
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