Iron Maiden landed in Perth, Western Australia for the first time in their 30-year history to play the second concert of the "Somewhere Back In Time" World Tour 2008 at the Burswood Dome on the 4th of February. (Bruce Dickinson quipped at one point during the concert that Perth was so far from anywhere else it had taken Iron Maiden 30 years to find it ... but they were glad they had once they had arrived.)
As ancient as I am, I am embarrassed to say this concert was my first real experience of Iron Maiden. I don’t own a single IM album, and cannot recall ever having sat and listened to one anywhere. Somehow I stopped getting into “metal” with the demise of the great Ozzy-lead Black Sabbath and missed Iron Maiden and most of the 80’s and 90's metal scene altogether!
Anyway, I ended up at the Iron Maiden concert at the Burswood Dome in Perth with my son, more by good luck than by design, and had a real ball tearer of a time. What a dynamite concert!
Bruce Dickinson was full of energy and singing really well. For much of the time he was running around the set like he was on fire. During The Trooper Dickinson was dressed as a red coat soldier and waving a huge Union Jack with the Eddie character in trooper mode behind him on a massive backdrop (which changed to reflect albums that the songs where from … the “albums” being an assumption on my part given my limited IM exposure). At one point – I can’t recall during which song – Dickinson had on a large mask while singing, looking almost Gabriel-esque in style. Dickinson’s performance and antics is one of those reasons it is great to have the obvious showman up front without the millstone (for want of a better word) of an instrument to hold them back from entertaining.
And on the instrument front, the triple guitar attack of Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers was full on metal express – stunning, really well executed metal guitar without being over the top, with some really excellent soloing. Throughout the night there was flashy over-the-head playing, guitar throwing (and catching), and a whole lot of charging about the stage, with all three getting involved in the action.
As for the rhythm section, Steve Harris was on song; powerful and resolute with commanding bass work. Nicko McBrain was also very good, though from our cheap seats we couldn’t see him because of the way his drum kit was set back into the stage setting. (See the drum kit in the picture in my new IM signature banner.) Thankfully there were giant screens on either side of the stage that brought us all kinds of close ups of all of the band and a lot of shots of what was happening behind the drum kit so McBrain was not totally out of the picture.
Last but not least, the stage setting was excellent (with the exception of the drums being set too far into the stage). The huge backdrop with its changing scenery was impressive and the lighting was excellent, being augmented by great pyrotechnics and smoke plumes at various times throughout the night.
All up Iron Maiden were on stage for just a few minutes less than two hours and brought us this set list…
Aces High
2 Minutes To Midnight
Revelations
The Trooper
Wasted Years
The Number of the Beast
Run To The Hills
Rime of The Ancient Mariner
Powerslave
Heaven Can Wait
Can I Play With Madness?
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden
Moonchild
The Clairvoyant
Hallowed Be Thy Name
The best songs for mine were The Trooper (probably the best of the night), Fear Of The Dark and the finisher Hallowed Be Thy Name (as you would expect).
My boy and his mates were disappointed there was no Dance Of Death or Phantom Of The Opera. As it goes with concerts, you can’t please everyone who ventures to the gig with the set list …and the boys got over it pretty quickly because it was such a good concert.
The concert goers were from a wide section of the community. There were those from the 50+ age group rubbing shoulders with the 20 somethings and teenagers in the mosh pits; 10-year old kids there with their parents; a dad and his son just down from where we were sitting with their arms around each others' waist for almost the entire concert as they sat enjoying the music together. All this happening in a sea of Iron Maiden tee-shirts, the likes of which I cannot recall at a concert for any other band.
Another plus for the night was a chance to see Aussie prog metal exponents Vanishing Point as part of the two warm-up acts.
The first warm-up band was that of Maiden’s Steve Harris’ daughter, Lauren, putting in a serviceable 30-minute set that could be described as punk gothic. Then Vanishing Point came on and played a quality 45-minute set of prog metal that impressed my boy as he had never heard Vanishing Point before … even though I do have two of their CD’s!
All in all, this concert was good value for money. And now, as a new convert to the Iron Maiden phenomenon, I will have to put some Iron Maiden on my music wanted list. It just never ends!
Edited by T.Rox - February 06 2008 at 02:47
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Iron Maiden - Perth, Western Australia, 4 Feb 2008
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