Iron Maiden concert

Steve, Chris and I went to the Iron Maiden concert at White River Amphitheatre last night.  Holy Diver, was it an awesome show!  And I mean “awesome” in the true sense of the word!  In my youth, I attended two Iron Maiden concerts; the first for the Powerslave album, the second for Somewhere in Time.  Granted, I was on one or two drugs during these concerts, but the impression they made on me was timeless.  The Powerslave tour has always been a bit fuzzy for me, but I do remember a giant pyramid in the background.   During the Somewhere in Time tour, a giant, 15 foot tall Eddie came out on stage, equipped with a smoke and laser gun.  He started shooting lasers over our heads and blew my freakin’ mind!  Everything else about those concerts involved me being stoned and swimming in a  sea of sweaty, male metal-heads, so details are difficult to recall.

So here I was, 22 years later, watching Iron Maiden play through many of their classic songs with two of my best friends standing by my side.  When the show started, I was a little disappointed to see that the background was just a painted tapestry with a mish-mash of album covers on it.  But when they played “The Trooper”, the tapestry curled back to reveal a giant picture of the Eddie trooper and I thought to myself, “Now the concert is starting.”  I remember, it wasn’t long after this song that Steve turned to me and said that he saw a father hugging his son.  Such a moving moment!  During a song from Powerslave, (I forget which one), a giant mummy Eddie appeared from inside an Eddie shpinx head and everyone went ape shit.   At the end of the song, fireworks shot out from his eyes! Later, during a  an 8ft. tall futuristic, Somewhere in Time Eddie came out on stage and interacted with the band.  Great, campy stuff. 

The show was everything I could have hoped for and more. Those guys were in great form and were having a lot of fun on stage.  The only problem with the whole night was the amphitheatre itself.  Getting to and from it was an absolute nightmare.  I can only recommend this place if you really, really like the band/bands you’re seeing.