Maiden Germany
(AKA The nightmare in Deutschland)
A 1-0 victory securely resting in the English footballing locker. New album Brave New World taking the country by storm, peaking to number three in the German charts. The universes greatest heavy metal planet, the sonic beast that is known as Iron Maiden, looked like they were in for a lick lippingly good return. Never since the air raid siren days of, well, last years Ed Hunter tour in fact, (with Churchill's "We shall fight them on the beaches…" etc) had the boyz being so pumped up to let Cologne and Frankfurt have some more. And, as we all know, there's no prayer for the dying… With Maiden headlining festivals Mannheim and Essen, supported by Slayer, Motorhead, Dream Theater, Nashville Pussy, Spiritual Beggars and Dirty Deed's, the message to all moshing in those pits was clear. If you're gonna die, die with your boots on! And they did…
…Though unfortunately, things were taken dangerously literally by a certain someone who took a nasty trip for the worst. The full story from ringside was that Maiden guitarist Janick Gers lost his footing via a speaker monitor and fell ten feet down onto the concrete floor, leading to a nasty head gash, resulting in unconsciousness and blood everywhere. Something was obviously wrong when a guitar stuttered out of action, and few in the audience who didn't witness the incident (and despite not seeing Gers anywhere in sight on stage) had any idea of what was going on. Ironically occurring during none other than The Number Of The Beast, full credit to vocalist Bruce Dickinson for as intervening as quickly as he did and halting the proceedings via the crowd. The guitarist was then taken to hospital, and the latest news we have on this is Janick required six stitches for where he knocked his head, and that he has sprained his back and has severe bruising in several places. Obviously the Essen show was cancelled due to such occurrences, and the shows in Sophia and Athens have also being cancelled. On the plus side, Janick has being released and returned back to London after being told by medics to take a full week off for recovery. The Brave New World Tour will resume at the Vilar De Mouros festival (Portugal) on Sunday. June 16th.
(Source of latest news, www.ironmaiden.com)
However, we still found the time to check out what we heard of Maiden, the other bands, and even give ya a highly scintillating on the road diary… what more could you ask for? Scream for me the edge of darkness…
On the Road Diary… with Iron Mullet and Hand Of Fate
07/07/00 -- Set out from our spectacular Palaces in the majestic dump that is Stoke-On-Trent and make our way to Keele Services to await our International Concert Travel Bus, in time for it's 4.35 departure. Though unfortunately, time was not on our sides, or lady luck. The coach is now 2 hours late, and our Maiden filled minds start to drift as were lost in a dream of panic. Hand Of Fate makes a phone call to ICT and discovers that due to a change in transport arrangements, the coach drivers were not informed about anyone being at Keele, and ICT had failed to inform us. A serious case of can I play with madness then followed. ICT's manager told us to get a cab to Stoke station, a train to London and a taxi cab into central London to get to the awaiting, delayed bus, after of which he would re-imburse us in full for all expenses. The problem was finding the money -- fortunately, with J being the accountant and financial guru that he is, he'd brought his Natwest card. After all that palaver came a not so thrilling journey through London, down to Dover and across the channel to Calais, before making our way into Germany via France and Belgium, with the marvelously metal tones of Maiden and Slayer powering out in the background.
08/07/00 --With us now in the motherland, and everyone knackered (courtesy of about two hour's sleep) and starving, the trip for breakfast seemed a promising one. In fact, we both proved that enthusiastic for the days first meal that we ended up getting absolutely sweet FA to eat -- we eat, live, breath and sleep rock 'n' roll you see! Are ya still with us? Well, we were in now in our first hotel actually, and after receiving our exclusively free Brave New World T-shirt's (FC members only) and packing in, it was now officially 'let's go gigging' time. So, we set off for Mennheim Metal 2000 ready to rock…
Metal 2000 -- Iron Maiden Live in Mennheim, Germany
Dubbed as an open-air gig, it came as a bit of a surprise when the venue was actually indoors. This was more than likely caused by the late change of venue, but the general feeling was that things would still be happening outside. Unfortunately, not to be, but the following hours would generally offer plenty of musical comfort for the mishaps. Until the next ones…
DIRTY DEEDS East Londoners Dirty Deeds begun events with at a good triple edged lump of their latest album Real World, the likes of Welcome To The Real World, Kill The Pain and Nightmare attracting good levels of attention. As they showed during their support slots with Maiden on Virtual XI World Tour, Deeds are demons on the live stage. True, Pete Franklin's vocals were a little shaky (or should we say nervy) at times, though minus that, the bands vintage, good old fashioned British metal was much appreciated by most of us old school metallers out there. Though with us missing some of the earlier songs, whether that be more numbers from their most recent album or some other efforts from their high quality debut Danger Of Infection, complete with Tony Newton's bass 'blowing' up, it's difficult to be too full of praise. Though what was heard, coupled with the outstanding talents of each individual in this quartet working together brilliantly as a group, Deeds, as ever, made for short but entertaining listening. VERDICT -- @@@@
SPIRITUAL BEGGARS The surprise highlight of the night, to your average metal fan, these Swedish Beggars may have you thinking that they're just another of those totally naff Kerrang bands, yours truly being amongst the elite in thinking such things. But, on contraire, these ears were in for the most shockingly good blessings we've had in a long time, albeit in the darkest of ways. The 'Satan's in the Sabot' intro or whatever garbage it was shows the band still hasn't reached heavy metal puberty where show opening theme music is concerned, but the following set saw all the skepticism being totally blown out in the tastiest of rock ways. Clearly heavily influenced by the waves of 70's bands, and sounding like a cross between Black Sabbath and Monster Magnet, the force was dusted nicely with a neat sense of appeal. While reminding you of the good old days, the sound that makes you realize what modern day metals all about was still in check. With a good collection of new material from their third album Ad Astra, their live brilliance and intertwined varying instrumental skills (notably the Jon Lord esque keyboard player and the rather talented axeman), Spiritual Beggars have the fire and possess the force. And with the rather fine Angel Of Betrayal being one of the Live highlights of metal 2000 in anyone's mind, plus that they're one of those traditional meets original bands, may their evil take it's course. Now how do I do those devil signs… VERDICT -- @@@@
NASHVILLE PUSSY Fresh out of Nashville, complete with the services of two of the hottest 'pussies', or should we say 'wenches'! in metal, comes the fun filled frenzy that is Pussy -- Nashville Pussy. Now you know the names, let's talk out their musical abilities, of which, surprisingly, some does actually exist… The howling larynx of the cap covering bald vocalist / rhythm guitarist Blaine Cartwright takes you into that AC/DC land that is vocally run by Brian Johnson, though those popular Australians (and a Geordie) always did like a bit of blues within their metal. Nashville offer hints of such a genre, but you don't have to be Mick Wall to figure out what style is on their agenda -- big, country flavoured hard rock with a feel good factor of ten. Judging by the staring eyes coming from some of the male audience, the music wasn't the only thing that was hard. Such unrefined theories aside, while kicking up a likeable view, if your not at all into all that lightly tinged country rock / blues, even Nashville's heavier sounding improvisations may have indeed made them look like Pussies compared to the other bands. Darn -- then we realized we should have saved such criticism for Dream Theater! Seriously, this is a band about delivering fun, high energy and pretty views in an authentically rock 'n' roll way, and that can only be a good thing. That being said, you'd have to argue as to where this band would go without the views of Corey Parks and her electric playing friend (Ruyter Suys). A set with plenty of musical fun and visual stage presence (particularly in more areas than some) rather than out and out brilliance. VERDICT -- @@@
DREAM THEATER Progressive rock / metallers Dream Theater have being going since 1989 now, and for those of you who only want to read about Maiden, then your about to miss out here -- ha ha! Reason being, drummer Mike Portnoy, one of the most inventive and creative tub whackers around to our ears, is a big admirer of Maiden's drummer Nicko McBrain -- here here. Dream Theater are all about things big and epic. They've got kilo upon kilo of melody, and they've got enough time changes to sweep away the likes of the talking clock -- you've never heard so many in your music hearing life. All things appreciated came particularly via drummer Portnoy, expert widdler John Petrucci and the virtuoso keyboard abilities of Jordan Rudess. The later, while playing many a fast keyboard solo via a guitar like effect, also played in tandem with the guitarist on main solo lines and for harmonies. While this was finger creating magic was refreshingly vibrant, Theater proved themselves more than capable of impressing the audience, and the Germans certainly seemed to have a bit of a thing for these unfashionable yet very gifted Americans. Although to us who have never heard much of this band before, the theory of less is more would have being a safer game for the dreamer's to play. Explaining this, Theater had so many lengthy, epic songs going that your mind just lost track in a midst of time changes and solos. As a result, this made for tiring listening at times, and a few more all round listener friendly tracks would have catered better for all the Dream Theater virgins in the crowd. Sadly Hard and progressive rock festivals don't exist -- a rock festival applies to any type of rock / metal bands, whatever their genre (minus the indie type, of course). So, by the way of saying Dream Theater didn't fit the bill or looked out of place, that's not as valid a statement as it originally seems. But while not over-roared by the other bands, the performance DT turned in was overdone. VERDICT -- @@@
MOTORHEAD It was a real treat and honour to the see mighty Motorhead on the same bill (and supporting) Maiden. The later may well have evolved into the greatest and most popular British metal band ever, but let's not forget that some of the guys from the 'Head were rocking it out even before the Irons! "We're Motorhead and we're gonna kick your ass" shouts Lemmy before charging into their rattling set -- latterly orchestrated by latest album title and song 'We are Motorhead', we were truly spanked! A muscle filled performance from their petrol guzzling bandwagon, infectious classics such as Iron Fist, Ace Of Spades and a mesmeric cover of The Sex Pistols God Save The Queen was the fuel that got the audiences engines pumping. The venue was alight for Motorhead every note of the way, and with the aggression and strength that this English three piece serves up, it wasn't a great surprise why. Opening sound quality was a little low and trebly for a third of the set, but this was redeemed by the decibel increase later into the evening. Incorporating a number of efforts from the bands Sacrifice album (including the title track itself) Motorhead could do little wrong. Metal romps weren't the only things on Lemmy's agenda though, his comments of "…Y'er all right…and don't think I won't shag your girlfriend tonight because I will…" going down like a Graff Zeppelin amongst the courting members of the German audience. Those of us who are single… (not that we're suggesting we are of course) thought it was a stunner. That aside, Lemmy's blistering bass work, coupled with the flamboyancy of drummer Mickey Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell, was as solid and charismatic as ever. The only thing limiting Motorhead from being flawless was the weak opening sound. Minus that, there is no denying that the 'Head continue to be lethal live outfit, and this set was no exception. VERDICT --@@@@
SLAYER Hell, Death, Suicide. "Well, we're Slayer…" (cue the Elvis voice…) "…thank you very much…" Tom Aryria's front-man skills may well just be the sh**est on earth -- he's obviously either a) losfer words or b) the ever faithful hand of doom has taken his mind away… You see, tonight, that's the levels we have to sink to in order to put Slayer down -- criticizing in between song chit chat. Reason being because their was nothing else to criticize minus such lunacies. The venues excellent sonic landscape would prove perfect for Slayer to show their absolute potential -- and for anyone who likes the guys, there could be absolutely no room for disappointment. WWF anthem Here Comes The Pain, Angel Of Death, 213, Captor Of Sin, Raining blood, Mandatory Suicide, War Assemble, South Of Heaven… all here, and all simply Slaytanic stuff. The intensity and brutality was burning on overload, and the overall live performance sounded hugely superior to the group's gig at Earls Court. Things are always made so much more entertaining with classic lines, and the dark charms of South Of Heaven's "Before you see the light, you must die…" just made the night for this twisted soul. On this performance, musically at least, Slayer were capable of making a few killings of their own -- in our words, making for the best live performance of the night. The terrorizing attack of guitarists King and Hanneman, drummer Bostaph and bassist / vocalist Aryria was frighteningly good as ever, and while not having much new to offer the masses at the moment, this was a Slayer performance that'll surely be revered by many for a long time to come. VERDICT -- @@@@@
IRON MAIDEN "Maiden, Maiden…" chant the crowd towards the end of Slayers massively impressive set. The blood is rushing, the sweat is pouring and the metal testosterone levels are near flowing… and the musical messiahs that make up Maiden haven't even taken to the rocked out stage! Everyone in the building, however many band's they like on the bill, know the primary reason they are here -- first and foremost, for Iron Maiden. Certainly from the output of the Brave New World material and The X Factor / Virtual XI highlighting epics, the Irons seem to be more confident and genuinely better every time they play this material. The same could be said of all those Maiden favourites, Wrathchild, Two Minutes To Midnight, The Evil That Men Do, Fear Of The Dark, The Trooper and Iron Maiden. Though the argument that Maiden have played these songs for years and should vary the set on these kind of songs is a fair one. Although many 'returned' or newer fans will demand to hear such songs, and besides, replacing favourites with favourites is like picking between Roses and Quality Street -- you can't please all of the people all of the time. However, soon time in the future, from BNW at least, it would be nice to hear at least The Fallen Angel, The Nomad and Out Of The Silent Planet in the Live set. Bruce Dickinson was simply sensational, his vocals sounding superbly balanced, thoroughly powerful and near error free. His fronting skills, particularly at their most captivating during his British flag waving (let's not forget where we are!) went down superbly amongst the English fans present, and the band simply buzzed from this. His comments were online too, his references to the resurgence of metal greeted with huge cheers of agreement. Similarly, Bruce's comments of "Are the any Scotsman out there?" during The Clansman were lapped up by the several Scottish fans present. Definitely a super Maiden performance, contributed to no end by the three guitar presence of Smith, Murray and Gers and the drums of Nicko, but it was the clearly up for it Steve Harris who, alongside Bruce Dickinson, singularly impressed most in the Maiden camp. His sledge-hammering bass-lines were ear swamping on the high tempo tracks, while the intimately smothering bass rhythms that presented themselves on the likes of Brave New World, Blood Brothers and The Clansman help you see the lighter and more refined side of Steve's playing. Although there were problems with Maiden's performance tonight, ranging from major to minor. In the way of electric guitar solos, we all know Maiden's fretmeisters can play, but tonight they were all chopping and changing everything, resulting in them sounding too complacent. And the thing that completely wiped out the chance of a classic Maiden gig was the injury of guitarist Janick Gers, strangely enough during Number Of The Beast. Janick at least can be grateful it wasn't Man On The Edge -- the "Falling Down…" chorus wouldn't have seemed so impressive at the time. Credit to Maiden for restarting the track and winding up with a great final encore version of Hallowed Be Thy Name. Although the life had clearly gone from many in the audience given the happenings and the understandable non-appearance of Sanctuary made you leave feeling something was missing (and you'd be right!). Conclusively, an excellent if not classic Maiden gig. Yes, the solo shortcomings were forgivable because ultimately it's about the songs, and while Maiden had the finest song's out of any of the other bands on the bill at their disposal, the chance to make this Maiden gig classic sadly, in the end, went out of the bands control. VERDICT -- @@@@
Andrew Law
On the Road Diary… (Continued) with Iron Mullet and Hand Of Fate
08/07/00
As the gig ended, our feelings of satisfaction were all tossed away by the nights sad incidents -- not even the prospects of the after show cheaper tee shirts, posters and programs could console us. Furthermore, the doubt as to whether Maiden would perform in Essen, or the other bands for that matter, was staring us right in the face. Back from the edge, the only thing you want to go after a gig is drink, drink, and er… drink. Anything else of course is a bonus, but in most cases, as in ours, we'll settle for the former. The drinking menu was the finest in the World, our elegant tastes opting for a good few swigs of water before rushing down to the bar for a few swift pints (more on that in tomorrow's notes) and a Maiden related chat.
09/07/00
After that, it was off to beddy bize for a well-deserved rest. After telling the alarmed 6.30 wake up call to p**s off, it was back off to sleep. We had to be ready at 8.15 to make our way to the Essen gig, and even earlier than that for breakfast. Naturally, we missed breakfast, and after waking up at five past eight, we raced out with a getting ready and packed away quickness that'd make a pit stop proud…. And away we went. After a four-hour drive, we arrived at the altogether more plusher Holiday Inn (cracking free pens, notepads and cups of coffee) and after getting settled in, it was time to set off to Essen. What a bad mistake this would prove to be. The coach got to the venue, only to see little or no one there, and then fans and official sources at the place confirmed the gig was cancelled. Damn. Fortunately, fifty quid and thirty-three quid are to be returned to everyone individually for non-appearance of the artist and the refunded ticket, so there was at least some monetary prosperity. Unlike most whiners and whiners, us Maiden fans knew how to make the most of a bad situation. Firstly, we grabbed some beers, the rather splendid Staudia Pills gracing every fan's beer glass. I (Andy) loved it -- chemical free, strong, beautiful, I'd recommend it to anyone. What a shame then that everyone else (minus some other unknown real ale drinker like me-self) thought it was crap. Doh! Things started to get really entertaining come the arranged ten pin bowling trip, and the stranger in a strange land dilemma was going to affect someone somewhere -- inevitably, Iron Mullet fell an absolute sucker courtesy of the locals. Basically, some other fan and Iron Mullet needed a bog break (known in normal conversation as a p**s!). Problem was, we weren't sure which was the male toilet. So, after asking some youths if they spoke English and where the men's room was, they kindly directed us -- into the female toilet! This was discovered when, after coming out of the cubicles and going to wash my hands, I nearly die as I see two temptingly pretty girls in the toilet! Though we laughed it off, explaining the situation to them before promptly exiting. After seeing the laughing lads in the distance, we went over to them and toasted their plan as 'an absolute classic.' Metal fans themselves, a brief conversation entailed, and their was no denying that these German's do have a decent sense of humour -- luckily for them, we did too, or it could have triggered WW3. They say things can only get better -- and they were 'kin right too. Hand Of Fate pulled in Mickey D's without lifting a finger, via those flirting looks and glaring eyes that happen both ways. Publicised in a note given to him, the loose translation courtesy of several Germans was this: -- "…I think you're so sweet. Call me as soon as possible. This is my FRIENDS number…" DOUBLE TROUBLE! Iron Mullet didn't have the honour of viewing this supposed princess, but from the cheers and compliments from all the other Maidenites present, James has pulled big time. But unfortunately, the only thing he'd be doing regarding this situation would be pulling the plug (and you could guess what else) on the whole thing, due to location difficulties. I said it was probably his blonde hair and blue eyes. And, as we speak, he's already trying to get something alive via the Internet…
10/0700
Anyway, the night was concluded via a several quiet glasses of refreshing lemonade (not!) and after filling our systems with enough of the good stuff, it was time to have a nice Maiden sing-along before watching some quality German TV. We won't go into that… Before bed, it was encore time, and Iron Mullet got the strange notion that he was an Ozzy meets Bruce front man, greeting the sitting down Maiden fans on the far side with the lines of "You fu**ers over there in the beer tent, let's f**kin here ya!" It went down a storm. As soon as we got into our various beds, a wake up call came at 5.30… Yes, 5 'KIN 30! After requesting one for 8.30, it was off to sleep with our magnificently clean thoughts. Having to be out of the Hotel by Half Past Nine, we missed the wake up call, and, unsurprisingly, got our hat trick of missed breakfasts. Onto the coach, and away we went. Out of Germany, through France, Belgium and onto the Ferry. A sickening ride was that too. The daunting two and a half hour trip through London was a transport prescription for a depressing headache, but when the journey home was complete, it's then you realised just how good Mennheim Metal 2000 really was.
A 1-0 victory securely resting in the English footballing locker. New album Brave New World taking the country by storm, peaking to number three in the German charts. The universes greatest heavy metal planet, the sonic beast that is known as Iron Maiden, looked like they were in for a lick lippingly good return. Never since the air raid siren days of, well, last years Ed Hunter tour in fact, (with Churchill's "We shall fight them on the beaches…" etc) had the boyz being so pumped up to let Cologne and Frankfurt have some more. And, as we all know, there's no prayer for the dying… With Maiden headlining festivals Mannheim and Essen, supported by Slayer, Motorhead, Dream Theater, Nashville Pussy, Spiritual Beggars and Dirty Deed's, the message to all moshing in those pits was clear. If you're gonna die, die with your boots on! And they did…
…Though unfortunately, things were taken dangerously literally by a certain someone who took a nasty trip for the worst. The full story from ringside was that Maiden guitarist Janick Gers lost his footing via a speaker monitor and fell ten feet down onto the concrete floor, leading to a nasty head gash, resulting in unconsciousness and blood everywhere. Something was obviously wrong when a guitar stuttered out of action, and few in the audience who didn't witness the incident (and despite not seeing Gers anywhere in sight on stage) had any idea of what was going on. Ironically occurring during none other than The Number Of The Beast, full credit to vocalist Bruce Dickinson for as intervening as quickly as he did and halting the proceedings via the crowd. The guitarist was then taken to hospital, and the latest news we have on this is Janick required six stitches for where he knocked his head, and that he has sprained his back and has severe bruising in several places. Obviously the Essen show was cancelled due to such occurrences, and the shows in Sophia and Athens have also being cancelled. On the plus side, Janick has being released and returned back to London after being told by medics to take a full week off for recovery. The Brave New World Tour will resume at the Vilar De Mouros festival (Portugal) on Sunday. June 16th.
(Source of latest news, www.ironmaiden.com)
However, we still found the time to check out what we heard of Maiden, the other bands, and even give ya a highly scintillating on the road diary… what more could you ask for? Scream for me the edge of darkness…
On the Road Diary… with Iron Mullet and Hand Of Fate
07/07/00 -- Set out from our spectacular Palaces in the majestic dump that is Stoke-On-Trent and make our way to Keele Services to await our International Concert Travel Bus, in time for it's 4.35 departure. Though unfortunately, time was not on our sides, or lady luck. The coach is now 2 hours late, and our Maiden filled minds start to drift as were lost in a dream of panic. Hand Of Fate makes a phone call to ICT and discovers that due to a change in transport arrangements, the coach drivers were not informed about anyone being at Keele, and ICT had failed to inform us. A serious case of can I play with madness then followed. ICT's manager told us to get a cab to Stoke station, a train to London and a taxi cab into central London to get to the awaiting, delayed bus, after of which he would re-imburse us in full for all expenses. The problem was finding the money -- fortunately, with J being the accountant and financial guru that he is, he'd brought his Natwest card. After all that palaver came a not so thrilling journey through London, down to Dover and across the channel to Calais, before making our way into Germany via France and Belgium, with the marvelously metal tones of Maiden and Slayer powering out in the background.
08/07/00 --With us now in the motherland, and everyone knackered (courtesy of about two hour's sleep) and starving, the trip for breakfast seemed a promising one. In fact, we both proved that enthusiastic for the days first meal that we ended up getting absolutely sweet FA to eat -- we eat, live, breath and sleep rock 'n' roll you see! Are ya still with us? Well, we were in now in our first hotel actually, and after receiving our exclusively free Brave New World T-shirt's (FC members only) and packing in, it was now officially 'let's go gigging' time. So, we set off for Mennheim Metal 2000 ready to rock…
Metal 2000 -- Iron Maiden Live in Mennheim, Germany
Dubbed as an open-air gig, it came as a bit of a surprise when the venue was actually indoors. This was more than likely caused by the late change of venue, but the general feeling was that things would still be happening outside. Unfortunately, not to be, but the following hours would generally offer plenty of musical comfort for the mishaps. Until the next ones…
DIRTY DEEDS East Londoners Dirty Deeds begun events with at a good triple edged lump of their latest album Real World, the likes of Welcome To The Real World, Kill The Pain and Nightmare attracting good levels of attention. As they showed during their support slots with Maiden on Virtual XI World Tour, Deeds are demons on the live stage. True, Pete Franklin's vocals were a little shaky (or should we say nervy) at times, though minus that, the bands vintage, good old fashioned British metal was much appreciated by most of us old school metallers out there. Though with us missing some of the earlier songs, whether that be more numbers from their most recent album or some other efforts from their high quality debut Danger Of Infection, complete with Tony Newton's bass 'blowing' up, it's difficult to be too full of praise. Though what was heard, coupled with the outstanding talents of each individual in this quartet working together brilliantly as a group, Deeds, as ever, made for short but entertaining listening. VERDICT -- @@@@
SPIRITUAL BEGGARS The surprise highlight of the night, to your average metal fan, these Swedish Beggars may have you thinking that they're just another of those totally naff Kerrang bands, yours truly being amongst the elite in thinking such things. But, on contraire, these ears were in for the most shockingly good blessings we've had in a long time, albeit in the darkest of ways. The 'Satan's in the Sabot' intro or whatever garbage it was shows the band still hasn't reached heavy metal puberty where show opening theme music is concerned, but the following set saw all the skepticism being totally blown out in the tastiest of rock ways. Clearly heavily influenced by the waves of 70's bands, and sounding like a cross between Black Sabbath and Monster Magnet, the force was dusted nicely with a neat sense of appeal. While reminding you of the good old days, the sound that makes you realize what modern day metals all about was still in check. With a good collection of new material from their third album Ad Astra, their live brilliance and intertwined varying instrumental skills (notably the Jon Lord esque keyboard player and the rather talented axeman), Spiritual Beggars have the fire and possess the force. And with the rather fine Angel Of Betrayal being one of the Live highlights of metal 2000 in anyone's mind, plus that they're one of those traditional meets original bands, may their evil take it's course. Now how do I do those devil signs… VERDICT -- @@@@
NASHVILLE PUSSY Fresh out of Nashville, complete with the services of two of the hottest 'pussies', or should we say 'wenches'! in metal, comes the fun filled frenzy that is Pussy -- Nashville Pussy. Now you know the names, let's talk out their musical abilities, of which, surprisingly, some does actually exist… The howling larynx of the cap covering bald vocalist / rhythm guitarist Blaine Cartwright takes you into that AC/DC land that is vocally run by Brian Johnson, though those popular Australians (and a Geordie) always did like a bit of blues within their metal. Nashville offer hints of such a genre, but you don't have to be Mick Wall to figure out what style is on their agenda -- big, country flavoured hard rock with a feel good factor of ten. Judging by the staring eyes coming from some of the male audience, the music wasn't the only thing that was hard. Such unrefined theories aside, while kicking up a likeable view, if your not at all into all that lightly tinged country rock / blues, even Nashville's heavier sounding improvisations may have indeed made them look like Pussies compared to the other bands. Darn -- then we realized we should have saved such criticism for Dream Theater! Seriously, this is a band about delivering fun, high energy and pretty views in an authentically rock 'n' roll way, and that can only be a good thing. That being said, you'd have to argue as to where this band would go without the views of Corey Parks and her electric playing friend (Ruyter Suys). A set with plenty of musical fun and visual stage presence (particularly in more areas than some) rather than out and out brilliance. VERDICT -- @@@
DREAM THEATER Progressive rock / metallers Dream Theater have being going since 1989 now, and for those of you who only want to read about Maiden, then your about to miss out here -- ha ha! Reason being, drummer Mike Portnoy, one of the most inventive and creative tub whackers around to our ears, is a big admirer of Maiden's drummer Nicko McBrain -- here here. Dream Theater are all about things big and epic. They've got kilo upon kilo of melody, and they've got enough time changes to sweep away the likes of the talking clock -- you've never heard so many in your music hearing life. All things appreciated came particularly via drummer Portnoy, expert widdler John Petrucci and the virtuoso keyboard abilities of Jordan Rudess. The later, while playing many a fast keyboard solo via a guitar like effect, also played in tandem with the guitarist on main solo lines and for harmonies. While this was finger creating magic was refreshingly vibrant, Theater proved themselves more than capable of impressing the audience, and the Germans certainly seemed to have a bit of a thing for these unfashionable yet very gifted Americans. Although to us who have never heard much of this band before, the theory of less is more would have being a safer game for the dreamer's to play. Explaining this, Theater had so many lengthy, epic songs going that your mind just lost track in a midst of time changes and solos. As a result, this made for tiring listening at times, and a few more all round listener friendly tracks would have catered better for all the Dream Theater virgins in the crowd. Sadly Hard and progressive rock festivals don't exist -- a rock festival applies to any type of rock / metal bands, whatever their genre (minus the indie type, of course). So, by the way of saying Dream Theater didn't fit the bill or looked out of place, that's not as valid a statement as it originally seems. But while not over-roared by the other bands, the performance DT turned in was overdone. VERDICT -- @@@
MOTORHEAD It was a real treat and honour to the see mighty Motorhead on the same bill (and supporting) Maiden. The later may well have evolved into the greatest and most popular British metal band ever, but let's not forget that some of the guys from the 'Head were rocking it out even before the Irons! "We're Motorhead and we're gonna kick your ass" shouts Lemmy before charging into their rattling set -- latterly orchestrated by latest album title and song 'We are Motorhead', we were truly spanked! A muscle filled performance from their petrol guzzling bandwagon, infectious classics such as Iron Fist, Ace Of Spades and a mesmeric cover of The Sex Pistols God Save The Queen was the fuel that got the audiences engines pumping. The venue was alight for Motorhead every note of the way, and with the aggression and strength that this English three piece serves up, it wasn't a great surprise why. Opening sound quality was a little low and trebly for a third of the set, but this was redeemed by the decibel increase later into the evening. Incorporating a number of efforts from the bands Sacrifice album (including the title track itself) Motorhead could do little wrong. Metal romps weren't the only things on Lemmy's agenda though, his comments of "…Y'er all right…and don't think I won't shag your girlfriend tonight because I will…" going down like a Graff Zeppelin amongst the courting members of the German audience. Those of us who are single… (not that we're suggesting we are of course) thought it was a stunner. That aside, Lemmy's blistering bass work, coupled with the flamboyancy of drummer Mickey Dee and guitarist Phil Campbell, was as solid and charismatic as ever. The only thing limiting Motorhead from being flawless was the weak opening sound. Minus that, there is no denying that the 'Head continue to be lethal live outfit, and this set was no exception. VERDICT --@@@@
SLAYER Hell, Death, Suicide. "Well, we're Slayer…" (cue the Elvis voice…) "…thank you very much…" Tom Aryria's front-man skills may well just be the sh**est on earth -- he's obviously either a) losfer words or b) the ever faithful hand of doom has taken his mind away… You see, tonight, that's the levels we have to sink to in order to put Slayer down -- criticizing in between song chit chat. Reason being because their was nothing else to criticize minus such lunacies. The venues excellent sonic landscape would prove perfect for Slayer to show their absolute potential -- and for anyone who likes the guys, there could be absolutely no room for disappointment. WWF anthem Here Comes The Pain, Angel Of Death, 213, Captor Of Sin, Raining blood, Mandatory Suicide, War Assemble, South Of Heaven… all here, and all simply Slaytanic stuff. The intensity and brutality was burning on overload, and the overall live performance sounded hugely superior to the group's gig at Earls Court. Things are always made so much more entertaining with classic lines, and the dark charms of South Of Heaven's "Before you see the light, you must die…" just made the night for this twisted soul. On this performance, musically at least, Slayer were capable of making a few killings of their own -- in our words, making for the best live performance of the night. The terrorizing attack of guitarists King and Hanneman, drummer Bostaph and bassist / vocalist Aryria was frighteningly good as ever, and while not having much new to offer the masses at the moment, this was a Slayer performance that'll surely be revered by many for a long time to come. VERDICT -- @@@@@
IRON MAIDEN "Maiden, Maiden…" chant the crowd towards the end of Slayers massively impressive set. The blood is rushing, the sweat is pouring and the metal testosterone levels are near flowing… and the musical messiahs that make up Maiden haven't even taken to the rocked out stage! Everyone in the building, however many band's they like on the bill, know the primary reason they are here -- first and foremost, for Iron Maiden. Certainly from the output of the Brave New World material and The X Factor / Virtual XI highlighting epics, the Irons seem to be more confident and genuinely better every time they play this material. The same could be said of all those Maiden favourites, Wrathchild, Two Minutes To Midnight, The Evil That Men Do, Fear Of The Dark, The Trooper and Iron Maiden. Though the argument that Maiden have played these songs for years and should vary the set on these kind of songs is a fair one. Although many 'returned' or newer fans will demand to hear such songs, and besides, replacing favourites with favourites is like picking between Roses and Quality Street -- you can't please all of the people all of the time. However, soon time in the future, from BNW at least, it would be nice to hear at least The Fallen Angel, The Nomad and Out Of The Silent Planet in the Live set. Bruce Dickinson was simply sensational, his vocals sounding superbly balanced, thoroughly powerful and near error free. His fronting skills, particularly at their most captivating during his British flag waving (let's not forget where we are!) went down superbly amongst the English fans present, and the band simply buzzed from this. His comments were online too, his references to the resurgence of metal greeted with huge cheers of agreement. Similarly, Bruce's comments of "Are the any Scotsman out there?" during The Clansman were lapped up by the several Scottish fans present. Definitely a super Maiden performance, contributed to no end by the three guitar presence of Smith, Murray and Gers and the drums of Nicko, but it was the clearly up for it Steve Harris who, alongside Bruce Dickinson, singularly impressed most in the Maiden camp. His sledge-hammering bass-lines were ear swamping on the high tempo tracks, while the intimately smothering bass rhythms that presented themselves on the likes of Brave New World, Blood Brothers and The Clansman help you see the lighter and more refined side of Steve's playing. Although there were problems with Maiden's performance tonight, ranging from major to minor. In the way of electric guitar solos, we all know Maiden's fretmeisters can play, but tonight they were all chopping and changing everything, resulting in them sounding too complacent. And the thing that completely wiped out the chance of a classic Maiden gig was the injury of guitarist Janick Gers, strangely enough during Number Of The Beast. Janick at least can be grateful it wasn't Man On The Edge -- the "Falling Down…" chorus wouldn't have seemed so impressive at the time. Credit to Maiden for restarting the track and winding up with a great final encore version of Hallowed Be Thy Name. Although the life had clearly gone from many in the audience given the happenings and the understandable non-appearance of Sanctuary made you leave feeling something was missing (and you'd be right!). Conclusively, an excellent if not classic Maiden gig. Yes, the solo shortcomings were forgivable because ultimately it's about the songs, and while Maiden had the finest song's out of any of the other bands on the bill at their disposal, the chance to make this Maiden gig classic sadly, in the end, went out of the bands control. VERDICT -- @@@@
Andrew Law
On the Road Diary… (Continued) with Iron Mullet and Hand Of Fate
08/07/00
As the gig ended, our feelings of satisfaction were all tossed away by the nights sad incidents -- not even the prospects of the after show cheaper tee shirts, posters and programs could console us. Furthermore, the doubt as to whether Maiden would perform in Essen, or the other bands for that matter, was staring us right in the face. Back from the edge, the only thing you want to go after a gig is drink, drink, and er… drink. Anything else of course is a bonus, but in most cases, as in ours, we'll settle for the former. The drinking menu was the finest in the World, our elegant tastes opting for a good few swigs of water before rushing down to the bar for a few swift pints (more on that in tomorrow's notes) and a Maiden related chat.
09/07/00
After that, it was off to beddy bize for a well-deserved rest. After telling the alarmed 6.30 wake up call to p**s off, it was back off to sleep. We had to be ready at 8.15 to make our way to the Essen gig, and even earlier than that for breakfast. Naturally, we missed breakfast, and after waking up at five past eight, we raced out with a getting ready and packed away quickness that'd make a pit stop proud…. And away we went. After a four-hour drive, we arrived at the altogether more plusher Holiday Inn (cracking free pens, notepads and cups of coffee) and after getting settled in, it was time to set off to Essen. What a bad mistake this would prove to be. The coach got to the venue, only to see little or no one there, and then fans and official sources at the place confirmed the gig was cancelled. Damn. Fortunately, fifty quid and thirty-three quid are to be returned to everyone individually for non-appearance of the artist and the refunded ticket, so there was at least some monetary prosperity. Unlike most whiners and whiners, us Maiden fans knew how to make the most of a bad situation. Firstly, we grabbed some beers, the rather splendid Staudia Pills gracing every fan's beer glass. I (Andy) loved it -- chemical free, strong, beautiful, I'd recommend it to anyone. What a shame then that everyone else (minus some other unknown real ale drinker like me-self) thought it was crap. Doh! Things started to get really entertaining come the arranged ten pin bowling trip, and the stranger in a strange land dilemma was going to affect someone somewhere -- inevitably, Iron Mullet fell an absolute sucker courtesy of the locals. Basically, some other fan and Iron Mullet needed a bog break (known in normal conversation as a p**s!). Problem was, we weren't sure which was the male toilet. So, after asking some youths if they spoke English and where the men's room was, they kindly directed us -- into the female toilet! This was discovered when, after coming out of the cubicles and going to wash my hands, I nearly die as I see two temptingly pretty girls in the toilet! Though we laughed it off, explaining the situation to them before promptly exiting. After seeing the laughing lads in the distance, we went over to them and toasted their plan as 'an absolute classic.' Metal fans themselves, a brief conversation entailed, and their was no denying that these German's do have a decent sense of humour -- luckily for them, we did too, or it could have triggered WW3. They say things can only get better -- and they were 'kin right too. Hand Of Fate pulled in Mickey D's without lifting a finger, via those flirting looks and glaring eyes that happen both ways. Publicised in a note given to him, the loose translation courtesy of several Germans was this: -- "…I think you're so sweet. Call me as soon as possible. This is my FRIENDS number…" DOUBLE TROUBLE! Iron Mullet didn't have the honour of viewing this supposed princess, but from the cheers and compliments from all the other Maidenites present, James has pulled big time. But unfortunately, the only thing he'd be doing regarding this situation would be pulling the plug (and you could guess what else) on the whole thing, due to location difficulties. I said it was probably his blonde hair and blue eyes. And, as we speak, he's already trying to get something alive via the Internet…
10/0700
Anyway, the night was concluded via a several quiet glasses of refreshing lemonade (not!) and after filling our systems with enough of the good stuff, it was time to have a nice Maiden sing-along before watching some quality German TV. We won't go into that… Before bed, it was encore time, and Iron Mullet got the strange notion that he was an Ozzy meets Bruce front man, greeting the sitting down Maiden fans on the far side with the lines of "You fu**ers over there in the beer tent, let's f**kin here ya!" It went down a storm. As soon as we got into our various beds, a wake up call came at 5.30… Yes, 5 'KIN 30! After requesting one for 8.30, it was off to sleep with our magnificently clean thoughts. Having to be out of the Hotel by Half Past Nine, we missed the wake up call, and, unsurprisingly, got our hat trick of missed breakfasts. Onto the coach, and away we went. Out of Germany, through France, Belgium and onto the Ferry. A sickening ride was that too. The daunting two and a half hour trip through London was a transport prescription for a depressing headache, but when the journey home was complete, it's then you realised just how good Mennheim Metal 2000 really was.
