THE FINE PRINT: Iron Maiden Show Wrap-Up

On Friday night, March 14, I went to see Iron Maiden at the Izod Center, otherwise known to us locals as “The Meadowlands.” As I mentioned in a previous post, I was particularly excited to see this show because it was a pseudo-recreation of the Powerslave tour from 1985—which I was lucky enough to see at Radio City Music Hall when I was 16 years old.Even though 23 years have elapsed since then, the band was in as good a shape as I’ve ever seen them. Singer Bruce Dickinson sounded as good as you could expect nowadays (far better than Ronnie James Dio sounded on last year’s Heaven and Hell tour), the group nailed every note perfectly, and the set list was the best Maiden list in years. Personally, I could have done without “Can I Play with Madness,” “Heaven Can Wait and of course “Moonchild” and “The Clairvoyant,” but how could you go wrong with “Revelation,” “Aces High,” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” “Iron Maiden,” “Two Minutes to Midnight,” “Wasted Years,” “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” “Powerslave” and various other gems? And I’ll never get used to Janick Gers being the third guitarist in the band…he’s a fine player and all, but as an old-school Rivethead I just find his presence distracting and unnecessary. Sometimes, when there’s a major reunion in the rock world, certain players become casualties of war….just ask Bruce Kulick, Ripper Owens, and anyone else who ever got booted to make room for an original member.That was my seventh time seeing Maiden since 1985…and how do I know that exactly? Because I’ve kept a concert log for as long as I can remember. Maiden was show #556.If you care to view the entire list, click here.Till next time…JK