As I told you! J13 magic! Two tickets and two backstage passes!
You know why? Because they came with that RC yellow laminate thing... Rod Crew... Rod Smallwood! It's that name you read only on the back of Maiden's CD covers... Yeah, it's him, that in the pic! The manager of MAIDEN, folks! 500 beers in its personal fridge...!
Anyway...
Should we talk about ANTHRAX? Or should we start with Lauren Harris, Steve's daughter?
OK, why not! We have a couple of shots of her too... You know we didn't yet got used to backstage feeling at that time and since artists were still gearing up in their vans, we went listening a bit...
After we got the hang of it, we went backstage again and who do we run into? Yeah... ANTHRAX!
OK, let's cut the crap.
We started ANTHRAX show with not few reservations, since we didn't hear very much about them lately and... well... because of the new singer. However they did not disappoint at all!
The set list was more or less the following: Indians, Caught in a Mosh, Got the Time, Antisocial, Madhouse, Only, Sound of White Noise, I am the Law.
We thought it was '86 again. Yes people, it was that good! The new singer kick asses for real, both on new as well old material and Charlie and Scot were as youthful and banging as ever!
Following Anthrax...
Oh, guys, this is really difficult. There are no words good enough to describe it!
25000 heavy metal maniacs... Irvine arena sold out for the second night in a row... weather 77 F (25 C), clear sky, Ocean air, California sensi... and no inhibitions (check out the pics... the last one in particular).
To start, let's say that Somewhere Back in Time set list didn't surprise us at all. Several bootlegs have been going around so we already knew what to expect, more or less. However Bruce Dickinson said this was the best night of the tour... and we couldn't agree more! Both The Captain and J13 attended several Maiden gigs (Italy, Japan, USA), but no one has ever delivered such a perfection in sound, power and performance so far!!! Yes, you got it! WE WANT IMMEDIATELY A BOOTLEG... BOTH SOUND & VIDEO!! We had 376 pictures to chose from, but now we want audio too (actually we have a couple of crummy camera clips... but let's forget about them).
Bruce was at his top! Athleticism and vocals astounded us. Talkative (cracking jokes and interacting with the public) and roaring as never before, it really gave the impression of offering a performance getting better and better song after song. Highlight of the chit-chat happened to be the sneeze by Dave Murray that stopped the start of "Can I play with Madness"... The band couldn't stop laughing! By the way, a Dave Murray that never played with such a convictions and energy. The band leader Steve Harris, he was out in the front the whole night, playing incredibly and driving the crowd mad continuously. A big surprise was also Nicko McBrain: a drum machine! You couldn't see him, but - oh, baby! - how you could hear him!
[Ah, this is crazy... an awesome wannabe-trophy about to land right on the Captain's head, finished in the hands of an IDIOT kid that, thinking it was thrash, threw it back in the air to somebody else... Can you believe it?! IT WAS A SIGNED NICKO MCBRAIN DRUM HEAD!!!!!! We really wanted to beat the hell out of him! That bastard!! He'll get old... he's gonna regret it!]
Oh, yeah... Janick Gers, freaked out as usual, we enjoyed his using the guitar as any possible toy that a human being could ever think to play with! I've never seen before anybody playing the guitar whipping it with the electric cable!!!
Last but not least fireworks, sky-high flames, explosions and theatrical mechanics as on the original Live After Death gig... if not even better. Yes my dears, on Iron Maiden track, once more the pyramid shaped background cracked releasing from the depth of the stage a mummy-like Eddie spitting fire from the eyes. And then a Somewhere-in-Time giant Eddie dueled with Murray and the other members, during "Hallowed Be Thy Name".
The set list was as follows:
01. Aces High
02. 2 Minutes to Midnight
03. Revelations
04. The Trooper
05. Wasted Years
06. The Number of the Beast
07. Can I Play With Madness
08. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
09. Powerslave
10. Heaven Can Wait
11. Run to the Hills
12. Fear of the Dark
13. Iron Maiden
Encore
14. Moonchild
15. The Clairvoyant
16. Hallowed Be Thy Name
Well, we got something we'll never forget! You know also why? See pics... and die!!!
And now, off to bed!
Oh... right, tomorrow! Jagermeister Tour... Type O Negative, Hatebreed, 3 Inches of Blood...
Happy metal dreaming from California!
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