This post is going to be short and sweet. (Already feels like famous last words coming from me, hey? LOL!). Back in the 90’s my Mom, my Dad and my brother went to Iron Maiden together at the Good Hope Centre. Because my Dad had a mutual friend with one of the musicians, he was able to go on stage and sing backing vocals during one of the songs.
Now, don’t get me wrong, they didn’t invite him on as a special guest! They were just allowing a few fans on stage and because my Dad had the connection, he was able to participate. At first he thought it was a hoax, I mean, if your friend said to you, “Hey Suzie, you wanna go on stage with IM?” Of course you’re going to doubt the validity! But you’ll probably go along with it just in case it works out. That’s how my Dad felt and that’s exactly what happened.
My Mother and brother saw him leave to go down to the stage side and weren’t sure when he’s rejoin them. While 10 minutes later, there he goes, running out on stage! All the way to the far end to share the less populous microphone, which apparently wasn’t working! So he ran to the middle of the stage to give a good ol’ headbang…my Dad has no hair! None the less she headbanged with a shiney head, adding to the light show while my brother and mom stood in their seats with hanging jaws. All my life I’ve heard this story and EVENTUALLY I managed to go watch Iron Maiden live in Cape Town myself.
Mr John and I headed off for the Grand Arena, weather was absolutely crap and I had a headache, nothing a little metal shouldn’t fix! 😉
The show was fantastic. Because they fly all their own equipment with them around the world – with the lead singer as the pilot in case you didn’t know! It allows them to bring rigs and props far better than other groups who have to rely on third party transport. Hello high expenses!
The show rocked from the get go. Relying on a flood of lights, great sound, impressive stage themes and talented musicians, the audience was hyped!
The Iron Maiden show was classic rock n roll! Flags, curtain backdrops (no big screens, this was classic old school stage productions), flames and monsters. The theme was the Mayans, which really lend itself to filling the large stage area as well as adding character to the stage.
There were a number of Eddie type characters including a BIG blow up one that sailed above the stage and looked like he was going to climb into the audience, it was great.
There was also a ‘beast’ for the encore: Number of the Beast.
And I shouldn’t forget to mention the fire either! Blazing all through the show, was very cool! 😀
Coupled with their beautiful graphic art works, it was great. Beautiful, meaning wonderfully drawn, not beautiful like pink sunsets!
The camera man did a good job, ensuring to focus in on the right artists at the right time. At the Mariah Carey concert someone would be on the big screen while another was taking a bow! Like, filming the totally wrong guy! Not cool. This camera man did a much better job and was sure to focus on the right people, when.
I also liked that they had cameras rigged in different parts of the stage so that all the musicians could be ‘featured’, so to speak. Usually the drummers are just ignored somewhere at the back. They had cameras in the drummer’s kit, so he also felt part of the show instead of just ignored.
At one point, Eddie attacked the singer, the singer then ripped Eddie’s heart out and ran around the stage with it, ultimately throwing it into the audience. Some lucky guy or girl get to go home with Eddie’s heart!
The singer also got the guitarist caught up in his flag at one point, pretty funny.
It was a great show and awesome to see them live in Cape Town. The sound was also very good, apart from a few mic issues – dropping the volume when the guy was trying to sing, not cool. But overall, WAY better than the Mariah Carey concert at the stadium (in terms of sound quality). Here’s Mr John and I getting into the spirit of things 😉
Were you at the show? What was your favourite bit? Please leave a comment for me, I’d love to know 🙂
