The last date on Iron Maidens
Early Days tour, this show was a benefit for the Clive Burr MS trust fund and was a small show in front of a fiercely loyal fan base in marked contrast to their headline sets at the Reading and Leeds festivals, where they performed in front of huge crowds that were largely unfamiliar with most of their work.
Tonight the band were performing to raise funds for their former drummer Clive Burr who played on the first three Iron Maiden albums who was diagnosed with MS in late 2001. The band played 3 benefit shows in 2002 for his charity and decided to top up the funds now 3 years later with a one-off show at the Hammersmith Apollo. It’s certainly a strange idea to take such an interest in a former band member that was sacked 20 years previously for excessive drink and drug abuse, but Iron Maiden are no ordinary band.
After headlining throughout Europe in June and early July the band joined the Ozzfest in the States where they played beneath Black Sabbath. This is the first time the band have played off the top of a bill since the
Beast on The Road tour in 1982, so it was fitting that the band were only going to play songs from their first 4 albums. However Iron Maiden don’t take well to being put in second place by anyone and put on storming show after storming show, walking away with media plaudits from every gig and hailed as this years top act on the bill. Sensing their domination Maiden pushed the envelope at every opportunity, headlining the bill when Ozzy was sick on several occasions. Singer Bruce Dickinson openly mocked the headline band as a nostalgia act not putting out new material, slated Ozzy as a reality TV star and boldly claimed that this was
Maidenfest. Unsurprisingly this got Sharon Osbourne’s back up and she was responsible for Iron Maiden’s last date Stateside being a bit of a disaster as she sabotaged their show.
With this unfortunate episode still heavy in the air, Maiden stormed through Leeds and Reading with headlining slots scheduled 20 minutes longer than the other headline acts, reaffirming that on home soil (or in Europe for that matter) Iron Maiden play second fiddle to no one. However, shows in front of a new crowd are no way to bow out before taking a break then working on a new album, so Maiden scheduled this charity show in the smallest venue of the whole tour the 4,500 capacity Hammersmith Apollo.
Exploding out of the blocks with the excellent
Murders in the Rue Morgue they were as tight as the spandex trousers they were wearing 20 years ago with an excellent sound, where every instrument was easily distinguishable and Bruce’s voice clear and loud, this was set-up to be the perfect end to the tour. The capacity crowd knew the songs and were happy to sing along to even the more obscure tracls from the early records like
Another Life,
Remember Tomorrow and
Drifter. They were louder for the forgotten classics that haven’t been played for too long such as
Prowler,
Where Eagles Dare,
Die With Your Boots On and the classic 7 minute long
Phantom of the Opera, a song that should be played on every Maiden tour and is all to often neglected, it’s a song that defines the band like no other. Classic tracks like
The Trooper and
Run To The Hills are sung back with a passion unrivalled at other bands shows and by men old enough that their children really should know better.
The thing about Iron Maiden is that they always have an other gear to go up when they are coming down the home stretch, even tonight when you feel they’re at the top of their game they still raise it with the true classics;
Number of The Beast followed by the epic
Hallowed be Thy Name and into the traditional final song before the encore
Iron Maiden. No fire during
Number of the Beast thanks to the Great White but when the songs are this good the theatrics take second place and it was barely missed.
Hallowed be Thy Name saw Bruce stretch his vocals out holding the notes longer than before, aware that he doesn’t have to do it again ’til the next tour. With the self titled track you know that the giant Eddie will appear from behind the stage you will be asked to
Scream for Me by Bruce and all will be well. “Iron Maiden’s gonna get you” is the cry from the stage and floor alike and it clearly got everyone in attendance a long time ago.
Before the encore Clive Burr came out in his wheel chair and was greeted with a heart warming reception from the assembled hordes and appeared to be genuinely touched by the welcome. Flying into
Running Free, the crowd were given their own workout shouting back the chorus before we greeted Eddie again during
Drifter and finally
Sanctuary.
It’s a great moment for a huge Maiden fan such as myself as you know that this is the last time many of these songs will ever be performed by the band and that I was there to witness it, the band however were quick to point out that this is far from the end and that a new studio album is planned for an Autumn release next year and they’ll be back in the UK December 2006 in support of their 14th studio effort.
Iron Maiden are the best live band on the planet, there is no one else even close to being as good as them at what they do and when you put that together with an excellent crowd and a great sound from the venue then you can’t go wrong, a virtually flawless performance from the heavy metal masters.
For more information on Iron Maiden or donating to the Clive Burr MS Trust fund please visit
www.ironmaiden.com
Iron Maiden’s
Death on the Road live album is out now on EMI.
“UP THE IRONS!”
