Maiden England 2013 - O2 Arena, London

[matt-c]

Scored a couple of tickets (VIP box, no less!) to see Iron Maiden Sat night at the O2 Arena in London, on a classic Seventh Son of a Seventh Son re-tour - and holy cr.ap they didn't disappoint! Easily outperformed the Final Frontier show at the same venue in 2011!

Setlist;

Moonchild

Can I Play with Madness

The Prisoner

2 Minutes to Midnight

Afraid to Shoot Strangers

The Trooper

The Number of the Beast

Phantom of the Opera

Run to the Hills

Wasted Years

Seventh Son of a Seventh Son

The Clairvoyant

Fear of the Dark

Iron Maiden

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Aces High

The Evil That Men Do

Running Free

Which is quite possibly the greatest set list in the history of anything ever!

Of course, not only were they just spot on musically, their live show was awesome too - pyro (including light rack mounted fireworks, that popped in time with a passage of music!), giant robot Calvary Eddie (during Run to the Hills) moving around the stage, along with giant Clairvoyant Eddie, the devil/goat (Number of the Beast), and a giant Seventh Son Eddie, complete with dancing "baby" and pyro head!

Absolutely blinding show! I also met Sir Bruce Forsyth, who walked into our box shortly before Maiden took to the stage. Couldn't resist a cheeky remark to him, so I said, as he walked past me, "Hey Bruce, I didnt know you were into rock music!". To which he replied "Well, you've heard of heavy metal - I'm soft aluminium!". Then I said "I sure didn't peg you as a Maiden fan though", and he turned to look back at me saying "I wouldn't peg you as a Sinatra fan either". I kinda wish I had my iPod with me so I could have shown him I do indeed have some Ol' Blue Eyes on it! Apparently, his grandson was playing in the support band, Voodoo Six. Never heard of them, but quite cool. Got a nice, stompy, English rock band feel to them.

So in summary; VIP hospitality; free tickets, free dinner, free cake, free beer, a cheeky tête à tête with a celebrated British icon, and definitely the best Maiden show I've ever seen. Only thing that could have topped all that, would have been a meet n' greet pass (which I did try to arrange, and called/emailed/hassled everyone I know in the biz, from staff at Premier and Paiste, to a couple artists I'm friendly with that might have some pull, but to no avail sadly. Maybe next time...?)

SCREEEEEEEEEEAM FOR ME LONDON!!!!!