Maiden !! Maiden !! Part 2

Thought i would never tell you anything after the lights went out ??

Dont worry.. here it is.

Thoughts were flying high as I stood there in anticipation. I was wondering whether the Maiden was going to fly in on to the ground in a helicopter or maybe they would appear out of the crowd itself. It would be so exciting if that happened. As i stood there riding such thoughts, suddenly the lights went out. And chants of the “Maiden” started growing louder every second. And out of nowhere, the lights came on again with more intensity than before and suddenly Iron Maiden was on the stage. Maiden always makes entries in this way. They appeared in the same manner in the Rock in Rio concert. It was so sudden that it took a moment to realize that the rock band that I have idolized for a long time were finally on the stage. I could not believe I was so close to Iron Maiden. We had waited for 4 hours amongst the crowd without water or food to see them perform on the stage and here they were jsut a few meters away from me.

All their numbers are so famous that if they played all famous numbers then they would probably end up playing for the whole night and still not finish. Iron Maiden is basically on the promotional tour of their new album A Matter of Life and Death. So they were expected to play the latest songs at the concert. They sung Reincarnation of Benjamin, the most famous number from the latest album. From the older ones, they sung Run to Hills, Fear of the Dark, Hallowed be thy Name, The Trooper etc. They had the crowd singing along with them all throughout the night. The crowd shouted out loud at the start of every song. Most of the songs were recognized within 3 seconds from the beginning. It was quite surprising to know that most of the people remembered the lyrics of almost all the songs that were sung by Maiden. Rock songs usually contain so much music that often the vocals are difficult to understand especially to many of the Indians who are not that fluent or comfortable with English. If you are a regular listener, then you might be able to discern most of the lyrics from the song. But forget that if you are in a Maiden concert. There is so much noise and singing along with the band, that you would probably be hearing the lyrics more clearly from the person beside you rather than Bruce.

We were shouting out so loud along with every song that I had to suck on Strepsils almost every hour. As abruptly it had started, they stopped playing! Maiden chants started again from the crowd. For a moment i thought the concert was over. It had been hardly an hour with Hallowed be thy Name and Fear of the Dark still to go ! But thankfully it was just a break. And bang ! Just as abruptly as they had stopped playing they were back on the stage and this time it was far better than the first half. One of the songs featured a fake military tank being brought on the stage. Also the beast on stilts moved around on the stage. The crowd once again was on its toes to watch the props. Also Iron Maiden changed the screens behind them for every song. Each song is associated with a particular poster and what depicted on it. The crowd also recognized the song even before they started playing by just looking at the poster. So you could imagine how much they were into Iron Maiden !!

It was of course going to end some time. So it did. But the crowd still anticipated that they again had gone in for a break but it had ended. The electrifying concert was finally over. I and my room mate had been planning for the concert for over a month. It was worth all the effort and waiting. I christened Maiden as the Gods of Rock on that day!! There was no way something could be more stimulating than this!! Maiden is certainly the God of Rock.

All was worth it. Every single rupee spent was worth it. I and my friends walked about 4 kms before we found a rick to go back home. We ate at a restaurant not so good with the food but nevertheless satisfied our hunger. My neck ached with the amount of head banging that i had done but it was worth all the pains to see Maiden live in concert. It comes once in a lifetime and I was there to form a memory of it in my mind.