The Concert Reader Reviews:

There are currently 8 Reader Reviews of this tour.
Average Rating: 4.75
Go to Judgment Committee Reviews of this tour

Submitted by Tulkas (1/13/01, Buenos Aires, Argentina):
Awsome! What else to expect from the three all favourites, the Ryche, Halford and Maiden!!. First, songs From Halford:
"Resurrection" - Awsome Song! Tunes like "Painkiller," emotionally good to play live.
"Made In Hell" - Another good one, we cannot say no to Halford! He still is one of the Beasts of Metal.
"Metal Gods" - Yeah! The Gods come back!
"Breaking The Law" - A very enjoyable song to play live. The Priest is here!!.
"Hell Bent For Leather" - Oh My God! The Harley!!!
"The One You Love To Hate" - Tate, Bruce and Halford, the PERFECT combination!!.
Now its Maiden's turn!!! Songs (then we will going to tecnical stuff!): "Wickerman" - A very well done song with cool and sticky rythm, obviously, for ones who heard it they will agree with me that its a great opening!
"Ghost Of Navigator" - Another New One! Brave New World is one of the best albums of the year 2000 (together with Renegade from Hammerfall).
"Wrathchild" - An all time classic! From Paul Di Anno directly to Bruce Dickinson, I cannot move well my neck before this song!.
"Two Minutes To Mid." - Of course! This one had to be here! From Bruce and Adrian, an awsome song, more awsome when its performed live!!
"Brave New World" - From the new disc, a good one, very long for my taste, but is fuckin good!.
"Dream Of Mirrors" - Great, Annother from the new disc.
"The Clansman" - One of the awsomes songs from Blaze Bayley (this one, "Futureal" and "Sign of the Cross" are the only ones that I like from Bayley). You get very happy and fuckin emotional when they play this song.
"The Trooper" - Don't have much to say from this song, exept "woah!!!" Yeah! The favourite of all Maiden fans, the fastest riffs ever!
"The Number Of The Beast" - Yeaaaahh this is a classical one, tell me who doesn't know this great song???
"Fear Of The Dark" - Oh-My-God!!!!!!!!
"Sign Of The Cross" - Performed live in a big stadium with over 37,000 people!! You get crazy!!
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" - Great! A very good performance from Bruce!
"Sanctuary" - I don't like this very much, "Sanctuary" is not a classic anymore, the only good thing about this song is that is very good when they sing it live.
"Fallen Angel" - Another new one... this is quite good.
"Out Of The Silent Planet" - A good ending, a song that can be a classic.
OK, thats pretty much of all that I saw there. Bruce Dickinson still jumps everywhere! He Will Never Die!!!!! A very VERY good performance from Adrian Smith, Nicko Mc Brain, Steve Harris, Dave Murray and the funniest Janick Gers! The sound was great!! The songs was played like perfect melodies. The lighting was awsome, YOU CANNOT MISS THIS.

Submitted by Bryan Ott (9/10/00, Verizon Amphitheater, Irvine, CA):
This is the official Bryan Ott Iron Maiden gig report from the Verizon Amphitheatre (aka Irvine Meadows) in California from Sept 10, 2000. I am writing this with the next day sore neck and ear ringing headache and man does it feel good. It is like Maiden is still playing in my head. If you only read one Iron Maiden gig report in your life, this is it.
We showed up and starting tailgating - eating burritos and smacking down some brews. Apparently we had lost track of time cos soon after Halford started (it is hard to leave a house right on the beach in Newport Beach just a few blocks down from Dennis Rodman). I never got into Judas Priest or Fight, but I had heard the title track from his new album and it was a good song (besides the fact that his vocals for that particular song make it sound like he needs his balls reattached). By the time we got to our seats, Halford just ended. I was never into Queensryche either so I won't comment on their performance. I had come to see Iron Maiden.
My seat was in the back of lodge but there was no way I was gonna see Maiden from there, especially not after upgrading my tix to pit at the Ed Hunter tour last year. I made my move and by the time "The Wickerman" was halfway over I was in front row center orchestra. The lights then went out for a few seconds between "The Wickerman" and "Ghost of the Navigator" and that was when I made my final move down into the pit section where I enjoyed the rest of the show. I soon found my brother down there who had also made the transition from lodge to pit. It was real mellow through the first three songs but the energy was high and everyone was having a blast. The pit was packed pretty good and some jackass had the audacity to bolt a few rows of seats in the pit section so we bided our time and made our move to the front when Maiden broke into "2 Minutes to Midnight" and started the pit moving with the help from a few younger guys.
Being down there I realized that some people either did not know or just plain forgot the rules of being down in the pit section at a metal show - pits will and do happen. If you don't want to be a part of it move out of the way and enjoy the show at a safe distance. Participation is not mandatory and do not try to stop it for you will be brought into it and become a target. Everyone enjoys the show in their own way. Some people get into the music so much that a pit provides the only way of release. The pit was friendly and would come and go throughout the night. It was fun for everyone who jumped in and even those on the outskirts who got caught in the flow and brought into it had a blast. Another broken rule is that ladies, when you get lifted onto the shoulders of a guy you are obligated to flash the band and the audience. Don't get up there if you don't plan to do this.
Now back to the show: overall I think the new material went over well. I was real chuffed to see them play "Dream of Mirrors." In my opinion it is one of the better tracks on BNW. I did not think Maiden would be able to top the performance they gave on the Ed Hunter tour last year when I saw them at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles but they did!! The crowd was more into the show and the energy was the highest I had ever seen at any show. No one can work a crowd into a frenzy like Bruce can and the guitar playing was excellent. Being up that close it was great to just to watch Dave, Adrian and Janick jam out the notes, especially during the solos. It was electric. One of the highlights of the show for us in the pit section was when Maiden played "The Trooper." A couple of girls got into a fight - there was hair pulling, bitch slapping, and even some real good punches. Everyone loves a good cat fight. Some bloke had the balls to reach in for a quick feel and got a handful of melons!! I dont think I will ever forget that. Every song they played had the audience moving and cheering and singing the words back to the band. Janick and Eddie had a good fight with Janick giving a few shots to the head and even hit Eddie in the junk! I am still on such a high from seeing the band play last night that I can't put all the feelings and energy of the concert into words and give the show the justice it deserves.
During the encores a security guard thought he would try to break up the pit but he obviously didn't know the pit rule stated above and he was immediately taken into the center of the mayhem and then thrown out like a rag doll. He learned his lesson and got out of there real fast and left us to enjoy the rest of the show on our own terms.
The only real downer of the show was that I found out this morning the Los Angeles Times (local news paper) reported that there were 4 stabbings at the show. This is uncalled for and does not belong at an Iron Maiden show or any show for that matter. Those people obviously did not hear Bruce's diatribe which introduced the song "Blood Brothers" (if you were at the show you know what I mean, if not read the lyrics to the song). I hope the victims are alright and the perpetrators are found and prosecuted. A show like Maiden is a time for celebration. People you have never met and may never even talk to under any other circumstances are automatically your friend cos the music brings us all together.
If I was disappointed about anything it was that Maiden recycled the Eddie from the Ed Hunter tour, "Out of the Silent Planet" was not included on the set list of new material and that the show was short (but then every fan never really believes that Maiden plays a long enough set. 2 hours goes by too fast).
Needless to say, at the end of the show I had yelled myself hoarse and I had a few battle scars from the pit to show all my friends which I wear with pride. My brother made it out of there with a Dave Murray guitar pick. What a lucky SOB. It was the best show I have ever seen in my life, hands down. If you haven't seen Maiden yet on this tour, buy a ticket and book a flight. If you don't you might as well put a bullet in your head right now cos you will be hating yourself and wallowing in misery for the rest of your life for missing this show. I am serious. It is that 'kin good. Those that have seen Maiden on their BNW tour will attest to that. I cant wait for another album and another tour!
Up the Irons!

Submitted by garthg (9/16/00, Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA):
For those who question the return of old-school metal stage shows, I have two words for you: flash pots. For too long now, we've had to sit through shows that lack the theatricality of the great shows of the past. But no more, Iron Maiden has returned with a full-on show. And I'd like to offer a hearty "Welcome back" to the pyrotechnic crew, we missed you guys.
Now, not everything went swimmingly for this show. I ran into some troubles with a photo pass for the show, and this all caused me to miss the entire Halford set. What I could hear from the business office sounded like it might be cool, but let's just say I was pretty pissed to miss Halford. I just don't want to talk about it.
I made it inside in time for Queensryche. I love QR, and I think that led to some of my disappointment here. The sound was crap, you could barely hear Geoff sing. "Take Hold of the Flame" loses a lot of its impact when you can't hear Geoff. And the set was so short, I felt gypped. It was a let-down after the past few times of seeing them live. Not really the band's fault, they are a great live band, but circumstances made it kinda disappointing for me.
Next came the almighty Maiden. Boom, big red flashes of flame, old school stage shows are back. Maiden initially suffered the same sound problems as Queensryche, but Bruce got the problem fixed after 2 or 3 songs. Maybe Halford had a similar problem, but I wouldn't know (for an explanation, see the part above where I say, "I don't want to talk about it.") After fixing the sound problems, Maiden sounded great. Bruce had the crowd whipped up, what crowd there was (come on Bay Area, get the fuck out to the shows and represent, I've never seen Shoreline's lawn so empty!) Cool setlist, 10-foot tall Eddie, burning Wicker Man, and the triple-guitar attack. Band sounded great and, even though Bruce said the night was not about a trip back to childhood, it was great to hear "Number of the Beast" and "Two Minutes to Midnight" live.
So now, in the spirit of Festivus, is the part where we get to the airing of the grievances:

Shitty sound. Geoff and Bruce are so important to the Queensryche and Maiden sounds, respectively, that it's freakin' ridiculous they should be mixed so low.
The three assholes who were trying to start a mosh pit on the lawn. First, three assholes do not a mosh pit make. Second, this isn't Limp Bizkit, this is Maiden, old school. Snap your necks and throw your fists in the air, but if you push me again, I'm gonna fucking deck ya'.
Too many guys in Maiden wearing their own merchandise. Just looks kinda gay. then again, the rock stars are the only ones that can actually afford the t-shirts these days.
All together, a great show. Could've been better, but more than worth the price of admission.

Submitted by Ross McAvinew (8/29/00, World Arena, Colorado Springs, CO):
Just thought I'd give you an update on the Maiden/Queensryche/Halford show. Just played in Colorado Springs on 8/29 and Red Rocks on 8/30, I caught the one in the Springs.
History - never been a 'Ryche fan (that was my smoke break), always loved Priest (Halford) and Maiden, though I hadn't heard either of their newest efforts prior to the show.
Halford was rockin' to open the show, just like old-fashioned Priest-tasty metal. The new stuff sounded good enough to make me want to pick up Resurrection. They busted out some old-school Priest like "Hellion/Electric Eye", "Tyrant", "Riding on the Wind", and "Breaking the Law". Good shit, man!
Now to Maiden - I respect them as Elder Rock-Gods, but I felt like I was at a Spinal Tap show. Dickenson was calling it "Colorado CITY" all night. He had corrected himself once or twice, then slipped back to it. In true metal fashion he was announcing where the band was at least 5 times between each song, and by the end of the show it was hard to keep a straight face.
Other than that it was a great set. They played (in no specific order and not complete) "Flight of the Navigator", "Blood Brothers", "The Clansman" & "Wicker Man" and the title track "Brave New World" off the new one; they busted "Sign of the Cross" with some pretty cool burning angel wings, "2 Minutes to Midnight", "The Trooper", "The Evil that Men Do", "Fear of the Dark", "Number of the Beast" and "Hallowed be Thy Name". Some pretty cool Eddies - A 12-foot Eddie on stilts, a giant "Wicker Man" behind the stage with beady red eyes, and a constantly changing curtain behind the stage with different incarnations of the Great Edward. A small step back from back in the day when they filled a stage with Powerslaves and 20 foot busts of Eddie, but still a great show.
Just my two-cents worth, but I just found the site and thought I'd share my opinion with a few open-ears. Cool site, have to keep up on new shit here. Later!

Submitted by Jason P Sorens (8/5/00, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY):
I managed to snap up tickets for this show on the Internet, which turned out to have been wise, considering how quickly the show sold out. I arrived with a friend of mine from Boston - I lent him my Opeth shirt, which never fails to get admiring comments at shows, and I settled for a Dissection shirt (Storm of the Light's Bane, one of my favorite album covers). Yeah, show all these mainstream metallers what the true underground is! Actually, a lot of the people there seemed to be classic rockers into Floyd and Zeppelin and stuff. More power to 'em - I guess we need those people.
Halford was decent but was not really why I was there. Never cared much for Priest, except for the Painkiller album. Sounds as if he's trying to do what Priest did with Jugulator: it was really driving, thrashy stuff. He sang almost completely in his shrill voice, which put me off a little.
Queensryche was quite enjoyable. They figured out that no one wants to hear their new stuff, so they played a bunch of old songs. And they had good taste with the songs they chose. I was mightily pleased to hear "Eyes of a Stranger" and "Queen of the Reich"! Geoff Tate can still hit those notes. Another friend of mine told me I blasphemed when I said he was better than Bruce Dickinson. But it's the plain truth. Bruce just has a better band.
Then of course the Great Ones came out. Everyone stood throughout their set. There were, I think, two songs I didn't know, Bruce versions of Blaze songs (those are albums I have steadfastly avoided). But they played a sizeable proportion of their new album and past favorites. I rocked hard to "Wrathchild" but was disappointed "Aces High" made no appearance. I just knew "Hallowed Be Thy Name" would be in the encore, and indeed it was, thanks be to God.
Overall, a highly pleasurable, if expensive, experience. Seeing Maiden live was one of my major life goals.

Submitted by Anonymous (8/16/00, Darien Lake, Buffalo, NY):
This show was unreal!!! I counted at least 5 Priest songs and 1 Fight song performed by Halford. Old Rob sounded better than ever. The only low point during his set was the lack of Preist playing the instruments. Speaking of great vocal performances... Geoff Tate sounded great. I was never a huge Queensryche fan but I did reconize "Speak", "Eyes of a Stranger", "Queen of the Reich", "Empire", and "Walk in the Shadows". Darian lake has a huge tent over the seated area, and the sound was un-friggin real! I tripped out on Halford and Queensryche thinking how awesome of a show this is. Never would I have imagined what I was about to witness. After jammin' Dickinson's albums for three years and jammin' Maiden forever, it was finally going to come down to this. Sitting here, I'm trying to come up with words to describe what I've seen, but I can't. I'm speechless. The band put together one of... no the best stage show I've seen in my entire life. From Bruce being raised up high on a cross for the intro to "Sign of the Cross" to a twenty foot high Iron Maiden shaped like Eddy used during "Iron Madien". Complete with lots of FIRE and fireworks. The band sounded tight and awesome. Bruce's voice sounded great! The guy ran around like a mainiac getting the crowd going for a tad short of TWO HOURS!! My only gripe was the lack of any Somewhere in Time songs. "The Evil That Men Do" kicked some ass this night! I don't wanna give away all the info... GO SEE THIS SHOW... AT ANY COST!!! UP THE IRONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Submitted by ERIC (8/12/00, E-Center, Camden, NJ):
HALFORD WAS KICK ASS, HE HITS ALL THE HIGH NOTES LIKE NO ONE ELSE CAN. I HATED TO SEE HIM HAVE TO WORK WITH A SMALL STAGE BUT THIS HAPPENS WHEN YOU'RE THE OPENER. QUEENSRYCHE WAS OK BUT NOT REALLY WHY I WAS THERE, SO I TOOK THE TIME TO WALK AROUND AND BUY A MAIDEN T-SHIRT. THEN THE TIME CAME FOR MAIDEN TO TAKE THE STAGE. THEY OPENED WITH "THE WICKER MAN." THE BAND WAS RIGHT ON, DICKENSON WAS RUNNING AROUND LIKE A LITTLE KID FOR THE WHOLE SHOW. TILL SOME JERK THREW HIS BEER ON STAGE AND IT HAD TO BE CLEANED UP SO THAT HE DIDN'T SLIP. LATER IN THE SHOW HE FINALLY SLIPPED ON IT BUT PLAYED IT OFF AND NEVER MISSED A NOTE. THIS IS A MUST SEE IF YOU LIKE MUSIC AND A GOOD STAGE SHOW. YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS ONE. EVEN WITH ME NOT WANTING TO SEE QUEENSRYCHE. I GOT TO SEE THE BEST METAL BAND OF ALL TIME PLAY AND HEAR HALFORD SING SOME PRIEST TUNES. AND HIS NEW ALBUM ROCKS AS WELL.

Musashi's review (8/5/00, Madison Square Garden, New York, NY):
Wow! This was a full-on, old-school metal spectacular. I arrived at my seat at 7:37 and was amazed that Rob Halford was already a song or two into his set. I have never seen Judas Priest or Halford live, so I was excited to witness one of metal's icons. (I often refer to Halford as the Liberace of metal. In fact, for years I thought it was Siegfried and ROB). He was surprisingly (and somewhat disappointingly) un-flamboyant. Regardless, Halford had a good band backing him up and powered through his set of unremarkable songs. It wasn't until I heard "Electric Eye" and "Breaking The Law" that I could imagine Halford in his glory days kicking metal ass! I must say Halford's lungs are still awesome; he was hitting all the notes.
Queensryche was my favorite band that night for a couple of reasons. First, they played their big hits. They are touring in support of their new greatest hits album and they came out and just played the good stuff. Second, it's only my second time seeing them and the first time I missed a lot of the show. Finally, we ended up sitting next to this pretty woman who turned out to be Queensryche's PR person and she gave us copies of the new CD. I love free CDs. Anyway, Queensryche played "Queen of the Reich," "Take Hold of the Flame," "Walk in the Shadows" and "Eyes of a Stranger." How can you beat that? I'll tell you how: they did NOT play "Silent Lucidity!" Excellent decision!
Iron Maiden always kicks ass. They are a band that I love going to see live. I don't usually listen to their CDs (I don't know why--it's not because I don't like them), but I never turn down an opportunity to see them live. I always enjoy seeing them. They played their asses off. Dickinson still runs around like a track star. In fact, he built himself a little obstacle course on stage; he was climbing ladders, leaping over monitors and swinging on ropes. He's got so much energy! Iron Maiden definitely looked and sounded better than anyone that night, but the song selection left something to be desired.
I almost fell asleep during "The Clansman" � It was as long as the movie Braveheart but without all the cool battle scenes! I understand that they are supporting Brave New World and I give them credit for really kicking ass on the songs they played off the new album (all 6 of them). However, the rest of the set should have been more classic friendly. Maybe I was too sober, but I was losing steam in the second half.
By the time the concert was over, I had the feeling that I had just witnessed a great metal moment: two and a half great, classic bands in one night. We had just partied like it was 1989! It was awesome to see so many old-school metalheads! You could tell that the bands were excited and giving it their all.

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