Iron Maiden + harps + blonde chicks

I am not sure whether to clap and shout how awesome this, or just start cracking up.  Hot blonde twins, Camille and Kennerly, both play the electric harp and both are fans of metal.   When you put this combo together, you get a pretty great cover of Iron Maiden's "Fear Of The Dark" via harp duo.   Check this out:

Paul Di'Anno Tour Postponed

Before I get into the nitty gritty of why Paul Di'anno's tour is postponed I had to share the flyer below for his Whiskey show.  I think this flyer is fabulous, and believe it or not, I did NO photoshopping on this.  This is what the actual flyer looks like!  Hilarious and amazing.

So now for the details:  As announced earlier, Paul Di'Anno's winter tour had to be put on hold while his work visa for the US was sorted out.   Nobody (Di'Anno included) seemed to think it would drag on this long.  I think Di'Anno fans can survive going Christmas without their dose of the overlooked Iron Maiden frontman, but Di'Anno himself is PISSED and he took to his facebook page to voice his frusterations.  I friggin' love when musicians bitch out other musicians or music industry people.   I am not being sarcastic, I really love it.  So merry Xmas to me.  I highlighted the best parts for your reading pleasure, enjoy:

"My personal and sincere apologies go out to all of my fans and friends (and my band LONERO) and indeed all individual show promoters and everyone involved in this supposed USA December 2012-January 2013 tour cancelation as I am deeply saddened at the total mismanagement of this whole thing. As I’m sure you can imagine, I cannot actually play the tour without first having a USA work visa.

"I would also like to point out that I have not had any news whatsoever in the past couple of weeks (despite my constant requests) on the USA work visa that I have been waiting and waiting on. Plus I was not provided with an air ticket and indeed I have not received any deposits either — just for the record.

"In brief, the only news I have ever had of this tour were the dates of the shows themselves.

"I am very sorry indeed for any fans that have not managed to get the cancelation tour information at an earlier time than this last-minute blog. This is, and has been, ALL totally out of my control, and as you can imagine, I am more than pissed off at this whole situation.
"No doubt (as usual) some (so-called) rock journalists (and their websites and blogs) will slag me off without even having any clues whatsoever as to the reasons behind this cancelation, but I guess that is what some of 'em are best at.

"The main culprit behind this mess is the arsebag guy (he'll remain nameless just for now) who was supposed to get the visa... This total tosser did 'f**k-all' and did not even tell us that he had done nothing whilst he just pissed off for Christmas and left this nightmare behind him..... He was NOT arranged by me but he WAS arranged by someone in the USA who should know better, and so I left it up to these capable people. I was supposed to be onstage tonight and thereafter with my band LONERO, and through trusting these people, it's me (as usual) who bares the brunt of all this. 

"The tour is supposed to now be resheduled to next June 2013. However, this time, if these f**kers do not bother getting my U.S. visa finalised during this coming January, then (as i have pointed out to them), there won't be no tour. So watch this space and let's see if some people get their act together whilst I await the statutory slagging."

Thank you for that!!  Gotta love a bit of metalhead drama.

12 Metal Days of Christmas (day 6)

In only 6 days it will be Christmas.   Last night I decided to do some last minute online Christmas shopping, and bought a present for my favorite person (myself).   Unfortunately  I wasn't able to get the Slayer Christmas sweater, but what I got is equally amazing.  Introducing:

Iron Maiden.  Number of The Beast. On your feet.  Jealous?

And today's gift to you...... AC/DC's "Mistress For Christmas", which is both hilarious and kickass.

Day 6: AC/DC - "Mistress For Christmas"

Past songs and videos after the jump....

Iron Maiden and Dream Theater at PNC (Holmdel, NJ) on Sunday, July 11th

PNC Arts Bank Area isn't exactly my favorite venue in the world for the following:
-It's not in NYC.  [Which is almost unacceptable for a Manhattanite].
-The booze is pricey.
-Its outdoors (aka, sound quality is never outstanding).
-This particuliar evening was hot and humid.
Despite all this- if Iron Maiden join forces with Dream Theater, then that is a show I need to be at.  Need.  This would be no different, so I took the shitty commute there and gave it a shot.

Sadly, the 20-minute-plus walk from the parking lot to the venue caused me to miss the beginning of Dream Theater's set.  We ran in while 'Home' was on, and immediately scouted out our seats and Mike Portnoy's monstrous drum kit.  Portnoy- I could watch forever, but similiar to any other time when I've seen DT the moments with James Labrie singing tend to lose me and it takes an instrumental bit to pull me back in.  The set flew by and seemed especially short since I am used to them playing such long shows.

Man of the hour Portnoy- shows us his skins.

Keytars are always cool.

The crowd during the well lit Dream Theater set.

Up next were the money-makers of the night, Iron Maiden.  There has been so much hype around this tour that I can't say there were many surprises in the set.  Since the tours' inception reviews have been popping up on the Internet about the set list and its obvious theme around the last 3 Maiden albums.  Take that for what you will.  Brave New World was a great album, and it was awesome to hear a solid 4, 5 songs live.  I can see where people would complain over the set list though- there was little variety and I think Maiden could have thrown a few more older staples into the mix and still came off as a relatively current tour given the 'modern' vibe they were going for.  

It was nice to see a little more respect paid to Dio.  Not only was there a huge banner in the nosebleed seats that simply said "DIO", but Bruce also dedicated 'Blood Brothers' to him and asked the crowd to give the metal horns in his honor.  When he did this and the house lights came on with all those horns in the air it really showed me just how influential and respected Dio was AND how fucking jam packed the venue was! 

Some highlights of the show were 'Brave New World', which sounded great, and of course the encore of 'Number Of The Beast' and 'Fear Of The Dark'.   The stage was decorated like some sort of Stars-Wars-metal-playing-ground, and per usual Bruce literally jumped, ran and skipped from one level to the next as he wailed out.  Is it just me or does his voice seem even more over-the-top lately?  He seems to be doing some weirdo voice flip thing that makes it sound like he is pushing out the top notes in a yelp.  I would love if someone would chime in on this because I noticed him doing it on the last few albums as well.  It's a sudden key change that results in a scream.... an awkward scream.

Some lowlights include Janick Gers in general, although he was less like a dancing cartoon character at this show than the last tour.  The friend I was at the show with also agreed that he was the least lovable Iron Maiden member, so it's not just me.  Others include the new Eddie, which moved swiftly, but played guitar?!  This seriously bothered me.  Eddie is supposed to be KILLING MAIDEN, not playing with them.  Also the re-design of his image doesn't sit well with me.  So there.

Sound quality was lacking due to the outdoor venue, but seemed to be pretty good if your seats are decent enough. (AKA - rich enough, tickets were PRICEY).

Bruce pimped out the new cd...  He had the crowd chant the release date and the fact that we "Want Final Frontier to go number 1 on the charts" multiple times.  It was cheesy, but somewhat endearing.   Less obnoxious than Paul Stanley at a KISS concert, for sure.  I especially liked the bit about how he was here to play new music and if you "Want to see the same old shit every night, go watch the Eagles."   Fuck yes, Brucie!

In all a good time, IF you knew what you were getting in for.  The mostly-older crowd was not bitching on their way out, so it seemed like a good time was had.  I mean, it's Iron Maiden.  They do no wrong.

Epic set design

Maiden rocking out!

THE IRON MAIDEN

Eddie comes in peace.

It was an awesome finale, I give ya that.

Iron Maiden changes the face of Eddie

I am one of those Iron Maiden fans who geeks out over new material, loves Brave New World and Di'Anno era, and doesn't mind skipping over 'Run To Hills' when it comes on the radio for the millionth time.   BUT, as open as I am to the new stuff, I am not okay with this:

A new Eddie is unacceptable. Period.  AND may I add that this new Eddie appears on their current tour and plays guitar. EDDIE DOES NOT PLAY GUITAR!!  EDDIE CAUSES DESTRUCTION AND KILLS!

At least the music ain't half bad.  Even on a bad day Maiden still kick ass.

That Other Iron Maiden Singer...

If you are reading this blog then the chance is that you do know who Iron Maiden's other singer was.... Blaze Bayley.  But to most of the world, only good ol' cousin Brucey Dickinson and perhaps his precursor, Pail Di'Anno go remembered.  Blaze really was a pretty decent singer, but the bottom line was that he wasnt Bruce and the role as new frontman for Maiden is just far too hard to fill at this point.   People expect a certain sound/image at a Maiden show and Blaze never really was a fit.
Anyway, Mr. Bayley turns the healthy age of 47 today and I thought I would give a nod to him by making a playlist of some of his solo material.  It's not life-changing, but it's fun to listen to here and there.

Loudest band on earth....

In 1985, Iron Maiden got the Guinness World Record for Loudest band on the planet.  Take that, Manowar!

Janick Gers loves him some rock hard dick!

Janick Gers (the cartoon like guitarist frolicking about stage with Iron Maiden) has stepped up for a worthy cause.  He supports the right to proudly display his penis.

According to a report from The Northern Echo Janick supports a campaign to keep a handcarved stone penis up for sale in a shop in North Yorkshire, UK.  It seems the penis was the subject of much debate and was actually confiscated by police after some neighborhood folk complained.  I have to agree with the ol' skip-to-the-louer here myself.  Freedom of expression!   However, something tells me there may be a few slightly larger campaigns he could back.

And for your viewing pleasure:

Dave Murray ages gracefully

Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) turns 53 today.  Such a shame to have a birthday so close to Christmas, takes away all the fun.

Paul Di'Anno announces a NYC date after 17 years

Remember Paul Di'Anno?  Well most people do not, but us dorks metalheads have a very special place in our heart for him.  Since leaving the coveted Iron Maiden front man spot, Paul has still kept himself busy making music and such, but has never been a big touring guy (at least in the USA, he's tours loads in the rest of the world).  Well, good news for us fans of Killers is that Di'Anno plans to hit the road... in the states!    Only one date has been announced thus far, but its a NYC show, so thats good.  BB Kings in Times Square on January 27th.  See you there!!

True metallic love

Kirk Windstein (Crobar, Down, Kingdom of Sorrow) is a cult figure.  Back in 87 he was in a Judas Priest & Iron Maiden cover band called Victorian Blitz.  I really hope he wore makeup.