I remember it as plain as day...
Last night was original vocalist Paul Di'Anno's 30th anniversary performance in honour of the release of Iron Maiden's self-titled debut album.
As the event was to take place at the Espy, I didn't bother rocking up until 12:00, as they tend to frown on you being there before the place opens. The Espy operates as a regular pub during the day, and has a separate room for major gigs, so it doesn't actually close up shop when the gigs are happening. As with the last Di'Anno show, people were pretty slack about turning up early too, so I spent the majority of my day sitting on the verandah, watching the ocean, having a few beers and listening to Metal on my iPod.
One thing about the Espy, they're pretty crap when it comes to organisation, at least in my experience. I had a VIP ticket for the night, which meant I got to meet Paul Di'Anno after the show, and was supposed to get a merch pack as well. I didn't get any information about that until the day before, and only because I was searching for it. They e-mailed info out to me on the day of the show, well after I would normally have already left for a gig. When I got to the venue and asked, nobody could tell me much more than what I've said thus far; certainly not where the meet and greet would be held, or where to pick up merch. Le sigh.
At about 5:00 I moved inside to sit outside the Gershwin room itself, and it was there that I ran into the stage manager, who recognised me from previous Metal gigs - particularly Sonata Arctica. We chatted briefly, and later I overheard him saying something about the VIP packages to the merch girls, so made a mental note to ask them about that.
In the meantime, got to hear soundcheck, which was very loud. Sitting outside the room, it was getting up to a volume I'd normally expect inside a gig. Very loud.
When merch finally opened up - not for business, just for the view, apparently - I finally got some decent info. We just needed to rock up to the merch stand afterwards, and the stage manager would take it from there. There were VIP wristbands floating around, but the merch girl wasn't sure if they were for us, so gave me two entry stamps instead of one. I was a little worried about that, but went along with it. Unfortunately, our merch bags failed to arrive, but to balance it out, we got a twenty dollar credit on merch instead, so at least I got my tour shirt for just ten bucks.
Briefly saw the Metal Maria just before doors, then it was time to head in...
When doors finally opened, there were still probably less than thirty people present. The opening act were on pretty smartly, and unfortunately for them were playing to a mostly empty room. Odd choice of opening acts, I must say; they were both Death Metal bands, which isn't really what Di'Anno is about. Anyway, the first band were called Humonic, and weren't too bad. As opening Death Metal bands go, I quite enjoyed them. Because there were so few people, the performance was pretty casual, and the band were joking around with us in between songs. They took the whole situation with good grace, I have to give them that. The vocalist jumped down into what might loosely be described as the crowd at one point, and sang half the song down there with us. Pretty cool.
Next up were Cemetery Urn, and by this stage there were still probably fewer than fifty people there. Cemetery Urn weren't bad, though I didn't like them as much as Humonic. Most of their songs sounded very similar, and the only aspects that really stood out were some Meshuggah-style guitar solos. There was an amusing point when the vocalist mixed up the setlist though, which resulted in some embarrassed Death Metal muttering.
When all that was done with, it was time for Di'Anno. The crowd finally grew into something quite respectable, though to the best of my knowledge, the show didn't end up selling out. Damn well should have, though. It was a great performance. Once again, Di'Anno had Sydney-based Killrazer for his band, and they played the Iron Maiden tracks superbly. They're not Maiden, of course, but they're certainly talented enough to make one feel like the performance isn't a million miles away from what it would have been like to see Maiden at a smaller gig in the early days.
The show began with The Ides of March, the instrumental track which of course got us all pumped for Di'Anno's entrance with Wrathchild, an absolute Maiden classic. There were a few issues with getting the vocal levels high enough at first, but other than that, the sound was very good. I do have to say though, it was ridiculously loud. Possibly even moreso than Billboard, which I usually consider to be Melbourne's loudest venue. The volume here was quite unnecessary; largely stemming, I think, from the fact that the solution to any balancing problems seemed to be to turn things up. Rarely did anything ever go down... My ears are still ringing a bit, and despite all the Metal gigs I go to, I have to say that doesn't usually happen.
Anyway, Wrathchild was quickly followed by a few more classic Maiden tracks, including Prowler and Murders in the Rue Morgue. While Di'Anno still sounded great, I don't think he was quite as good as last year. Last year, I thought he sounded even better than he did on the albums; not so this time, but as I said, still bloody good. And he was in fine Di'Anno form as regards his personality; getting the crowd pumped, and keeping things funny. Gotta love that English sense of humour.
One of the things I love about Di'Anno is that he's so humble and down-to-earth. He seems to be genuinely shocked that people still give a shit; after all, his Maiden albums happened three decades ago, and his solo material certainly hasn't propelled him into Maiden-like fame. Nevertheless, he's still constantly touring the world, and playing to die-hards like us. He dedicated the song Children of Madness to us as a thank you, from himself as well as from his wife and kids, because "you're all barking mad!"
To be honest, my memory is a little slow at the moment due to the general lack of sleep since my all-nighter before leaving New Zealand, so much of what Di'Anno actually said has escaped me. But we had interludes like, "When I've got to go back to England, they're just as likely to send me straight back here. The Queen, the Prime Minister, and the taxman are all after me on account of the taxes I haven't been paying... well, fuck 'em, they all hate me anyway. Actually, I've got family out here, in St. Kilda and Footscray. Just as long as I don't have to stay with them, they hate me too!"
As well as the Maiden material, we also got a bit of Di'Anno's other stuff, including the track The Beast Arises from his Killers album, Murder One.
Remember Tomorrow got an airing, of course, and was once again one of the highlights of the show. What an amazing song. A true Metal classic.
Killers was another highlight, and one that the crowd went absolutely nuts for. They didn't slow down after that, either. Quite the press from behind, which got a little uncomfortable at times, as there was no barrier for the show; we in the front row were flush against the stage. Totally worth it to be so close to Di'Anno for the whole show, though.
Phantom of the Opera was soon to follow, and that totally went off as well. Somewhere in there we got a Killrazer song, and they were actually pretty damn good. Death Metal yet again...
Paul did seem to be having trouble with his mic stand, and kept telling the stage manager to fix it; the stage manager kept failing, resulting in Paul's, "How many fucking times do I have to tell you? I need that stand! I'm an old man for Christ's sake, I can't stand up on my own!"
And then there were the introductions to the members of Killrazer, ending with guitarist Doug. "And this... this is Doug. Now, Doug is a lazy bastard. He doesn't do anything unless you actually shout his name. Which is why we call him Doug, You Cunt."
This resulted in a "Doug, You Cunt" chant from the crowd. Good times, good times.
One interesting song that came out was Strange World, which Di'Anno hadn't played in about fifteen years. He commented afterwards that he was quite amazed he didn't fuck it up. Charlotte the Harlot and Iron Maiden were great moments too, as well as Running Free - which according to Di'Anno, is about "sex, drugs and Harley Davidsons."
We also got a cover of AC/DC's Highway to Hell, which I must say was executed flawlessly. He sounded exactly like Bon Scott - who Di'Anno also commented bought him his first drop of alcohol after an AC/DC show when Di'Anno was fourteen. Crazy!
The set came to a close with Sanctuary, without an encore. After an hour and a half set though, were were pretty damn pleased. Besides, a few of us lucky ones had the meet and greet to go to...
We all gathered at the merch stand, and I noticed that some of the people there did have the VIP wristbands. I mentioned this to the merch girl, and she said she'd run out of wristbands, and the double stamp would be fine. Still worried, but I accepted her judgement once again. It wasn't too long before we were invited in, and thankfully, my double stamp got me in just fine. We were back in the Gershwin Room once more, waiting for the stage manager to take us backstage. When it got to that point, he was checking wristbands, and when it got to me, he simply said, "I know you, you're fine." Apparently I needn't have worried at all! It's good to be known around the Metal scene, it seems...
When we got to the waiting area backstage, the stage manager informed us that the meetings would be one-on-one, to make it extra special. Bloody awesome! I was the fourth or fifth person in, and it was just me, the stage manager, and Paul Di'Anno! Absolutely amazing. He was just as humble and down-to-earth in that situation, and we talked a bit about his current tour; Paul mentioning that these shows where he played the entire Iron Maiden album were pretty much a once-off, and would only be happening in South America, other than in Australia and New Zealand. He spoke a bit about how he was looking forward to Brazil, as that's where his wife lives, and how it was "the light at the end of the tunnel" for him. I said I could relate, as my fiancee is living in New Zealand at the moment; to which he responded, "New Zealand? What would she want to go there for?!"
Of course, I got my copy of Iron Maiden signed, and got a photo with the man.
A bit wonky, but my fault for moving my head!
And that was it for the night!
For any of my Christchurch droogies who may be interested, Di'Anno will be performing at Al's Bar on the 2nd of July!
Next up for me is Testament at Billboard on the 6th of August...
As the event was to take place at the Espy, I didn't bother rocking up until 12:00, as they tend to frown on you being there before the place opens. The Espy operates as a regular pub during the day, and has a separate room for major gigs, so it doesn't actually close up shop when the gigs are happening. As with the last Di'Anno show, people were pretty slack about turning up early too, so I spent the majority of my day sitting on the verandah, watching the ocean, having a few beers and listening to Metal on my iPod.
One thing about the Espy, they're pretty crap when it comes to organisation, at least in my experience. I had a VIP ticket for the night, which meant I got to meet Paul Di'Anno after the show, and was supposed to get a merch pack as well. I didn't get any information about that until the day before, and only because I was searching for it. They e-mailed info out to me on the day of the show, well after I would normally have already left for a gig. When I got to the venue and asked, nobody could tell me much more than what I've said thus far; certainly not where the meet and greet would be held, or where to pick up merch. Le sigh.
At about 5:00 I moved inside to sit outside the Gershwin room itself, and it was there that I ran into the stage manager, who recognised me from previous Metal gigs - particularly Sonata Arctica. We chatted briefly, and later I overheard him saying something about the VIP packages to the merch girls, so made a mental note to ask them about that.
In the meantime, got to hear soundcheck, which was very loud. Sitting outside the room, it was getting up to a volume I'd normally expect inside a gig. Very loud.
When merch finally opened up - not for business, just for the view, apparently - I finally got some decent info. We just needed to rock up to the merch stand afterwards, and the stage manager would take it from there. There were VIP wristbands floating around, but the merch girl wasn't sure if they were for us, so gave me two entry stamps instead of one. I was a little worried about that, but went along with it. Unfortunately, our merch bags failed to arrive, but to balance it out, we got a twenty dollar credit on merch instead, so at least I got my tour shirt for just ten bucks.
Briefly saw the Metal Maria just before doors, then it was time to head in...
When doors finally opened, there were still probably less than thirty people present. The opening act were on pretty smartly, and unfortunately for them were playing to a mostly empty room. Odd choice of opening acts, I must say; they were both Death Metal bands, which isn't really what Di'Anno is about. Anyway, the first band were called Humonic, and weren't too bad. As opening Death Metal bands go, I quite enjoyed them. Because there were so few people, the performance was pretty casual, and the band were joking around with us in between songs. They took the whole situation with good grace, I have to give them that. The vocalist jumped down into what might loosely be described as the crowd at one point, and sang half the song down there with us. Pretty cool.
Next up were Cemetery Urn, and by this stage there were still probably fewer than fifty people there. Cemetery Urn weren't bad, though I didn't like them as much as Humonic. Most of their songs sounded very similar, and the only aspects that really stood out were some Meshuggah-style guitar solos. There was an amusing point when the vocalist mixed up the setlist though, which resulted in some embarrassed Death Metal muttering.
When all that was done with, it was time for Di'Anno. The crowd finally grew into something quite respectable, though to the best of my knowledge, the show didn't end up selling out. Damn well should have, though. It was a great performance. Once again, Di'Anno had Sydney-based Killrazer for his band, and they played the Iron Maiden tracks superbly. They're not Maiden, of course, but they're certainly talented enough to make one feel like the performance isn't a million miles away from what it would have been like to see Maiden at a smaller gig in the early days.
The show began with The Ides of March, the instrumental track which of course got us all pumped for Di'Anno's entrance with Wrathchild, an absolute Maiden classic. There were a few issues with getting the vocal levels high enough at first, but other than that, the sound was very good. I do have to say though, it was ridiculously loud. Possibly even moreso than Billboard, which I usually consider to be Melbourne's loudest venue. The volume here was quite unnecessary; largely stemming, I think, from the fact that the solution to any balancing problems seemed to be to turn things up. Rarely did anything ever go down... My ears are still ringing a bit, and despite all the Metal gigs I go to, I have to say that doesn't usually happen.
Anyway, Wrathchild was quickly followed by a few more classic Maiden tracks, including Prowler and Murders in the Rue Morgue. While Di'Anno still sounded great, I don't think he was quite as good as last year. Last year, I thought he sounded even better than he did on the albums; not so this time, but as I said, still bloody good. And he was in fine Di'Anno form as regards his personality; getting the crowd pumped, and keeping things funny. Gotta love that English sense of humour.
One of the things I love about Di'Anno is that he's so humble and down-to-earth. He seems to be genuinely shocked that people still give a shit; after all, his Maiden albums happened three decades ago, and his solo material certainly hasn't propelled him into Maiden-like fame. Nevertheless, he's still constantly touring the world, and playing to die-hards like us. He dedicated the song Children of Madness to us as a thank you, from himself as well as from his wife and kids, because "you're all barking mad!"
To be honest, my memory is a little slow at the moment due to the general lack of sleep since my all-nighter before leaving New Zealand, so much of what Di'Anno actually said has escaped me. But we had interludes like, "When I've got to go back to England, they're just as likely to send me straight back here. The Queen, the Prime Minister, and the taxman are all after me on account of the taxes I haven't been paying... well, fuck 'em, they all hate me anyway. Actually, I've got family out here, in St. Kilda and Footscray. Just as long as I don't have to stay with them, they hate me too!"
As well as the Maiden material, we also got a bit of Di'Anno's other stuff, including the track The Beast Arises from his Killers album, Murder One.
Remember Tomorrow got an airing, of course, and was once again one of the highlights of the show. What an amazing song. A true Metal classic.
Killers was another highlight, and one that the crowd went absolutely nuts for. They didn't slow down after that, either. Quite the press from behind, which got a little uncomfortable at times, as there was no barrier for the show; we in the front row were flush against the stage. Totally worth it to be so close to Di'Anno for the whole show, though.
Phantom of the Opera was soon to follow, and that totally went off as well. Somewhere in there we got a Killrazer song, and they were actually pretty damn good. Death Metal yet again...
Paul did seem to be having trouble with his mic stand, and kept telling the stage manager to fix it; the stage manager kept failing, resulting in Paul's, "How many fucking times do I have to tell you? I need that stand! I'm an old man for Christ's sake, I can't stand up on my own!"
And then there were the introductions to the members of Killrazer, ending with guitarist Doug. "And this... this is Doug. Now, Doug is a lazy bastard. He doesn't do anything unless you actually shout his name. Which is why we call him Doug, You Cunt."
This resulted in a "Doug, You Cunt" chant from the crowd. Good times, good times.
One interesting song that came out was Strange World, which Di'Anno hadn't played in about fifteen years. He commented afterwards that he was quite amazed he didn't fuck it up. Charlotte the Harlot and Iron Maiden were great moments too, as well as Running Free - which according to Di'Anno, is about "sex, drugs and Harley Davidsons."
We also got a cover of AC/DC's Highway to Hell, which I must say was executed flawlessly. He sounded exactly like Bon Scott - who Di'Anno also commented bought him his first drop of alcohol after an AC/DC show when Di'Anno was fourteen. Crazy!
The set came to a close with Sanctuary, without an encore. After an hour and a half set though, were were pretty damn pleased. Besides, a few of us lucky ones had the meet and greet to go to...
We all gathered at the merch stand, and I noticed that some of the people there did have the VIP wristbands. I mentioned this to the merch girl, and she said she'd run out of wristbands, and the double stamp would be fine. Still worried, but I accepted her judgement once again. It wasn't too long before we were invited in, and thankfully, my double stamp got me in just fine. We were back in the Gershwin Room once more, waiting for the stage manager to take us backstage. When it got to that point, he was checking wristbands, and when it got to me, he simply said, "I know you, you're fine." Apparently I needn't have worried at all! It's good to be known around the Metal scene, it seems...
When we got to the waiting area backstage, the stage manager informed us that the meetings would be one-on-one, to make it extra special. Bloody awesome! I was the fourth or fifth person in, and it was just me, the stage manager, and Paul Di'Anno! Absolutely amazing. He was just as humble and down-to-earth in that situation, and we talked a bit about his current tour; Paul mentioning that these shows where he played the entire Iron Maiden album were pretty much a once-off, and would only be happening in South America, other than in Australia and New Zealand. He spoke a bit about how he was looking forward to Brazil, as that's where his wife lives, and how it was "the light at the end of the tunnel" for him. I said I could relate, as my fiancee is living in New Zealand at the moment; to which he responded, "New Zealand? What would she want to go there for?!"
Of course, I got my copy of Iron Maiden signed, and got a photo with the man.
A bit wonky, but my fault for moving my head!
And that was it for the night!
For any of my Christchurch droogies who may be interested, Di'Anno will be performing at Al's Bar on the 2nd of July!
Next up for me is Testament at Billboard on the 6th of August...