Iron Maiden

I wrote this YEARS ago now.  It was on the 'A Matter of Life and Death Tour'.  I was still a kid so dont laugh.  It is about the greatest heavy metal band ever: IRON MAIDEN

I was, last night being Friday the 15th of December '06, at about quarter to 8 in the evening sitting ignoring the fact that Trivium were on stage at an arena with my best friend. We were both rather bored by them trying to be a primitive Metallica and left to get something to eat. The duration of their set we remained seated in the small, rather shabby cafe.

It wasn’t until they finally fucked off we got ourselves up to go into the main arena to get good stations for the forth coming set which was about to take place...for it was the magnificent IRON MAIDEN!!!

So Antonio and I, being myself, got to approximately 10 feet from the front and crash bang in the middle. Finally, about 5 to 9 o'clock rolled around and the lights went out and by god(!) it went crazy...I was freaking out!

Maiden emerged from the shadows and WOW!!!

it was 9 o'clock when they came on and they played:-

Different World (will be released as a single on Christmas day)These Colours Don’t Run
Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
The Pilgrim
The Longest Day
Out Of The Shadows
The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
For The Greater Good Of God
Lord Of Light
The Legacy
(that was all from A Matter Of Life And Death...all in order, was loving it!)
Fear Of The Dark
and Iron Maiden
They encored with:-

2 Minutes To Midnight (something incredible happened here...)
The Evil That Men Do
Hallowed Be Thy Name(I think that was all)

None of Dance of Death was played and not many more classics were played (which I thought was great because that would have pissed off assholes that came to see them for Run To The Hills and thats it...was great for true MAIDEN fans!) but it was still a 2 hour set and it was a spectacular set with props that are just unimaginable. Only if one can see it for themselves would one understand they level of awesomeness this concert was oozing which was just infinite!!! The props included a tank with Eddie (the Maiden mascot) popping his head out with a set of binoculars...was giant! And better yet, a 12 foot robotic Eddie appeared from nowhere with a gun in hand and walked about the stage! (WHAT!?!?) Was so good! Not to mention the artwork of the backgrounds of the stage. The setup was ever changing with a different picture to set the theme of the song and it was just beyond amazing!

The Maiden guys made it all look so effortless. Bruce Dickenson's voice was sheer talent booming out of his throat; his crowd control was just unbelievable!

He was on fire!

Nico McBrain on drums was just legendary! Set up every song, introduced them very well. How he can keep up with Steve Harris on his bass drum with ONLY ONE SET OF BASS DRUMS just defeats me! It leaves me puzzled!!! An awesome performance from the McBrain as ever!!!

Steve Harris...the heart and soul of MAIDEN!!! He just can’t be more of an icon! The passion he put into every song and every note he play and everything he did. A true performer and one of/if not the greatest bassists of heavy metal and music history!!!

Just when you thought it wouldn’t get any better bloggie,

the guitarists - Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers...
WOW! Solos aplenty!!! Each one of them brought their own element of awe into the gig! Janick is a complete performer; throwing his guitar up 6 feet above himself and catching it clean playing difficult solos incredibly while dancing about the stage. Dave engineering solos like there’s no tomorrow also making it look like a piece a’ cake and smiling at the crowd whereas Adrian, keeping a very calm air of cool about him also making solos piss easy but in actuality, the real reality of it all is that they might be the most difficult thing ever played on a guitar!

During 2 minutes to midnight:

Approaching the end of this rocking song people were going out of their mind, crazy at this point and Bruce was right up at the crowds grill! Really close to us. Pits were crazy! About 8 people fell to the ground at the front, and mid song Bruce stopped singing...the music kept on playing and everyone kept on going nuts. The people who fell were helped up and Bruce asked pretty much everyone who fell, pointing them out individually "are you alright?" and eventually getting back to the song he says "I have lost my track now" but luckily, the hardcore MAIDEN fans kept it alive by singing every word and Bruce heard this and carried it on...with his flawless voice!

As I assessed this situation that occurred post concert, I realised how much care Bruce and the rest of Maiden have for their fans, not only for the people who fell and Bruce asking them all if they r ok but the whole of Maiden put on a fucking incredibly, outstandingly, spectacularly, rockingly, PHWAAAARRR! Of a show. How?? I hear ye of little MAIDEN faith ask?

How many gigs have you been to where the band have put so much effort into their set to make it most enjoyable?

How many gigs have you been to where there are any props at all let alone 12 foot robotic Eddies walking about, Giant Tanks and a background which changed with every song?

How many gigs have you been to where the headlining band is on for over 2 hours? But most of all how many gigs have you been to where the front man/woman stops mid song to ask if everyone is ok? Hmm?? Hmm??!?!?

I put these questions to you and i challenge thee to defy me!

As my assessment of this FANTASTIC concert went on, tears almost brewed in the eyes that just saw the greatest band in the world...

UP THE IRONS!!!!!

Cherish her....

I remember when I first started to play Rugby I was desperate for my mum to come and watch me play like all the other players' parents would.  My dad had come once or twice but not too many times because of his working schedule. 

I remember when I would have arguments with mum about why she would never want to come and watch me play and she would always say:
I can't bare to see my baby get hurt or hurting others.

This only aggravated me further. 

I remember I had a very important semi final to play in my hometown.  I remember it attracted nearly two thousand people to come and watch us play.

I remember getting injured during that game.  I remember getting taken to the hospital by ambulance.  I remember seeing my mother's devastation.  I remember hearing my mother cry.  I remember the guilt.  I remember it outweighing all the good time I have had at Rugby. 

I remember how happy she was when she found out I was going to be OK. 

I remember saying to my mum:
After all these years of playing this game and wanting you to come and watch me....I am glad you didn't.  You made the right choice all this time. 

I remember feeling like my mum always knew and will always know best for herself and her family.  I remember forgiving my beautiful mother for this small favour she would not do for me and wish she would forgive me for any hurt I have ever caused her.  She has given me so much. 

I love you mama.

Much love,

Jackson L.

Written in the stars.....

I am all for people looking for hope and different avenues to help make their life seem less dreary.  I do enjoy being in the presence of insanely positive people, even those who are incredibly chirpy on a mundane, dark, cold, beginning of January kind of Monday morning.  They are a real credit to our race.  How can people still find happiness in all that?!  Anyways, I digress as I so often do.  I like it when people find ways to be content and push for happiness and make things happen.  I like it when people find some medium in which they find some sort of hope.  What I do not like though is when that hope is found in something so shit…..daily horoscopes. 

I do strongly believe that the people who write them are actually taking the utter piss out of their readers.  They say ridiculously vague bullshit like:

Things will happen in you life when you go out and do things.  You may or may not like what occurs but remember this; at least you have your health….unless of course you decide to take your own life due to reading a pitifully dire attempt at predicting your immediate future. 

It then goes on to discuss generic things such as romance, finance, general wellbeing and work/academia.  This, more often than not, goes something like this:

Romance - You may or may not find yourself madly in love with someone/something.  If you are - well done.  If not - ……

Finance - You are probably not at all well off because you have picked up and read a free newspaper (The Metro) and that is just tragic.  However, if you are just a tight cunt who likes to read free newspapers and not spend money on real broadsheet newspapers that don’t sugar coat the news by saying insanely zany stuff like “In a place called abroad bad things happened.” then well done you for not being poor.  Also, keep telling those who are poor that ‘money can’t buy happiness’ as this will prevent riots.  You are probably a banker who is getting an undeserved bonus so you are a total shit and I hope you die.  Slowly. 

General wellbeing – good/bad.  It just depends. 

Work/Academia – In terms of works, please see finance.  With regards to academia, you are just awesome for being able to read this in the first place.  I am not at all trying to fill your head with hot air. 

People who read these things and actually take it seriously please, please get a life.  Find your niche in something truly inspiring.  I’m not saying you all need to be like Nelson Mandela and find words of inspiration when serving 30 odd years of your life in prison! Just find something a little more educated and something that will not patronize you. 

I had actually read three different newspapers’ horoscopes today and they were all vague, shit and extremely lame.  But, the thing that REALLY aggravated me about them was that they were all different.  They showed no consistency whatsoever.  For something that is supposedly written in the stars – surely they can’t be THAT different, can it?  Or is it one of those silly things that is just down to interpretation? 

I am a person who believes in fate.  I think everything happens for a reason.  A reason we may not like but it will happen nonetheless.  I have always thought about they why of many things and wondered how things would be if they had worked out differently.  More importantly, I would wonder how I would have turned out if things had worked out differently.....It was then I realised that with or without faith I would believe in fate, destiny or the inevitable.  Whatever you so wish to call it. 

Anyways, rant over.

Much love,

Jackson L.