I saw them last night in LA, 24K people in the BMO stadium, general admission on
the floor/pit. It was fun, a lot of chaos in/around the pit, but nobody got ser
iously hurt that I saw. A lot of stink/sweat, spilled bear and a few pushy drunk
s.
Anthrax sounded very good (the performance, especially the vocals, not necessari
ly the production/mix). I listened to their latest album before the show and wow
, they really have improved in their song writing and Joey's voice sounds better
than ever - much more Dio and Dickensen in there now.
Megadeth was weird - most specifically, Dave's voice. They started with Mechanix
and then Ride The Lighting (from Metallica), I know he wrote the former, but wa
sn't sure about the latter (I guess he wrote parts). I heard they may've perform
ed it in tribute to Cliff Burton who died 40 years ago to the day. The instructi
ons sounded great but Dave's voice was very weird, like he was just not projecti
ng his voice at all and singing about half the words and out of time. Sounded li
ke shit. His voice got a bit better though the set and more of their own songs,
but man, I know it's been like 30 years since I've seen Megadeth live, but wow -
how long has it been like this? Anyway, he's retiring, so it was still a good o
ne last look/listen at him. I'm sure the other "members" (hired guns) in his ban
d will go to other bands and keep playing, though maybe not the bass player. He
was the only one that seemed about the same age as Dave.
Iron Maiden was great, again (I've lost count how many times I've seen them, but
I saw them at least one show the last 2 tours before this one) - Bruce sounds t
he same, like he didn't age (since those last shows anyway), he has the same ene
rgy and range. It's incredible. They replaced all the inflatable stage props wit
h videos which looked great (animated Eddie, scenes, 3D-ish). Of course, for me,
the big interest was in the new drummer, Simon. He sounded fine. Nothing specia
l, but nothing really bad either. There was strange tempo things going on, but t
hat's not new to Maiden (Nicko and Clive also had unique tempo changes in their
live performances so I suspect that's usually driven by Steve Harris, the bass p
layer and bandleader). I was a huge Nicko and Clive fan and no, Simon doesn't me
asure up, but he's not bad in any way. He has a strong right (bass drum) foot, t
hat's really important in any Maiden drummer, his drums sounded fine though it w
ould've sounded better with a snappier snare and more toms (not rototoms) and cy
mbals. He had like one crash he used almost exclusively and just barely hit it.
I understand conservation of engergy and all that, but it changes the sound and
looks like he's not putting in much effort (though I know he is, still). Anyway,
it was a great show and I think 99% of those in the audience didn't notice or c
are that it wasn't Nicko on the drums. As a drummer, that kind of hurts my heart
(no mention of him either), my 22-year-old daughter and I had a great time and
definitely recommend it. But bring/use some hearing protection - especially if y
ou're going to be there for all 3 bands (5 hours)!
--
digital man (rob)
This Is Spinal Tap quote #8:
Derek Smalls: Making a big thing out of it would have been a good idea.
Norco, CA WX: 81.5°F, 45.0% humidity, 15 mph W wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
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