In the midst of music festivals in California, one best known as Coachella, where close to one hundred artists showcase their talent and infect fans with their music there are sole artists who decide to tour not caring about that trend. For many, the sound of a guitar shrieking and melody being spewed out of six strings is not as appealing as lets say a guy with knobs and tables to spin on. However, it is with passion, love and devotion that fans of metal bands attend those insane shows. We are talking about Iron Maiden – The Book of Souls Tour that happened to end its flight at Los Angeles Ca. on April 16th, 2016. As the line for the V.I.P grew longer, and the time approached for Iron Maiden to commence their spectacle, fans gather in and rushed to the gates of The Forum. One, which has been remodeled, and looks like a different monster ever since we saw Megadeth perform there. Iron Maiden fans are people of all ages, five year olds, and 60 year old metal heads who rush to the general admission gate to gain access to the merchandise booth to purchase their most important piece of the show, that shirt with the tour dates on the back, those special edition vinyl’s or that lighter with the grim image of “Ed”. The night approached, and the venue poured beer, food and fans anxiously waited for the legends to perform. A dad telling his son about that show where he watched Maiden for the first time, and traditions being passed on from metal-head dad to metal-head son is a chilling view in the best way possible. Walking down the halls of the Forum you can hear conversations of fans that want to hear Maiden play their favorite songs like, “Aces High”,or “Hallowed Be Thy Name” only speculating the playlist. The stage is big, as Iron Maiden is known for their famous pyro show, and the appearances of Ed. You can smell the anticipation; hear the excitement from one hall to the other and fans being elicited by the sound check. One in the pit can only fear for their life as the main floor fills up, cramming people as if they were in a can of sardines. The air grows thicker with that scent of burnt herb, the cannabis to mellow the pain on the feet of those who stand for more than 2 hours before their all time favorite band changes their lives forever. The Forum turned dark and on two screens you see a video, which takes you through the jungle, through branches, bushes and snakes ending with “Ed Force One” stuck in a tree, being released by what seemed to be “Ed’s” arm. Away the plane flew, bringing you Iron Maiden.
The first song Iron Maiden plaid was “If Eternity Should Fail” followed by “Speed Of Light” two brilliant songs off their new album The Book of Souls. The most memorable song has to be the tribute song to Robin Williams, and Bruce Dickinson introduced it very respectfully “Tears of A Clown” The night had just begun and the fans were thirsty for blood, as “Hallowed Be Thy Name” started the fans went crazy. The backdrop banner continuously changes based on the songs and album the band is playing. Blasts of fire are expelled as Bruce runs around from one end of the stage to the other. Meanwhile Nicko McBrain relentlessly beats on those drums not having a double pedal and still adding that furious speed to each song. Janick Gers is always manipulating that guitar as if he is dancing with it, pulling it side to side up and down and spinning and kicking away as he masterfully plays those tunes each fan loves. Let us not forget about Steve Harris, lord of the four string bass guitar, playing those with such furious and powerful fingers, aiming at the fans shooting them with music. Joined together were Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, two guitarists who are under rated in the music world but their music is inspiring, and the guitar solos are flawless. Only these guitar gods can create such masterpiece of songs like “Power Slave” and “Tears of A Clown”. The Set was too short if you ask any true Maiden fan, as songs like “Be Quick or Be Dead” were not part of the set. However, the set it self was amazing as it was. Bruce Dickinson stated, -“Heck had we known people didn’t care about Coachella we would have stayed here all week”, well Bruce true fans respect Iron Maiden and there is not other festival that will pull us away from that amazing show they play. The show ended and we gathered what little was left of us after such mind blowing show, and walked to the VIP rooms to meet the guitar gods Dave Murray and Adrian Smith, both who were true gentlemen and great hosts. Sadly I was not there as media but rather another true fan, so we took a photo with each one of then as we drank our Trooper beer, and 666 beer as well. It was a night of music, and real talent. The band does not need promotions, the name sells it self if you missed this show best fly to Tokyo, Japan as they will be doing two more shows there on April 20th and 21st. Catch them while you can and all hail the mighty Iron Maiden.
Reported by: Hostile Jo
rockbrary.com 