continuation of
stoke part 7
[
friday 13-02-9002, Dubai Media City Amphitheatre]
British metal legend
Iron Maiden arrived in Dubai, flying in aboard the band's customised
Boeing 757 'Ed Force One' for a one-nite show here. Apparently Dubai was part of the venue of the 'Somewhere Back In Time' World Tour, which circumnavigate 19 cities in 11 countries.
The
‘Somewhere Back In Time’ Tour revisits the band’s history by focusing the setlist and and stageset performance almost entirely on the band's classic first 4 albums back in the 80’s, which was the epitome of their illustrious 30 years career
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pre-show
Chucky, Momok, Pandau and me arrived at the venue half an hour before the show (we intended to be there earlier but a friend was stuck in a rut...damn u Pandau!!...haha) From the outside we could hear opener the furious noise of
Lauren Harris (Daughter of Maiden founder/bassist
Steve Harris) warming up the crowd.
Thousand of headbangers and metal fans of all ages, fathers and sons included, converged on Dubai Media City. UAE Expatriates, Emiratis, Iraqians,Kuwaitis, Iranians, Syrians...all geard up for a good time of rock n roll,,,Middle east stylee..it was a carnival-like atmosphere
Met up with fellow colleagues
Bak, Zali, Umi, Pyan and
Ben soon after
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the show
Steve Harris,
Bruce Dickinson & Co ran out the stage and belted the opening song, the cult favourite '
Aces High'.
Amplified with spectacular pyrotechnicsm and flames, they electrified the crowd with one hit after another (
The Trooper, Run to the Hills, Iron Maiden, Fear of the Dark, Two Minutes to Midnight, Hallowed be Thy Name, Powerslave,
The Number of the Beast. full setlist
here)
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post-show
With the clock closing in on midnight, fans and posers alike left the Dubai Media City
Amphitheatre with coarse voices, sore limbs and huge smiles for a night
they won’t soon forget
So makes Iron Maiden so special that they could last 30 years?
Some say it’s that driving bass played at
light speed, hard-hitting gallop rhythms with so many changes and the
twin lead guitars playing with heaviness and harmonies all sprinkled
with such thematic lyrics that convey the most vivid pictures in your
mind.
Most of today’s songs are about love, sex or how fine a girl is. With Maiden, it’s about a man
contemplating his life as he waits for his execution, fear of the dark, war, historic battles, ghosts, nightmares, books, experiences, flying in WWII, Samuel Coleridge poems, religion, genetic technology, aliens, atom bomb, angels, demons, devil, life, brotherhood, historical characters and, yes, love as well. How could you ever get bored?
