puddingcat | Mmmmm, Maiden.

I worked this out. An Iron Maiden concert is better than c85% of sex¹.

Sadly, working on last minute crap clients meant I didn't get to

snapesbabe's Evil Villain's Lair in time for us to get to Sheffield in time for a drink with her Doctor Who friend, but we did have a nice meal in Old Orleans (which is a magic shop, because it has stuffed alligators hanging from the ceiling) and felt Old at the presence of several small children. I wanted to take their parents to one side & reassure them that being a Maiden fan doesn't preclude having a respectable job, but the Hello Cthulhu and Piece of Mind! Eddie I &

strangefrontier had drawn of the tablecloth would not have helped.

Quote of the night:

SB - "What do you call nachos when they're covered in cheese?"
Me - "Nachos with cheese."

Coffee and queueing for a t-shirt seemed more appealing than listening to Lauren Harris.

Trivium are better than Cradle of Filth, and have a very pretty bassist. That's about all I can say for them; they were encouraging pits and the violent version of moshing, in an audience where the majority of people have grown out of it² or were under 10. Not Clever.

Maiden made up for it. They had a full-on WWII backdrop, played almost all of A Matter Of Life And Death, then Iron Maiden, Fear Of The Duck³, 2 Minutes To Midnight, The Evil That Men Do and Hallowed Be Thy Name. Sure, I like the "Greatest Hits" shoiws they do at festivals (one song per studio album makes an entire headline set plus encores) but this was a tour for a new album and it *still* worked. There were 2 Eddies (one in a tank, with a smoking gun barrel and caterpillar tracks, and one walking), Bruce's ego is almost as great as his talent, Steve Harris Is God, and Dave Murray is camper than Christmas. No, really. They even got me singing along to "For the greater good of god" without noticing (or even minding, too much). I hate it when The People Your Mother Warned You About catch religion ;)

Being 3 rows back helped a lot, too. Waving the Horns around helps you blend in, but doing Fleming's Right Hand Rule gets you noticed, pointed and smiled at by Dave Murray :)

Finding out that (beyond a shadow of a doubt) two of the blokes behind me dressed to the right was a surprise. The finding out, that is. Not the dressing to the right. It could have been icky, but really - when the crowd's packed that tightly, the only way to move at all is to bounce up & down, and *no* crowd will manage to do that in sync. So, they got a little bit of unscheduled frottage, absorbed most of the surges from people behind us, and everyone was happy ;)

And the tannoy played "Who Do You Think You're Kidding Mister Hitler" and "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" as everyone left :)

I hurt all over, my voice is shot, and I can't stop smiling :)

1 - Based on number of partners, not number of times.
2 - Yes. I am old. But not as old as many of the fans there.
3 - Thank you,

snapesbabe.