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(And It's a Very High Quality Product!!!) Iron Maiden at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ - 7/2/12 A SoundPress.net Feature Article by Pat Cacioppo Although they have been around since 1975, believe it or not, I only started really appreciating and then actually loving Iron Maiden after watching their "Flight 666" documentary in 2009, which chronicled their 2008 world tour. "What have I been missing all these years!!??", I said to myself after viewing the concert footage in Flight 666. "This band is phenomonal, and a really bunch of nice guys, to boot." I saw them for the first time live in July of 2010 and I was officially hooked.
 (Photo by John McMurtrie). The July 2nd show at Newark, NJ's Prudential Center was to be my second Maiden show and I was very excited at the theme being taken on by the "Maiden England" tour. A lot of the vintage material was going to be dusted off and played for Maiden's ever growing multitude of fans, and having learned most of their songs over the two years between shows, I was extremely psyched. So accompanied by my younger brother, (who has been an "Ed head" and in the know for 20+ years), we went to this show expecting to be blown away....and of course, we were! Opening for Iron Maiden on this tour for most of the shows is Alice Cooper, one of America's answers to heavy metal. Alice has been around even longer then Maiden, originating in Detroit in the late 60's with a hard driving brand of rock and roll and a show designed to shock you to the core. Alice opened with "Black Widow" arriving on stage at the top of a staircase to a "haunted castle laboratory" set in a tuxedo coat with spider arms! From the opening cords, Alice's 50 minute/13 song set was fast paced and hard rocking, going through his most popular hits. Yes the boa constrictor made an appearance, yes, a Frankenstein monster walked across the stage, yes they cut off his head with the guillotine, and it was all fantastic fun. Of course the highlight of Alice's set was the 1972 mega-hit, "School's Out". Much to the delight of the NJ crowd, Alice returned to the stage in his very own personalized NJ Devil's jersey, (sporting a #18 of course!!) At age 64, Alice is still rockin' with the best of them and really got the crowd pumped for Maiden's main act. We were very happy to have finally seen Mr. Cooper!!
 (Photo by John McMurtrie). Alice Cooper Set List: The Black Widow / Brutal Planet / I'm Eighteen / No More Mr. Nice Guy / Hey Stoopid / Guitar solo / Billion Dollar Babies / Feed My Frankenstein / Poison / Wicked / Young Man / Killer / I Love the Dead / School's Out Now onto the headliners!!! For an Iron Maiden stage set, the platform's appearance was rather stark. Pictures of Eddie, their infamous mascot, lined the stage in simple shades of gray and blue. These were pictures of Eddie's transformation throughout the years, from the first Iron Maiden album to present day. Better to concentrate on the music, I guess, and boy oh boy, did they!! Opening with "Moonchild" off of their "7th Son of a 7th Son" collection, songs were covered off of seven Maiden albums, most notably the aforementioned. Lead singer Bruce Dickinson was in fine form, bouncing around the stage from the get-go with his repeated requests of "scream for me New Jersey!!" A lot of pyrotechnics on this tour: flash pots, fire works, giant sparklers, accompanying almost every song. And besides the photos, the "real" Eddie made four separate appearances, a different Eddie every time!!! We first saw our friend rise from the back of stage right as a red-eyed devil Eddie during "The Number of the Beast". He then stormed the stage as a deranged soldier during "The Trooper", (this was a giant remote controlled Eddie, who walked around the stage taunting the band members.) During "7th Son of a 7th Son" a giant Eddie rose from behind the drum riser holding some giant looking glass eye and scribing in a book. One giant eye was blinking, (I wondered if there was a camera concealed in there, photographing the crowd?) The best Eddie of the night, however, rose during the final song of the first set before the encore. During the band's self-titled song, "Iron Maiden" the Eddie featured as the cover art on the "7th Son of a 7th Son" album rose behind the stage, complete with flames shooting out of the top of his head and he was holding a "baby Eddie" who was trying to escape from a placenta, (very weird, a bit gross, but also visually very cool!!!)
 (Photo by John McMurtrie). The encore was short, (only 3 songs), but certainly didn't lack energy. The closing song of the night from their first album was "Running Free", and was greatly appreciated by the crowd. Band member introductions were made during this song and each gent was warmly received. What amazes me about Iron Maiden is the loyalty of the fans. This is a band that rarely, if ever, gets radio airplay and yet has a following that is hard to be matched. They reign on the metal throne for good reasons: you can understand their music, (it is not illegible screaming nonsense; many of their songs actually are quite inspiring), they enjoy what they are doing, (after all these years you can tell it's not about the fortune or fame, but the music), and last but not least, their talent is unsurpassed! Bruce Dickenson is such an expressive front man, I dare you to find a band that has three guitarists with more talent, and bassist Steve Harris? Well in my opinion, this man is the best bass player that has ever lived!!! On a personal note, they played 4 out of my 5 favorite songs in this show - that sure as hell will make a fan happy!!! This is a band that has no intention of hanging up their touring boots, and I sure hope that what I missed for all those years I can experience for many more years to come. On a scale of 1-10, this concert was an 11+!! Iron Maiden Band Members: Steve Harris: bass / Bruce Dickenson: lead vocals / Adrian Smith: guitar / Dave Murray: guitar / Janick Gers: guitar / Nicko McBrain: drums Iron Maiden Set List: Moonchild / Can I Play with Madness? / The Prisoner / 2 Minutes to Midnight / Afraid to Shoot Strangers / The Trooper / The Number of the Beast / Phantom of the Opera / Run to the Hills / Wasted Years / Seventh Son of a Seventh Son / The Clairvoyant / Fear of the Dark / Iron Maiden / Encore /Aces High /The Evil that Men Do / Running Free
 (Photo by John McMurtrie). Related Links: For more information on the IRON MAIDEN and the other organizations mentioned please visit the following links - Iron Maiden | Alice Cooper | Prudential Center | E-mail Pat Cacioppo (Originally Published on July 07, 2012) |
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