I attended the first show of the Book of Souls tour in Ft. Lauderdale Wednesday night. My fears of any effect from Dickinson's bout with tongue cancer were unfounded. The new stage and Eddie's new look are great and fitting with the album art. There were actually two different versions of Eddie on stage, the second was a bit unexpected but cool as hell. The boys all played great (Janick could still benefit from a choreographer).
The venue delayed opening the doors so I missed a bit of The Raven Age; however, Maiden did it right and waited for the sold out arena to fill in. I can't quite describe my giddiness when Doctor Doctor was played (standard song played right before Maiden comes on).
I couldn't believe how much of the post show conversation centered on what songs they didn't play. There were some songs I wish they would have played, but their catalog is so big they could play four hours and still disappoint a little. What amazed me was that several people said they played too much of the new album. I thought this was bullshit. Maiden always plays heavily from their latest album and is part of why I love them so much. They played six solid songs from Book of Souls, which I think is their best album since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.
Just had to share.
The venue delayed opening the doors so I missed a bit of The Raven Age; however, Maiden did it right and waited for the sold out arena to fill in. I can't quite describe my giddiness when Doctor Doctor was played (standard song played right before Maiden comes on).
I couldn't believe how much of the post show conversation centered on what songs they didn't play. There were some songs I wish they would have played, but their catalog is so big they could play four hours and still disappoint a little. What amazed me was that several people said they played too much of the new album. I thought this was bullshit. Maiden always plays heavily from their latest album and is part of why I love them so much. They played six solid songs from Book of Souls, which I think is their best album since Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.
Just had to share.
