If its not Iron Maiden, then its crap.

Band I'm less interested in hearing than any more Iron Maiden: James Taylor, Dashboard Confessional, Billy Joel (if only cuz I felt really burnt by the non-singles on An Innocent Man when I listened to that recently).

This tells me that the only way I could be less interested in a group than Iron Maiden is if that group doesn't rock.

Band T-shirt Etiquette

Hi-Fashion Ironic Vintage Metal/Punk Kitsch

I think calling ALL things not Iron Maiden crap is a bit of an overstatement

I'd love to wear an Iron Maiden t-shirt, but alas there's always the fear I'd be mistaken for a hipster =|

I actually still have the same Def Leppard Pyromania T-Shirt I had when I was 12. If I lost about 10 pounds I bet I could even squeeze into it.

Kinda like Bruce's response to a freak storm

A freak thunderstorm that unexpectedly blew in from the Baltic Sea threatened to uproot Sonisphere Finland, but the bands, the crew and just as importantly the fans all pulled together and ensured the show went on. It was a true team effort. The biggest concern was the injuries sustained by some of the crowd. Thankfully the two people most seriously injured are no longer critical.

The storm lasted less than five minutes, but in that time it damaged the second stage beyond repair (it’s currently being held up by a crane), completely broke Mötley Crüe’s kit and soaked absolutely everyone at the festival. It was so bizarre you’d be tempted to believe Thor not to be outdone by the noise levels being produced by Anthrax and Slayer earlier in the day had a hand in it.

As Bruce Dickinson said on stage as he gave a rallying call to the crowd and introduced Alice Cooper: “The stage over there is completely fucked. Mötley Crüe have gone home as their stuff is fucked and our stuff is fucked, but we don’t care. We’re not going home until you go home.”

Iggy Pop was the first artist to get back up on stage. “We’re a small part of the fucking Stooges,” he said before playing an impromptu four-song acoustic set with his guitarist . For ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog’ he invited his saxophone player up on stage, holding his mike to the horn for amplification. It was something you are unlikely to ever witness again in front of a festival crowd and it blew people away. Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo was almost speechless afterwards: “That was. fucking phenomenal, really, really awesome and when the sax came out, well…”

Iron Maiden went on two hours later than originally planned, but didn’t stint on their set for a second. The reception was unbelievable and deservedly so. As Bruce said before the set’s finale:

“This is one of the most amazing concerts of my whole life. We were pissed on by the gods and we pissed on the gods right back. For those of you that have rocked we fucking salute you.”

really wanna hear that version of "I Wanna Be Your Dog"

That's terrible. I hope everyone was okay. I mean, SAX, at a METAL FESTIVAL

Motley Crue a bunch of pussies. Shocked. While a half naked 70 year old guy can kick ass with an acoustic guitar and a sax. Go figure.

completely broke Mötley Crüe’s kit

Thankfully the two people most seriously injured are no longer critical.

the jewish mom in me breathes a sigh of relief

Totally. Also they're both in law school.

The Maiden frontier - Mark LeVine asks if heavy metal music offers a blueprint for modernisation in the Middle East.

(posted because I never expected to see Maiden namechecked in Al Jazeera)

http://coilhouse.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/ironmaiden.jpg

http://www.classicrockmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Dr-Bruce-Dickinson900px-e1311152853132.jpg

RIP Clive Burr

really? sad

Yeah we were talking about it on another Maiden thread. Sucks.

man, just can't put my finger on why audiences never warmed up to this guy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXchebmMlvc

christ I about choked back vomit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRwAA2J7iwA

My god, this tour is amazing

Love the first three tracks on Piece of Mind? Check.

Love "Sign of the Cross" and "The Clansman"? Check.

Love "Aces High" as an opener? Fuck yeah.

I would see this twelve times if i could

Damn, I had tickets to go last night but one of my kids was sick so we just stayed home.

Oh wow, just watched those Blaze clips upthread. Did he always sing that way? As in singing choruses an octave below Bruce because he's--I guess--unable to hit the high notes? Hate to pile on, but why did Maiden hire this guy?

Alexander the Great, performed in concert for the very first time. Waited 37 years for this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53HXErBKcog

Iron Maiden is sort of a strange band for anyone (who isn't thirteen in 1983) to use as an aesthetic line in the sand, or as the Golden Mean of music.
Were or are there Maiden fans who thought that everything heavier than they were was "too heavy"? Like thrash metal and everything after was just too much?

Oh yeah, there are loads of folks my age (52) and older who still won't touch anything heavier than Maiden.

Slayer was extreme in 1986, so yeah, that reluctance to listen to anything remotely "shouty" was already present. But lots of Maiden fans had stuff like Helloween and Savatage to move laterally toward. We all branched out in different directions. Heck, I found Morbid Angel and Death boring when I was 18 so I'd gone in a more prog/experimental/alt metal direction by 1989.

It's funny how fast and nonlinear metal's evolution was in the 80s. I was writing a 20th anniversary piece on Metallica's St. Anger this weekend and mentioned that Kill 'Em All was released four months after Quiet Riot's Metal Health, and two months before Mötley Crüe's Shout At The Devil.