Sunday, March 18, 2007

Iron Maiden @ Bangalore



"The roads filled with black tees having smiling eddy (the skull faced mascot of Iron Maiden) in different poses (one Tee had LEDs for eddy’s eyes), the long queue to enter the grounds, the jam packed time I spend in the front rows were I couldn’t move a finger, the long queues for water in the back which turned to free for all stampedes - the water cans being held high with loads of thirsty mouths below, the air filled condoms flying high in the air, fans of Iron Maiden who had waited up to 17 yrs for a live show coming with their entire families to enjoy, dads having giggling head banging kids on their shoulders , couples jumping together to the beats in each others arms, the sound vibrations that ran up to your knees from the ground below,the 'i will break ur nose if u do that again' warning we gave to some college guys, the sea of mobile cams trying to capture the snap of a life time, the guy who colored his hair yellow and moved proudly through the grounds, the weed smoking girl who kept screaming behind my ear as if there was no tomorrow, the look of sheer ecstasy on the fans and the ‘gosh, I am so f***ing lucky for not missing this ’ smiles on the fans leaving the grounds were all experiences of a life time... "



Dreams do come true……last Saturday on March 17th, Iron Maiden, the first (quality) rock band to perform in India gave one hell of a performance in Bangalore…

The train from Chennai to Bangalore on Friday had loads of head bangers wearing characteristic black Tees. All rock fans were moving towards Bangalore for the Saturday’s performance….some had waited more than 10/15 yrs to see these guys perfume live….

I entered the palace grounds at around 4 pm and had to wait around 3.5 hrs before I got to see Iron maiden perform.

In spite of frisking by the organizers in the entrance, liquor and cigarettes (99 % weed ones) were being used freely and the smell of weed was over whelming.

The crowd was fully charged with everyone having done ‘something’ to their hair/face…The girls in the crowd were very vocal and putting even hard core head bangers to shame….

The sole downers of the show were the 2 of the 3 opening performances which were a torture because they were first of all prolonging the wait to see Iron Maiden perform live and secondly because they were literally a torture to the ear drums….

The first was by a college band which won some god dam competition and frankly I don’t understand the logic of showcasing such crap in a show of such magnitude.
Its like allowing a karting winner of some obscure local tournament to drive just before an F1 race began…..I mean I agree that local talent needs to be nurtured and all but not at the expense of hot sweaty fans waiting for more than 3 hrs.

Predictably, the college band got lots of boos and swears words, not to mention the sea of middle- fingered hands swaying to their ‘music’…I pity those guys and applaud their thick skins.


The 2nd performance was by Parikrama and was decent enough, giving the fans something to cheer about.

Next to come on stage was Steve Harris’s daughter whose performance was also average.

At last the Gods of Rock came on stage with a bang, starting predictably, with tracks from their latest album.

The 1500 ticket people and the 900 ticket people were separated by a barricade and two rows of security and police personnel. Here and there, the 900 rs fans tried to jump the barricade only to be hit by the lathi welding cops…..but as soon as “the Trooper” track began, all hell broke lose. Fans started jumping from every where and the cops finally gave up and allowed everyone to move forward….

The band members, mostly pushing 50 yrs were a joy to watch…..the sheer energy of Brue Dickinson and the wicked laughter of the drummer(caught by a camera up close), Nicko McBrain were priceless….

The arrival of the military tank and the 14 foot eddy were other highlights of the day.

The song everyone will remember that night will be “Fear of the Dark”, rumored to be inspired by Steve Harris’s childhood fear….Almost everyone in the audience was mouthing the lyrics and taking part in the background vocals…

All in all, it was an experience of a life time….and from what Bruce promised in the end, the fans that waited for as long as 17 yrs to see them won’t have to wait for even 17 months before they saw them again :-)


I am a man who walks alone

And when I'm walking a dark road

At night or strolling through the park

When the light begins to change

I sometimes feel a little strange

A little anxious when it's dark

Fear of the dark, fear of the dark

I have a constant fear that something's always near

Fear of the dark, fear of the dark

I have a phobia that someone'salways there…













4 comments:

Karteek said...

Someone enjoyed being at the concert ;)

Monu said...

You bet i did :-)

Unknown said...

hey monu..nice comment though and guess u really banged hard!!(MBA)

Sandeep said...

Dude ! I worship you for being at Iron Maiden concert.
When I am alone, I often sing 'Fear of the Dark' and
'Sign of the Cross'. and btw on reading your blog I felt I was experiencing Iron Maiden perform in front of me.