I must say, I did 2 shows on the "Maiden England" tour. I did the Milwaukee, WI gig @ the Marcus Amphitheater as part of Summerfest, on America's 236th birthday. Alice Cooper opened, & had his new guitarist Orianthi in the lineup. They were excelent, put on a hell of a stage show, & sounded great. Then Maiden came out & did delivered the goods as well. Hotter thern hell that night, about *100f, or about *40c, but it was a great night & well worth the 6 hour drive I had from St.Paul, MN. Met some great fans from Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, & from around the USA, & I enjoyed their company.
Then I did Winnipeg on July 24, @ the MTS Centre. Coheed & Cambria were opening for the 1st time, & did alright. They did their job, & did a very good cover of "Heaven & Hell". Maiden then came out & did what they always do, they killed it. But that was'nt the whole story about my Canadian roadtrip. Their was a Iron Maiden Fan Club "open house" about an hour south of Winnipeg. The homeowner has 1 of the biggest collections of Maiden memorabilia outside of the band in the world. Here's a media piece about it...
http://www.winnipegsun.com/2012/05/04/t ... 1200-sq-ft ...the video & photos don't do it justice. I will say that Kenny & wife were very welcoming & are a class act. They hosted over 2 dozen IMFC members who came from around the world. I was up from Minnesota, there was a carfull from the Black Hills of South Dakota, there were also fans from Israel, Finland, New Zealand, & from across Canada. I have had great concert experiances, but nothing comes close to this one. I then ran into fans from Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Wales & other places I can't remember. Truley an international flavor, & that made things interesting & fun. Here is a photo taken from the stage in Winnipeg, & I'm the dork not paying attention on the left, holding the American flag...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid= ... =1&theaterI got crushed, & I think I bruised my sternum, but it was a hell of a few days. Plus the pre & post gig meetup at Shannon's Irish Pub a couple of blocks away. I was blessed to have such a concert experiance, I hope everyone has such an experiance with whatever your favorite band is. I feel lucky to have had the time I have.
When Maiden show up in your part of the world, check em out. It's worth it, & try to hook up with the fan club if possible, you won't regret it. Ian can back me up on that point. I had a hell of a 2012 for concerts, starting in Des Moines with Lacuna Coil, & ending in Winnipeg with Maiden, & with St.Paul, Minneapolis, Mankato, La Crosse, & Milwaukee in between, I have met many great people & seen some great metal up close. I loved it all, & to those who I met from here, like MarcoToronto & DenyForever, thanks for putting up with me, & maybe we shall meet again at a gig.
Sorry for being long here, but thanks for playing along.
It will be fun, fun, fun. My biggest regret is Ian won't make it out to Milwaukee or Winnipeg 
