Licorice Pizza: Up the Irons

3/14/2007

Up the Irons

Everyone’s heading off to Austin for SXSW. I’m actually going to Texas next week, too, but not Austin. I’m going to Houston for some St. Patrick’s frivolities. Austin’s only a couple of hours away, but the chances I’ll make it over there seem pretty slim. But you never know.

With that out of the way, I’m going to post some music by a band that probably won’t be in Austin next week, either.

Iron Maiden is one of the greatest British metal bands ever. They formed in 1975, put together by bassist Steve Harris, and have gone on to sell roughly 80 million albums worldwide. Original singer Paul Di’anno left in 1981, replaced by Bruce Dickinson. The change in vocalists ushered in the most successful time of Maiden’s career. They released albums such as The Number of the Beast, Piece of Mind, and Powerslave.

Dickinson and guitar player Adrian Smith both left the band in 1993. Dickinson’s replacement, Blaze Bayley, received mixed reviews. His final album with Maiden, Virtual XI, was the first time the band didn’t reach the million-selling mark. Dickinson and Smith both rejoined in 1999 and remain, along with Harris, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, and Nicko McBrain.

I had the opportunity to see Maiden live once, on their Number of the Beast tour, so it must have been 1982 or 83. The thing I remember most about the show (other than the 10-foot tall Eddie) is Steve Harris, at the lip of the stage, pounding his bass. He was right at the edge, when he either slipped or was pulled (most likely pulled) into the crowd. I recall he threw his bass backward and disappeared into the crowd. Within seconds, security was on him and pulled him out, putting him back onstage. All this took place within seconds, so the band never missed a beat. Like it happens all the time or something. Back onstage, Harris grabbed his bass and walked back to the exact place where he was pulled down and just stood there, playing and glaring down, like, “Go ahead, fucker. Try that again.”
Very cool show.

What I have today is some live Iron Maiden, from the Live After Death album. The first three sides of the original LP version were recorded at the Long Beach Arena in California on March 14-17, 1985. The last five songs were recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon in London on October 8, 9, 10, and 12, 1984, during the World Slavery Tour. A couple of notes on the release: When the CD came out in 1985, it contained only the first three sides from the original release. Later, the CD was rereleased in a two-disk set, which included not only the entire original release, but bonus tracks as well.