The Iron Maidens
The 4th Ave. Ale House & Eatery
Olympia, WA
March 2, 2008
As I made the drive south to the State Capital, I was wondering how many people were going to show up for a Maiden's show in Olympia on a Sunday night. However, when I arrived, The 4th Ave. had already filled up with a sizable crowd with a mixture of locals just having their normal Sunday night of drinking, friends of the opening acts, and Maiden shirt wearing metal-heads. There were 3 opening bands, so there was a bit of a wait too see the girls play, I just caught the last songs of the 2nd band and the full act of the 3rd band, both were entertaining, and the 3rd band (sorry, didn't bother to note names) had a sizable fan base up front dancing along.
I took up a spot on Sara's side of the stage, since I was over on the other side the night before. It was great to see the show from 2 different perspectives. The Maidens made it on stage and started playing around midnight. Pretty late for a school night (as Aja mentioned), but what are sick days for anyway? They tore through a similar setlist to what they played the night before in Tacoma with a couple modifications... Die with Your Boots on was added in place of Caught Somewhere in Time, and I think 22 was removed. There may have been more changes, but attention to detail is not always my strong suit. The crowd was lively and having a great time. Usually at Maidens shows there is a drunk guy or two making an ass of themselves, but this show was special. It had a drunk chick. At least she was a "happy" drunk and not a "mean" drunk (although I know some women who can turn that corner quicker than a Porsche
). She was having a great time head-banging and rocking out at the stage front, but the folks she kept running into... weren't so thrilled and Aja was nice and gave her 3 chances at knocking her risers and monitor around before having security escort her out.
The band played really well though all songs and technical difficulties were minor, the one real issue I noted was when Aja had her monitor removed. All eyes in the band were on Linda as she played the intro beats to Infinite Dreams, and yes she nailed it perfectly... while trying not to laugh (the previous night she started into the Wasted Years intro... but played it off well). Again, a highlight for me was Alexander the Great, and Sara and Heather again nailed the solos and instrumental parts. ATG is one of those songs that sounds great on CD, but really comes into it's own when played live. Aja's voice was strong, no hint that she was tired from singing the last couple nights. Linda played great and this venue afforded me a great view, so for the first time I could really see her work back there, she played with alot of energy and humor... banging on Metal Church drums. Heather was a firecracker, as usual, and played her solos with precision and energy. Wanda played the part of the quiet one, playing her bass lines perfectly and standing back to avoid the drool spraying off of her cheering section. Sara, well.... All I can say after spending time on her side of the stage is, there is something wrong with this girl, but I love her! She is a mad-woman and so very entertaining!
The girls welcomed a couple of guests to the stage as well. Joe Kurtz from Maiden Seattle took Sara's spot on the stage for Wrathchild. Sara played Ides of March on Joe's Ibanez and they hastily swapped guitar then Joe jumped right in to the intro leads. Joe plays the spot of Adrian in Maiden Seattle, so with 2 "Adrians" on stage I wasn't sure how he and Heather would handle the leads. And well, I don't remember either, but it sounded f***in great. Hopefully Maiden Seattle will find a new singer and start playing again soon. About this time in the show, two bodies next to me slammed into me really hard almost making me lose my feet. I looked over and saw a flash of long hair and thought "Oh great, drunk chick #2 has arrived". Then I looked again and it was SARA, beer in hand going totally METAL in the crowd. She jumped in and head-banged and threw horns with the rest of us, what a great time! Truly a highlight of the evening. Although she didn't grab my ass like drunk chick #1 did. Next time, Sara. Next time.
The show ended on Run to the Hills, which was great because it was something everyone from hard-core Maiden fans on down to those who only know the songs they play on the radio (basically just this one) can sing along too. Aja brought one of the signers from the previous nights opening act "Just Dirt" onto the stage as special guest #2 and he did a great job sharing the singing duties with Aja on RTTH.
Here's a few pics I snapped at the show:
Wanda politely refusing marriage proposals.
Heather deflects Eddie's laser blast with her guitar
Joe Kurtz
Aja and guest singer finish up show with RTTH
As always, the Iron Maidens did not disappoint. It was a hell of a show and I
look forward to the next! Cheers!
The 4th Ave. Ale House & Eatery
Olympia, WA
March 2, 2008
As I made the drive south to the State Capital, I was wondering how many people were going to show up for a Maiden's show in Olympia on a Sunday night. However, when I arrived, The 4th Ave. had already filled up with a sizable crowd with a mixture of locals just having their normal Sunday night of drinking, friends of the opening acts, and Maiden shirt wearing metal-heads. There were 3 opening bands, so there was a bit of a wait too see the girls play, I just caught the last songs of the 2nd band and the full act of the 3rd band, both were entertaining, and the 3rd band (sorry, didn't bother to note names) had a sizable fan base up front dancing along.
I took up a spot on Sara's side of the stage, since I was over on the other side the night before. It was great to see the show from 2 different perspectives. The Maidens made it on stage and started playing around midnight. Pretty late for a school night (as Aja mentioned), but what are sick days for anyway? They tore through a similar setlist to what they played the night before in Tacoma with a couple modifications... Die with Your Boots on was added in place of Caught Somewhere in Time, and I think 22 was removed. There may have been more changes, but attention to detail is not always my strong suit. The crowd was lively and having a great time. Usually at Maidens shows there is a drunk guy or two making an ass of themselves, but this show was special. It had a drunk chick. At least she was a "happy" drunk and not a "mean" drunk (although I know some women who can turn that corner quicker than a Porsche
). She was having a great time head-banging and rocking out at the stage front, but the folks she kept running into... weren't so thrilled and Aja was nice and gave her 3 chances at knocking her risers and monitor around before having security escort her out. The band played really well though all songs and technical difficulties were minor, the one real issue I noted was when Aja had her monitor removed. All eyes in the band were on Linda as she played the intro beats to Infinite Dreams, and yes she nailed it perfectly... while trying not to laugh (the previous night she started into the Wasted Years intro... but played it off well). Again, a highlight for me was Alexander the Great, and Sara and Heather again nailed the solos and instrumental parts. ATG is one of those songs that sounds great on CD, but really comes into it's own when played live. Aja's voice was strong, no hint that she was tired from singing the last couple nights. Linda played great and this venue afforded me a great view, so for the first time I could really see her work back there, she played with alot of energy and humor... banging on Metal Church drums. Heather was a firecracker, as usual, and played her solos with precision and energy. Wanda played the part of the quiet one, playing her bass lines perfectly and standing back to avoid the drool spraying off of her cheering section. Sara, well.... All I can say after spending time on her side of the stage is, there is something wrong with this girl, but I love her! She is a mad-woman and so very entertaining!
The girls welcomed a couple of guests to the stage as well. Joe Kurtz from Maiden Seattle took Sara's spot on the stage for Wrathchild. Sara played Ides of March on Joe's Ibanez and they hastily swapped guitar then Joe jumped right in to the intro leads. Joe plays the spot of Adrian in Maiden Seattle, so with 2 "Adrians" on stage I wasn't sure how he and Heather would handle the leads. And well, I don't remember either, but it sounded f***in great. Hopefully Maiden Seattle will find a new singer and start playing again soon. About this time in the show, two bodies next to me slammed into me really hard almost making me lose my feet. I looked over and saw a flash of long hair and thought "Oh great, drunk chick #2 has arrived". Then I looked again and it was SARA, beer in hand going totally METAL in the crowd. She jumped in and head-banged and threw horns with the rest of us, what a great time! Truly a highlight of the evening. Although she didn't grab my ass like drunk chick #1 did. Next time, Sara. Next time.
The show ended on Run to the Hills, which was great because it was something everyone from hard-core Maiden fans on down to those who only know the songs they play on the radio (basically just this one) can sing along too. Aja brought one of the signers from the previous nights opening act "Just Dirt" onto the stage as special guest #2 and he did a great job sharing the singing duties with Aja on RTTH.
Here's a few pics I snapped at the show:
Wanda politely refusing marriage proposals.
Heather deflects Eddie's laser blast with her guitar
Joe Kurtz
Aja and guest singer finish up show with RTTH
As always, the Iron Maidens did not disappoint. It was a hell of a show and I
look forward to the next! Cheers!
