Well, after waxing lyrically about how great the 2nd Melbourne show was, the first gig in Sydney was actually *better*. I got a great place, just off the barrier and right in front of Dave and Adrian. The Sydney crowd was fantastic.
There was a wonderful moment during the show when bassist Steve Harris locked eyes on me and held my gaze as he sung along. A brief, but special memory. It made me think about how I have been into this band for twenty one years now, and just how much being able to see them play live means to me. I turned around and looked at the thousands of people around me – fists in the air and singing along to every word – and I realised that every person there was thinking the same thing. Again, a very special moment.
No problem with dehydration this time – the security staff at Acer Arena were handing out plenty of water to those at the front. This is something that they don’t do in Melbourne – becuase it “makes the floor slippery, and that is dangerous”. Yeah, right – rather than dropping a little bit of water on the floor, let’s just watch everybody pass-out from the heat!!
Found a great quote from Maiden’s manager on their website (regarding the current Aussie tour):
“Had a good long meeting with our excellent promoter Paul Dainty about general future plans — yes we will be back and we will be in Kiwiland which we all regret just not being able to fit in the schedule this time round, with England playing cricket there right now (and badly losing the first 50 over match — the 20/20s don’t count!) you can be sure I would have got us there if it could be made to make sense this time round.”
Unfortunately I came down with a nasty 24 hour bug after the first Sydney show, so I spent pretty much all of yesterday in bed. I missed the 2nd show which was disappointing; but honestly I felt like death warmed-up so even if I could have controlled my bodily fluids long enough to make it to the venue I would have felt miserable. Maiden shows and throbbing headaches don’t make for a good combination. Feel much better today though; off to Brisbane tomorrow for the final Aussie gig.
Missed the second show
you must be going soft in your old age…