Scream For Me Bangalore!

Okay, I'm ready to believe it now. Iron Maiden performed in Bangalore!!! A month and a half ago my cousin had called me up all excited, "Dude, Maiden's coming to India!" and then he went delirious. After having waited for them to perform in India for over 20 years, I dismissed it as yet another rumor but soon the news was all over the place. Could it be true this time?

Anyways, there we were at the Palace Grounds, a good 5 hours before the gates were scheduled to open. Armed with sandwiches, Red Bulls, water minus booze we parked ourselves by the gate discussing the best way to swoon when they finally came on stage. There were people camping there much before we arrived. A bunch of Sri Lankan fans had come directly from the airport and spent the night at the venue. Pretty soon what was a group of a few hundred maidenheads swelled up to a sea of black, screaming and cheering everything and everybody...including the tempo that brought in bottles of water.

The gates opened at 3 and the frenzy began. Pushing and jostling, we were among the first to enter the venue. So mad was the charge that they couldn't dare frisk us (the later ones got checked). We made our way right up to the front but then decided to fall back a few meters to park ourselves in front of the sound engineering rig. This later proved to be an intelligent move. The sun beat down ruthlessly, but we were safe in the shade of the rig and there was no chance of being pushed from behind during the concert.

We waited there for about 2 and a half hours chatting up before the first of the opening acts finally came on stage.

First up were the Delhi based winner of the Campus Rock Idols - FTN and boy did they suck!!! They probably created some sort of a record for being the fastest to get booed on stage, 30 seconds or so I reckon. Don't think it was entirely their fault though, the crowd was impatient after being in the sun all day and were in no mood to listen to their guttural growls, its a Maiden concert for crying out loud! They even tried to pacify the crowd by doing some nu-metal covers but there were no takers. They somehow completed their time and got off the stage as fast as they could. But no matter what we say, those guys got the distinction of sharing the same stage as Maiden...so there...

Up next was Parikrama and they were loudly greeted by the crowd. They had come on a mission, to prove that they can do originals and that’s exactly what they did...an entire set of originals and each song was received by an appreciative crowd especially popular songs like Whiskey Blues, Rhythm & Blues, But It Rained and Open Skies. Imran, their impish violinist got the most cheers. When they were done, they crowd was really warmed up and ready for action.

But all the crowd enthu was soon to be shot down. Lauren Harris was next on stage with her band. For those who just went Lauren who??? She's the daughter of Steve "the god of bass" Harris. But when she started singing, everybody started seriously doubting this piece of fact. How can Steve's daughter be this bad!!! To put it mildly, she was PATHETIC. The band musicians were not half as bad though but this babe just can't sing. She got booed louder than FTN and I don't think there was a single person in the crowd that did not show her the finger, and she kept asking for more! "Come on Bangalore, let me see your hands." All the heat Parikrama had generated was totally watered down by her.

Once she was done, the maiden crew began their last-minute stage setup and the crowd went totally mute in anticipation. By this time there was not a single square inch of ground that was not filled up. It was getting pretty suffocating and standing in the sun for so long had begun to have its effect. Seconds before Maiden came on stage, a limp body of a fainted girl was suddenly passed on to me! We somehow managed to get her across the barricade, into the sound rig where the technicians gave her some water. This scene caused a panic attack in my wife and even she had to be hauled across which eventually worked well for both of us cause the crowd went berserk when Maiden burst in to the riffs of Different Worlds from their latest album. More songs from this album followed. Now, I'm really not into their later albums, which was just as well as it gave me time to absorb the shock, "MAIDEN WAS LIVE ON STAGE!". The crowd was going wild but they really crossed over when they started The Trooper. Bruce was all over the stage in his British army uniform waving the Union Jack. This was soon followed by 'Fear of the Dark', the song everybody had come to sing. The crowd was so loud that I'm not even sure if Bruce really sang it or just let the crowd do the singing. The stage backdrop changed with almost every song to show the different avatars of Eddie in line with the songs they were playing. They also played Wrathchild as a tribute to the departed vocalist of Moksha, which to me was a great gesture from a great band. Then they launched into Iron Maiden (the song) during which a huge robotic tank rose up on stage with Eddie emerging from it. The stage pyrotechnics were fantastic. It was hard to imagine these guys were around 50 years old! Bruce was a bundle of energy, he even climbed up a pillar supporting the speaker wall once to rousing cheers from the crowd. Dunno if they were expecting such an amazing response but whatever it was they must have been mighty pleased for Bruce promised that we wouldn't have to wait even 17 more months before they came back! He said they knew people have been waiting for 17 years for them to come to India (20ish in my own case) and that now that they have come, it is just the beginning and a lot of bands would follow suit, which I hope would be true.

Their main set lasted an hour or so with the crowd screaming for more and more they got. The encore began with 2 Minutes to Midnight and was followed by The Evil That Men Do during which Eddie, all 14 feet of him, walked on stage wearing a military uniform and carrying a gun! The final song was Hallowed Be Thy Name and the entire crowd lost its sense of reality. All I remember is jumping up and down and screaming myself hoarse.

The crowd lingered for some time hoping for a second encore but when the crew started wrapping up the stage gear, it was certain that the concert was over. We were in a daze, it still had not struck home completely. While back on the main street, my friend turned to me and wailed "Dude, we just saw Maiden live!!!", We had to sit on the pavement for a few minutes to let the feeling sink in. I was ready to retire...

Thank god for mobile phones! Check out 'The Trooper' from the concert here