OH YEAH!!! Maiden plays whole new album!

Maiden kicked off their tour last Wednesday in Hartford, CT. Reports stated that they played the new album in its entirety! I was a bit hesitant to believe it since Maiden has been known for their rigidity when it comes to playing certain songs in every tour. Well, the show was recorded and the next day, the recording was posted. I was curious to know so went ahead and downloaded it. To my pleasure, Maiden DID play the whole album! The set list for that show was as follows:

• Intro
• Different World
• These Colours Don't Run
• Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
• The Pilgrim
• The Longest Day
• Out Of The Shadows
• The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg
• For The Greater Good Of God
• Lord Of Light
• The Legacy
• Fear Of The Dark
• Iron Maiden
• 2 Minutes To Midnight
• The Evil That Men Do
• Hallowed Be Thy Name

The trend nowadays is for bands to play their classic (old) albums in their entirety, but playing the complete new album is a very gutsy move. For people like myself who have been wishing for years that they do something with the setlist, this is a very refreshing thing, particularly if one likes the new album (I do!). Maybe someone who is a newer fan and who has not heard The Number Of The Beast played for the 135843th time might be disappointed, but not I! Barring anything extraordinary taking place, I'm set to go down to Irvine on Oct. 21st to see the show with a good friend of mine.

According to the taper, the show was recorded on a cassette tape. Maybe I'll dust my old portable cassette player and give it a go when I go to the Irvine show! Well... maybe not. :) It is a very, very good sounding audience recording. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the whole album got played. I'm really looking forward to the show.

So far, 2006 has produced two of the best albums I've heard: A Matter Of Life And Death, and Dweller On The Threshold by the Tribe Of Gypsies