Rod in Buenos Aires
Published: March 11, 2008

ROD'S DIARY - MAR 6-7 BUENOS AIRES

I was greatly looking forward to a couple of days in Buenos Aires. In jan 2001 we had a few days here and I went cycling 40 miles a day round a bird sanctuary near the city centre in training for my first charity ride in Kenya the following month. We also had a fantastic night out eating tons of magnificent Argentinian beef courtesy of EMI. For some reason Jimmy Page was with us and everyone got smashed and started the Mr Gumby Monty Python knotted-hankerchief-on-the head routine. I think this is where it started and (embarrassingly) it comes out to this day (see day 1 chile). It was on our way to Rock in Rio 2001, the one we filmed. So good memories.
Arrived in Buenos Aires early afternoon and were staggered by how many fans were at the airport as the plane taxied to a gate you could see them running into view to catch a good sight of the plane. Same at the hotel when we got there, seemed hundreds so siege mentality sets in. It is hard to do anything in this situation. We love you guys but even I am getting claustrophobic and times and ready to yell 'please give us a break'. Maiden really is a household name in south America I was told even in Colombia, where we visited for the very first time, name recognition is 70% across the populace. So its not just fans who want an autograph and photo, and lets face it everyone has a camera/mobile nowadays, its almost everyone we come into contact with. We can never begrudge a fan even if at a low but a hotel can be a difficult place as the following amply illustrates.

I hated this hotel at first sight (Nicko walked in then walked out and found a different hotel, wisely) for some reason and did not enjoy our stay there. The only bar is in the lobby on the ground floor and is completely open plan, I set up the laptop to work on arrival and kept at it til evening when I called down for a break. Bruce, some air and our crew were in the bar. They were collected at two or three tables pushed together. Surrounding them was a ring of empty tables places by hotel security to give them the tiniest bit of privacy and around those tables were gathered a total ring of hotel guests of all ages standing, staring, gawking and taking photos. The front of the hotel is all glass and across the whole front Maiden fans were pressed to the glass 3 to 5 deep. Now who deserves the time and respect, the fans or the guests, but how do you go out and do autographs for so many. It really is a predicament and I cant pretend to know the answer but I do feel more for people like McCartney who has dealt with it most of his adult life. But we dont want to hide, we want to go to the pub etc. Thankfully it isnt like this most places we go and generally speaking the band handle it pretty well. Maybe its me getting tour syndrome!

Anyway so much for the evening. Next day I worked and went to the show with the Tres Amigos. Its an odd venue, playing across the pitch rather than along it so you have a big empty stand behind and a big full one in front with thousands on the ground but lot without much of a view due to the width. Apparently they have had to have this configuration for a few years now after noise problems with local residents. So they pointed everything in a different direction. Shame really as again this show had been sold out (27.000) for ages with a lot more demand for tickets so if it could have been the standard football stadium stage configuration we could have got more fans in.

EMI presented us with very attractive placques to commemorate lifetime sales in Argentina of over 750,000 albums which is pretty extraordinary when a gold album is just 25,000 I think. So thank you EMI.

Prior to the show, and no doubt with a thought of the Falklands, I was being asked by various people if we would do Trooper and if Bruce would wear the iconic jacket and fly the flag. Well of course he would. The Trooper is about heroism. It is not about patriotism or misplaced chauvinism, its about valour and an early example of what can be a terrible waste of the lives of brave men when sent on a fools errand by incompetents. Our fans know that and if anyone takes it to mean any sort of triumphalism they are sorely mistaken. I do not think there is any problem between the real people of Argentina and Britain at all, I have never experienced this, its in the minds of politicians and mischief makers. Personally I have great respect for the Argentinian mindset particularly as represented by their rugby team who performed so brilliantly and doggedly at the World Cup last November.
However a small proportion of the fans at the show did their best to change this respect by their filthy behaviour which shamed their country and Metal.

There is still a habit of the few here to spit at the bands. They were nasty in this way with Lauren, who is going down extremely well to audiences here, which of course pissed Steve off no end, as it obviously would. He made it very clear to me and the band that if any of them spat at him he would be straight in the audience to sort them out. And believe me he would, he has before, and to make it worse the security pit here was really narrow so not only was it easier for some total wankers to spit across it, it meant also that is was less distance for Steve to jump!! Anyway I told security to tell fans if they spat they would be out of the stadium, which they did, telling the front row to pass it back. I went into the pit to keep an eye on this myself and although most were fine and having a fierce headbanging time metal audiences here are a far higher proportion male than say Brazil and more aggressive some, naturally in the safety of a few rows back, still had to lob towards the stage.
You metal fans in Argentina need to sort out these few who give you a bad name or next time we will arrange a 20m pit!!

After a few numbers in the pit I was sure security had it reasonably well in control so went off to have a massage. I could hear clear as a bell and the band were playing really well and the masseur was brilliant and a lovely guy. A heavy set very strong rugby prop forward who massages wrestlers and bent me around right out of shape and back into it. We had a good part sign language chat about rugby.

The vast majority of the crowd were loud as ever and obviously going for it big time, leaving the few to spit their way to (hopeful) ejection. The band enjoyed the gig to varying extents in the circumstances.

Sadly we found afterwards that the discs we had been presented earlier by EMI had been stolen from backstage as had one of our backdrops for the show. Back at the hotel the bar was no better than the night before, there was realistically nowhere else to go - I could not bring myself to stay in that awful "bar" - so I went to bed, though some apparently did get out and found an Irish Bar and had a good time with fans there.

For me, l have to say it was a disappointing 2 day stay especially considering the good times we have had in Buenos Aires in the past. But as the outro says always look on the bright side of life, da dadadada dada dada!!!!

- Rod

Rod in Santiago - part I
Published: March 14, 2008

ROD'S DIARY MAR 8-9 - SANTIAGO Pt 1

Now sat in the hotel in NY with a couple of hours before we leave for the NJ show tonight ..... so what can I remember of Chile, seems so very long ago now!

Took a while to get to the airport in Buenos Aires, the police escort not being as aggressive as other South American counterparts but it was cars not bikes so not as effective to plough through the heavy traffic. Once at airport though we were taken straight to gates of the plane and set off for a beautiful trip over the Andes, gloriously decked out in snow a lot of the way. This really is one of the best flights visually you can ever make -- if the weather is fine, and it was crystal clear today. Arrived to bring the airport to a standstill yet again with all the staff and security attracted to us as if magnetically, cameras to the fore!! We could see loads of fans running around the airport boundaries to get a better view of EF1. Off the plane and into vans with escort we were quickly off to the hotel, the same excellent one as on the last 2 trips here, I think in 2001 and 2004 -- was I doing diaries back then?? Don't remember but note to check out archive as would be interesting to look back.

In 2001 I was in training for my first bike ride that year in Kenya, across the Rift Valley. The promoter provided bike, kit, van and driver and I went off to cycle about 30km up the Andes. Good training!! I remember it was so scenic I suggested to Sam he take Steve up there for his final documentary interview which he did.

In Jan 2004 I googled Santiago + PADI and hooked up with some divers out of a village just north of Valparaiso. I remember doing a diary of that which I never used and managed to find it in my files so have reproduced at the bottom of this if any divers are interested. It was quite special.

But this time there is no time for RnR, just work. We arrive, we work, we play, we go. You could say veni, vidi, vici as the show the next day was amazing. Anyway we got to the hotel, did some work and then at 6 we had a press conference for 30 min with all the main Chilean music and news media in attendance. As always here the questions were very pertinent so we got on with it, did the pics, squashed for autographs then out for dinner with Camilo, the wonderful Izzo, Paula and other EMI staff. The restaurant is a marquee covered by the pool and is buffet. And it is -- as previous years -- an excellent night. Top food, lots of booze inc a special Chilean one I cant remember but Nicko will almost certainly include in his diary as it certainly had a major impact on him. The Chilean wine was ever so fine as usual and, whether it's the air here or the quality of liquor, it always gets a bit out of hand and Mr Gumby comes out. Now some of you may be aware of Mr Gumby from Monty Python with the knotted hankerchief on his head, very Brit abroad. For some reason again here most of the band and entourage had become Gumbys and Gaddsy had a great time taking pics, some of which I hope will be included here but the pics seem to arrive after my diary goes up so are often late additions. This time though if there are no pics when you see this come back in a few days if you wish to see grown men making fools of themselves. I think there may have been doc crew members lurking too so this may even make the big screen. Is it rock n roll, is it metal, is it cool.....maybe not, but its very Maiden!!.
- Rod



CHILE; 14-01-04
QUINTAY nr VALPARAISO

I contacted Club Aquatica via the web, emailing two Santiago based dive clubs from a Google search a couple of days before flying in. Pablo Canobra responded within hours and by email exchange we arranged a pick up at my hotel at 7.30 am on Tuesday July 13. Ignacio Rojas, who speaks very good English having been raised partly in Surrey, was there on time and we set off in the Club's pick-up truck collecting up our Dive Master Walter Soto on the way.

From Santiago, which is in a flat valley between the Andes and the foothills, we took the highway to Valparaiso over these foothills and into a further flat valley where many of Chile's best vineyards are located -- if the name Casablanca is on a bottle you know it's good!! After forty minutes or so there is another range of low hills. It was a beautiful sunny summer's day yet as soon as we got over these small hills onto the coastal plain everything immediately changed as there was a thick sea mist. This persists every morning until about noon and is caused by the wind bringing in moisture from the Pacific onto the cooler land mass where it condenses but is then held up by the barrier of these hills. A few miles before Valparaiso there are clearly marked signs to Quintay del Mare and you go along a steep downward dirt road for eight kilometers or so past a huge lake which provides fresh water for the region and a new French development of housing built on and around a good looking golf course. It's otherwise very wild and undeveloped out here with some magnificent views -- at one point a young wolf jumped out and ran across the road in front of us.

With the downward slope getting steeper you bear off left just before Quintay and down to the Diving Clubhouse, a total driving time of about 90 min from Santiago. The clubhouse is next to an old whaling station which is now a museum which sadly we didn't get time to visit (next time!!). The clubhouse belongs to Austral Dive Club who allow Aquatica to use their facilities at this dive site. The clubhouse just oozes charm and has obviously had a lot of work done on it by the members. Both dive clubs are PADI affiliated so the club has the usual flags and markings and dive signs. Outside are the freshwater tanks to wash off the gear and a changing shed. As you walk into the wooden log structure you are hit by two things. First the spectacular view. The main room is long and all along the back a vast long picture window looks out over Quintay Bay and it really is quite wonderful. The other is the homely nature of the clubhouse itself -- large kitchen with hatch, TV and couch and armchairs, communal open plan dining table, verandah outside overlooking the bay and the village.


Quintay village and its activities probably haven't changed in 200 or more years. Set at the end of the cove with about a hundred meters of beach studded with rocks, the village crouches around this. On the beach are about ten fishing boats with outboard motors (ok one change). Unlike in Brighton the seagulls are perfectly white and almost tame. They sit sentinel like on the rocks waiting for food -- and there is plenty of that!!! The fishing is mainly relatively close to the shore with the catch including various fish and conga eel and a lot of squid and octopus, most of which is cut up on the beach and the remains tossed to the seagulls and a lone pelican we saw studying matters just offshore. Joining the seagulls are various village dogs and young children whist the fisherman congregate round the boats their days fishing over so they enjoy a chat and a cigarette. Anyway before we get even more carried away by the romantic vision of this beautiful unspoilt fishing village lets get on to the main point ....the dive!!!

Ignacio helped me sort out the rental equipment (I didn't have any gear with me at all) which was all name brand and in good condition. As the Pacific waters there are cold (9 deg C) even in mid summer they provided a one piece hooded dry-wetsuit.

I only qualified PADI Openwater at Easter 2003 so at this time had done about 25 dives but all in calm warm (30degrees C) seas with visibility of at least 15 to 20 meters!!! Nice stuff!! This was my first Pacific dive, first in cold water with full gear instead of cut off suit I had only worn before, first dive with much less visibility, first dive with real currents and also first dive off a small boat with backward flip! And first dive with people I had never met before. I admit I almost bottled out the night before as it's a bit of a step into the unknown and I am sure you other "beginners "will understand. But I shouldn't have worried. Ignacio is qualified PADI instructor as were both the XXXX club divers X and X, and Walter is a Dive Master, so I had plenty of help, four instructors to myself!!!
The first dive was about 100m from the shore, 30min bottom time and max depth of 22m. Visibility was about 5m and the water was heavily laden with plankton. The bottom had seaweed like large plants with 1.5m fronds swaying in the strong current -- sorry don't know the name. Ignacio considerately brought along an underwater camera and some pics are attached here. At one point amongst the fronds I saw the very white underside of an octopus laying in wait for its victim but lost it in the current and fronds when I tried to indicate to Ignacio to get a picture. There were not a lot of fish -- some XXXXXXXX -- but the wildness of the seabed held plenty of interest to me.
We returned to the beach and changed tanks, chatted and l just watched what was going on around us.
The second dive was closer to the shore and was a 20m wreck, fairly open and split into two parts about 20m away from each other. Naturally a lot more fish, - a crab curled up in a pipe, another octopus. Bottom time was 35min, max depth about 13m.

Both dives were a very new experience for me and l thoroughly enjoyed them. It was certainly different in almost every way to the Caribbean. Walter and Ignacio kept a very close eye on me at all times and were very helpful and attentive and passed on much useful advice on diving in these different conditions.
They had carted all the gear backwards and forwards from the club and also washed off and stored everything after -- thanks guys -- and generally made things very easy for us. Only Ignacio spoke English, which of course doesn't help underwater, but everyone was very helpful in their own way.

Quick shower in the club then off across the beach again to Restaurant Miramar, which overlooks the beach. Alex the cook did us proud as we continued to enjoy the incredible view. Scallops was followed by Locos, a local shell food delicacy in season at this time, and then the most incredible fish soup which came in a huge bowl and contained a whole crab, a great chunk of conga eel, crab claws, mussels and masses of other things l can't even name. Apparently the soup is renowned locally as a hangover cure and I can see why with the massive protein content. You could run to Argentina on it!!! Thanks Alex. And this was washed down by the marvelous Chilean Sauvignon Blanc.
What a day.

I hugely recommend any divers -- or anyone else -- to visit the magic of Quintay and dive with Aquatica. Chile is a long way from the UK but it is a beautiful and remarkable county with many magnificent places to visit and a very friendly people.......and great wine!! Aquatica also run diving trips to the Easter Islands out of Santiago and the Galapagos via Ecuador. There is a Galapagos trip April this year and one again in 2005. I intend to join the 2005 one so if anyone else is up for it let me know. I hope to be more experienced by then!!!

Rod in Santiago - part II
Published: March 14, 2008

RODS DIARY MAR 9 SANTIAGO Pt 2

Worked most of the day with a 90min break to catch some rays and went to the show about 6 for an 8pm start. The football stadium holds 27,000 and it had been sold out for a long time. Right next door is the 60,000 capacity National Stadium which is where the show would have been moved to but for the last few years it has been undergoing refurbishment. A friend of mine emailed me in January while on holiday here. He went into the main square in Santiago to be confronted by loads of fans in Maiden Ts handing over a petition to the government to get a bigger venue so all our Chilean fans could see the band as obviously where we were playing wasn't big enough!! Hope they finish it soon as it would be great to play there.

Hundreds of fans were still milling around outside so I was surprised to see the arena packed when I went up on stage. I always go up and check out stage, view, audience, sound desk positioning etc as soon as I arrive to get my bearings and the vibe of the stadium. All looked great, you knew it would be a special show. I was told that all the fans outside couldn't get tickets and had come to listen -- and listen they would as the sound was really strong here. Depending on the nature of the venue it is most nights of course as Dougie knows what he is doing after almost 29 years with us!! After San Paolo we had one negative review on the sound which surprised me, but I do like to think that most of the time it is very loud and very clear.

The show was up there with Brazil, fantastic atmosphere, almost celebratory as it has been on much of this tour, its as if the fans are thanking the band for still being around and still caring so much about every performance. Very special. Everyone had a great time on stage, and I am sure the audience did too. I cant imagine a better reaction and as has been the case around all of South America everyone seemed to know every word
So, as usual, thankyou Chile for a wonderful evening -- it will be very tough to tear ourselves away from South America tomorrow when we head north to Puerto Rica. This is not at all negative on PR, just very positive on South America following an incredible 12 days or so there. We will most certainly be back as soon as we reasonably can. The friendliness and hospitality, the magnificent audiences, the sheer beauty of the continent and the endless variations of terrain all go to make every visit here memorable. And of course the police escorts -- its going to be tough to wait at a traffic light when I get home to Hove next week !! I make a mental note to find yet more places to play which we haven't already visited. Perhaps Peru (there were fans at the Santiago hotel and one even said he had seen my on my bike ride there!), Ecuador, Venezuela, all would be good, as would others, and even more exotic parts of the countries we do generally visit, especially in somewhere as huge as Brazil. Who knows what the future holds but its always good to have a plan!!

After the show we headed for the pool bar. The England mens hockey team were there -- it hadn't been a world cup final as I misinformed you previously, it was the world cup qualifier against India. And they won, so congratulations to the team for making the world cup. Another good night was of course enjoyed by all and sundry.
- Rod

Rod - Puerto Rico part I
Published: March 17, 2008

ROD'S DIARY - PUERTO RICO MAR 10-11 Pt 1
Its was an almost eight hour flight Santiago to San Juan and we headed North flying just west of the coastline. It was a very clear day at first with maginificent views and I was hoping as we flew along the coastline of Peru we might see the Nascar lines the massive humming bird, eagle, spider etc etched into the ground, some say by aliens!! They werent discovered til the 1920s when man started to take to the air as of course you just cannot make them out from the ground and I think it is true to say that it is still a mystery who did them and why. They are hundreds of metres across, many of them. But it was not to be as the flight plan at that latitude took us too far off the Peruvian coast and flight plans unfortunately cannot be just changed for a bit of sight seeing! We crossed the Andes just north of Lima and sadly it was cloud all the way so we werent able to get another good look at the backbone of south America.

We arrived more or less on schedule and, as Puerto Rico is part of the USA, we had immigration and customs formalities on arrival. However as the aiiport was very quiet this was hassle free, unlike the pain it would have been having to clear in NY. The hotel was good but with a strange modern and pink decor, Bruce called it like a pimps palace and immediately changed to the crew hotel!!! it was also a casino and the bars were quite good. Very much a holiday rather than business hotel.

So checked in and, although it was getting late, did a bit of work. Its starting to get hard to open the laptop. Unlike earlier in the tour, on this trip I did nothing on the plane work wise that day, getting to the point where as the tour winds down to an end you start feeling it. During a tour the sheer adrenalin and amount to be done fires you up. But as the end nears and you think about getting home and there arent as many things to keep you occupied and you get fed up with the four walls of a hotel room and staring vacantly at keys on a laptop. I am doing this in my room in Toronto and its becoming an effort to start each paragraph, but has to be done. Home tomorrow!!

The next day was off, as it always following a long flight and our first since before San Paolo, about 125,000 fans ago!! Seems years. But we intend to make the best of it and with our crew have been plotting a day at sea (although in the end Squid (sic!!) got it all together) for a week or so. It was arranged. Five of us diving, about 18 snokelling.

We had a suitably equipped 6 man dive boat, the others a fine catamaran. Our team was Bruce, product manager Jason, Squid, Greg (Lauren's TM) and myself. Bruce has qualified PADI but some time ago and hadnt dived for a while but, other than his first water entry when he forgot to put in his regulator and came up gasping, he was soon comfortable in the water. The first dive at 60ft was pretty boring low visibility, mainly sand bed with a few outcrops of coral. It was however nice to relax under the water and have a mental break. The second was fantastic, just 15 ft on the reef, and when you are shallow the air of course last longer so we had almost an hour under, compared to 40 min on the first one. Visibility and colours tremendous, lots of beautiful fish hiding in the coral crevasses, all in all a very enjoyable dive.

We had joined the Cat and the snorkellers on a nearby offshore island for lunch and Sam joined us for the second dive to film Bruce a bit not underwater though!!

Back at the hotel the sea air and sun - it was a really beautiful day - had wiped me out but I had arrangements that eve so a good long Jacuzzi bath set me up for later. Believe it or not in my bedroom was a huge double Jacuzzi bath. I wonder what that is for, yes, actually in the bedroom in the corner!!

Anyway in the eve I had arranged to meet the Fox News team who are covering the show here and the flight to New York. So I took Dave P along and we met Laura Ingle the presenter and Ian the producer and Hollywood the cameraman. We went through what they were looking for and I ended out having dinner with them at the hotel. It is always interesting as I think I said before to have real News teams out with us as they have often been involved in major incidents and occasions happening in the World. Ian had just come back from a month on the road covering the US Primary Race and an inside view on that is fascinating. Hollywood had filmed all sorts of things and people including Bill Clinton recently and I always find tales about Bill most interesting!! Laura being a presenter largely works local NY and general US and just half an hour ago I saw her on Fox News with the report of the falling crane in NYC. Busy job and on call all the time.

So as you can see, similar to the CNN and Sky teams who were on the road with us, it is a great change of pace to have them around and in the end the dinner continued to the bar until the early hours.and whiskey. Now I dont ever really drink spirits except an occasional vodka and red bull to kick start a Friday night out, so I find the big W very tough the next day. And I definitely blame Hollywood for this, his nickname suits John to a tee, he is a lovely great hulking guy with shades, cool and a great sense of humour. The process of whiskey drinking (Jamesons Irish largely) is fine, it is the result I have problems with. When we finally called it a day at about 3am I had no trouble sleeping. Show day tomorrow. Always bad with a hangover as if anything is wrong the hangover can sometimes enhances the anger and resulting actions. And boy was that to be the case the next day and the show that very nearly didnt happen!!!!!!!
- Rod

Rod - Puerto Rico - part II
Published: March 18, 2008

Woke up at 11am with belting Jameson hangover which will no doubt make me tired and ratty all day!! Thanks Hollywood!! Got in the magnificent Jacuzzi again and then worked as best I could leaving for the venue at about 5 with Steve. Said hello to Patrick from US Rock mag Revolver who is with us thru NY and will do some interviews on the plane tomorrow, though Bruce took the opportunity to do his before the show today as he is flying tomorrow.

Our crew had gone down to the venue to check everything the previous evening and found that the power wasn't acceptable. We use 3 phase with different for sound and lights, or something so complex I am unlikely to ever understand fully, and as our gear is UK (240v not 110v as in USA) we need special arrangements which are sent out to our promoters months in advance. They were told it would be fine in the morning......but it wasn't. All day was spent trying to rectify this, another generator was apparently sent but didn't work out. By 6.15 we were in a position of having some 12,000 fans outside waiting to come in to a hall where everything was set up and ready to go but we had no power for the PA. Accoustic set anyone??!! The only plan appeared to be that a friend of our regional promoter Phil sort of knew an electrician who they could maybe contact who could possibly fix it. This venue, Coliseo de San Juan, is an excellent modern stadium and PR is part of USA so I could not get my (sore) head around the fact that we could get correct power arrangements in India and all round south America but it seemed a problem here. I started working out how we were going to announce to all those fans that we couldn't play -- always have a plan in case of emergency. Johnny B taped me on camera showing the stage all ready but me angrily stating the power situation, very scary I was too!!!! This was to give to local TV in case this couldn't be resolved to ensure fans got the correct info as there was no way we could reschedule the show. Thankfully Phil's mate pulled us out of a tricky situation and got it all working and, by our crew as usual responding to difficulties with great spirit and teamwork, they got all the necessary testing done in half of the usual time and in the end, although the audience were admitted a bit later than usual, the show actually ran on time.

While all this was going all was of course quiet as we had no PA or monitor power so Fox filmed a brief interview with me about the tour and plane and a sort of guided stage tour, so l got to appear on national news tv which I hope will impress my kids!! And I have to say it's a lot more relaxed doing this with people you have had a few bevvies with the night before.

Being a Caribbean island I expected the audience to be rather laid back but in fact they were pretty loud, maybe not as much as a thousand or so miles further south but good all the same. We didn't quite sell out -- it was the only show from LA on where you could get a ticket -- but it looked great and locals told me few ever totally sell out there and we had a bigger and better audience than most shows there so fine by me. It was also Steve's birthday so bruce had all the crowd singing happy birthday to an embarrassed steve and they did so with great gusto, so thanks Puerto Rico for your support. All turned out fine in the end which it usually does when you have a good crew. Drinks for them that night were on the band!!

Afterwards a spent a very short time in the bar to get steve a drink but soon crashed out drained by Mr Jameson and a stressful search for power!!

Ps also said goodbye to phil rodriguez who promoted us from costa rica to puerto rica with his regional partners - some of the best shows we have ever experienced and generally organised with great panache and attention to detail, something l always appreciate. So thankyou Phil for taking care of everything inc ourselves so well. And also a big hug to Gabriella our on road promoter rep, who was always on the ball and contributed massively to the smoothness of our travel around the continent. Hope its not too long before we see you all again.
- Rod

Rod - New Jersey
Published: March 25, 2008


ROD'S DIARY NEW JERSEY MAR 13 -- 14

Up early to get some work done with the clear advantage of a clear head. Then off to airport for a standard noon departure for Newark. Vans straight onto the tarmac by the plane with a more effective police escort cutting through the heavy traffic and put through security checks right there. Fox had come down earlier to interview Bruce on the plane and they did some other stuff after take off. I couldn't bring myself to open the laptop -- it is becoming the enemy! -- and just chatted to various of our gang and cat napped. Flight a bit over 3 hours to Newark and we had ABC News filming our arrival for a news feature next week -- they are also coming to the NJ show. Bruce stayed behind for a while with them and Todd for interviews. We have known the producer Jason for some years from his CNN days -- the last time we were doing something for CNN and Bruce and I were in the car on the way to the studio stuck in traffic when they called to cancel it as a small plane had just crashed into a building in the Bronx, I think it was, and at the time all news staff were of course caught up in this as at first it was naturally treated as a possible terrorism attack. Fortunately it wasn't but sadly it was a well known NY sports star who had apparently lost control flying his single engine plane. Very tragic, a young fit guy with everything going for him.

So on arrival we were whisked off to hotel in Manhatten. A couple of dodgy looking "fans" were there with 2 brand new guitars to sign which we didn't as I am sure on the back it would have stamped "destiny ebay" -- we are very careful about that now. Its really not something genuine fans ask on the street outside our hotel! There seem to be a lot of ebay merchants around nowadays and it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish from regular fans, except that quite often they carry the albums in the bag from the shop where they had just bought the albums for (hopeful) signature

I had avoided making any arrangements for that evening with any pals in NY as I figured that by this stage of the tour I would just want to have a quiet night which is exactly what I did. After going out for a walk and to buy some supplies -- much too tight to pay NY hotel prices for stuff like water and fruit -- and I enjoy walking around NY. Evening in -- sport on TV and a movie " American Gangster". Both Russell Crowe and Denzil Washington are very good in it but although the film was good it did not live up to the great reviews I had seen. Jan tells me the original book is excellent -- the film is based on a true story. So did this, read a bit and crashed ready for another big show tomorrow.

Had a bit of a lie in to gain energy and out for breakfast to catch up and plan the eve with Todd who does our PA for the label. I love NY breakfast diners, always so full of energy and character and so many questions about how to have your eggs and anything else. Almost an interrogation compared to England where you tend to get what you get! All these questions takes a while to get used to but I do think that over here breakfast is a big part of the day which is fine by me when I can order corned beef hash with eggs over easy! I limit this to one morning a stay but it can be a great pleasure being so unhealthy (I think corned beef hash is banned in Hollywood!)
Back at hotel for more catch up and then off to gig with Bruce. Just realised that tour fever has now really hit and I do not know what is going on. My Puerto Rico diary talked about Patrick from Revolver joining us -- well that wasn't in PR it was in NJ, with Bruce doing interview at gig NJ and Steve on flight NJ -- Toronto. I have sent that diary off so no point changing it, but no big deal, put is down to touring delusion. Any way back to what I hope happened in reality not in my increasingly warped mind.

So at the show Bruce talked to Patrick then old friend Eddie Trunk. Eddie we have known for years as a fan and supporter of the band and he has become a big feature at Q104 and with a national metal show. We usually take time to talk to him for his show and also this time for MSG news network, talking about upcoming summer US tour and life in general in the Maiden camp. Usual chaotic scenes backstage so tried to stick to my room seeing various friends who came along for the show and to say hello, including old mate from XFM London Ian Camfield who is now with K-Rock in NY and John Scher, our longtime NY promoter.

This show at the Izod, capacity about 14,000, sold out last December. As it had been sold out for some three months I thought it would be a loud as hell NY audience but in fact they were rather subdued -- maybe we have been spoilt a bit on this tour though with our audiences!!! Anyway went fine and everyone seemed to think it was great so I guess all is relative. Maybe NY audiences get a bit spoilt as everyone always plays there on tour. Or maybe it was us - though I thought the sound was terrific which it usually is there. You will have to ask the people who went.

Afterwards rest of band left after show to meet up with various friends and family in the city but Bruce and I stayed for a while chatting to some mates over a few beers in the dressing room. By the time we got back the hotel bar was closed so a fairly tame night after a NY area show, but we are near the end!! And Bruce had a bit of a bender with Todd the night before so all was not lost.

I am finishing this day on hols getting reacquainted with Kathy and the kids -- only one more diary to go -- the last show, Toronto. So more when I get out of the sun/pool/bar!!!!

- Rod

Rod in Toronto and back home!
Published: April 1, 2008


ROD'S DIARY TORONTO MAR 15-16...then HOME!!

Off to a good start when our car got lost on the way to Newark Airport. You would think a pro driver could find a major airport! However like all of us sat nav took him the wrong way and we saw a lot of the NJ skyline as we went about 30 min out of our way. Eventually got there and for many of our team this was the last Ed Force One flight -- Steve, Dave and Nicko were heading elsewhere after Toronto as were many of our crew.

Uneventfully ended up at our usual hotel in downtown Toronto, checked in and went in search of English newspapers which you can always get easily there. Got the Times for both Friday and Saturday as it was late in the day -- bloody luxury -- hadn't seen an English paper since we started off, and anyway have had little time to read them on the road, surviving on the BBC webpage, and, of course, Sky Sports. I like to keep abreast of the news especially sports and there is an awful lot of (bad) things going on in the world from the economy, to Tibet/ China to Gordon Brown and our incapable government. This state of Britain right now the recent ludicrous delays and baggage losses at the new Heathrow Terminal stand as a shining example of our current ineptitude, although you cant blame Gordon for that, though he has an awful lot of other things to answer for!!

One upside was that, while we were in the air earlier, England beat Ireland in the rugby Six Nations to come an (undeserved) second in the table, this being the last match. Sadly though behind Wales who won all five games to get a second Grand Slam in 3 years -- I will definitely be avoiding Taff my welsh mate when I get home. I got a lot of jeering and triumphalist texts from him all of which remained unanswered. Bloody Welsh!! Sadly though credit where it is due, by the end of the tournament they were playing some wonderful rugby. (I found this out when l got home as my boys had recorded all the games for me so some long nights)

Last one tomorrow and feeling the pace a bit so decided it was a movie and room service as the cowardly thing to do. Watched Charlie ....is it Hudson, I forget, with the guy from ER. Definite senility setting in again....good film though. Seems years ago now!!

Worked, roamed around Toronto a bit, got UK Sunday paper then did my extended interview with Sam for the documentary which is now a movie I am told so no more reference to documentary. He asked a lot of interesting questions but I guess he should by now having been cooped up with us for seven weeks. Sam and Scot are now home, being Toronto residents, and both were met by their girlfriends at the airport, lucky buggers. At least it saved us some hotel rooms!!!

Went to Air Canada Centre early -- capacity 14,000, sold out end of December -- and fans already in long queues presumably to get to front on floor -- unless they were part of the FC first to the barrier of course (a quick plug!). After a while you can get to "read" an audience and I could tell that this would be a cracker. Loads of young fans looking ready to give it everything, and they did.

Bruce was already there -- he had a real "day off" in NY yesterday, flying up to Toronto in the early afternoon show day. He was met by CTV News, Canada's main station, who filmed him on the plane and also filmed the show for broadcast on national news a couple of days later. I met them later to go through camera positions
Everyone really up for this the last show. Spent a lot of time with our label guys before the show -- a tremendous team up there who have done a terrific job for us -- the boss Dean has been working with us there since the beginning and became a good mate years ago. He and his team really get it.

The show was terrific right from the off. The Centre is an excellent arena and the sound was exceptional. Due to narrow roofing beams the screens were a bit close to the stage and a bit on the large side leading Bruce to comment on being to TV. They were distracting being so big and close as they take the closer audiences eyes off the band and it can be tough for a band to play to people looking to the sides at the TV!!! Make a note to get front elevations of screens in arenas from now on so not repeated. Great picture though!.

Before the encores Bruce announced our June run of dates in western Canada, and most of these cities we have not been to in 20 years since Seventh Son tour. And he must have done a good job as, if you read our online news, you will have seen they pretty well sold out in a couple of hours. Incredible after so long. My parents are on Vancouver Island -- they probably wont come to the show but I will be able to call over to see them for a couple of days. My sister and family however live in Edmonton and have for over 20 years so they will all come with a few friends as my guests and I can spent the day off at a bbq with them the next day. So it will be great to spend time with them especially as my niece is expecting her second child to accompany the lovely Jaime who will be 2 at about the time of birth.

After the show EMI arranged the upstairs of a pub which had a large bar and some pool tables, and decent beers, the ideal spot for a Maiden aftershow. Various label, promoter and band friends turned out til closing time and as usual I think a good time was had by all .....until...the Killer Krew arrived. Never is equipment packed away so quickly as when there are free drinks to be had, especially when it's an end of tour party. But boy did they deserve it -- they all did a tremendous job on a demanding tour.

We next day we had a noon departure -- HOME. And would you believe for the very first time on the tour Ed Force One broke down. It was minus something degrees and one of the engines froze so one of our flying spanners got off and kicked it and, after a short delay, we were on our way.

After the night before it was fairly tranquil on board, Bruce did his last bit of flying, I kept the laptop in its bag refraining from dropping it into the North Atlantic and we got to Stansted about midnight where cars were waiting to get us home. I was a bit awake when I got back to Hove at about 2 so watched the recorded England v Ireland game on TV. It's the small pleasures you miss. Then made sure I was up at 7.30 (for school) to say hello to Kathy and the kids..............who promptly asked who I was........!!!

A few days at home with a day in the office in London then that Saturday off on hols.
Takes a few days .....weeks ....to get back to normal. You see flashes of cop bikes, massive responsive crowds, the Andes, the plane, the funny (and difficult) situations all rolled together. It was truly quite an astonishing trip ....but we made it ....and hope we made a few people happy along the way!! Maybe we will do it again one day!!!!!

Next stop San Antonio. So your next diary (unless I get bored but don't hold your breath) will be from the Yorkshire of America -- TEXAS!!!!

Reminds me , here is a joke for you all.........see ya soon. !!!!

A Texan decided to write a book about famous churches around the world, so he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to Rome. On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when he noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read $10,000 per call

The American, being intrigued, asked a priest who was strolling by, what the telephone was used for. The priest replied that it was a direct line to Heaven and that for $10,000 you could talk to God. The American thanked the priest and went along his way.

His next stop was in Moscow. There, at a very large cathedral, he saw the same golden telephone with the same sign under it. He wondered if this was the same kind of telephone he saw in Rome and he asked a nun what its purpose was. She told him that it was a direct line to Heaven and that for $10,000 he could talk to God. "OK. Thank you," said the American.

He then travelled to France, Israel, Germany and Brazil. In every church he saw the same golden telephone with a "$10,000 per call" sign under it.

The American finally decided to travel to the UK to see if the British had the same telephone. He arrived in York and again, in the Minster, there was the same golden telephone, but this time the sign under it read "20p per call". The American was surprised so he asked the priest about the sign. "Reverend, I've travelled all over the world and I've seen this same golden telephone in many churches. I'm told that it is a direct line to heaven, but everywhere I went the price was $10,000 per call. Why is it so cheap here?"

The priest smiled and answered, "You're in Yorkshire now son. It's a local call."

Rod's Diary - San Antonio
Published: May 22, 2008

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS MAY 18-20 -- the PREPARATION

So
almost time for the first show here on Wednesday. And the dreaded diary
starts again. On the first leg, as we fitted in so much in such a short
time through so many countries, the diary was daily, but now it will be
more leisurely to match the pace of the tour but will still hopefully
have some things of interest to you guys. Also as I was so busy I
didn't take any pics on the first leg but this time I have brought my
Brownie 127 to take some amateurish snap shots at the heart to the
inaction.

Last Saturday I took my accustomed seat (1A of
course!) on Ed Force One to join Bruce and various media to Cannes film
festival. When I sat down I thought I must have put on a load of weight
but then realised Astraeus had taken out the plush band seats at the
front of the plane to revert back to the standard seats. Makes a big
difference! EF1 is still in daily service still sporting our colours
and flying all over the place for BA and Astraeus. Many people I know
have stories of spotting it. My daughter came back from our family
holiday at Easter to go skiing with some friends and we got an excited
text that they were flying to France on "dad's aeroplane "! I wish it
was! And when the rest of us landed at LGW a couple of days later we
went right past it parked by the runway.

We had a good flight
into Nice, took some buses and headed for Cannes. As traffic was so
heavy they dropped us off on the edge of the small town and we walked
the 10 minutes through the thronged streets followed by TV and press
cameras who thought it was very cool for Bruce to do this rather than
arrive in a mighty yacht. It wasn't hard as we haven't got one of
those, a bit slow for touring. Apparently in the "olden days" this was
how the major stars got to the Festival, walking through the streets,
so the media thought it was terrific. The real stars of today aren't
allowed to do this anymore -- elf 'n' safety and security raises its
head again. It was fun though, about 100 of us trooping through the
middle of town following Bruce, the director Julian Doyle and various
cast members.
We headed for a press reception on a balcony
overlooking the harbour. Shame the weather was poor but at least it
didn't rain. Bruce did various interviews and I chatted to various
people to sell the film abroad, along with a few glasses of champagne.
Would have preferred beer but in Cannes all you get is champagne and
French pastries. After a couple of hours we all walked back through
town the cinema to see the "Chemical Wedding". This was my 6th time
and I pick up new pieces in the puzzle of the story every time.
After
the film it was back on the buses to Nice, onto Ed and off home
arriving at about 11.30. A quick but fun trip. The movie is out in the
UK towards the end of the month if you want to check it out. Hopefully
other parts of the world soon.

Next day Sunday up at 8 for a car
to Heathrow to fly to San Antonio via Dallas with Adrian, Jan, Ian and
Gaddsy. And a bloody miserable flight it was. The first bit to Dallas
was fine but immigration queue on arrival was huge and took over an
hour, the gate about a 30 min train ride away, the flight was over an
hour late and to top it all they had lost my bag, but thankfully found
it again after I had spent 20 min reporting the loss......after the
ease of all the flights on Ed on the first part of the tour its hard to
readjust to the realities of "normal" air travel nowadays. But David
Beckham did get out of the lift as we got in at the airport lounge
though I cant say it made up for all the hassle!!

Finally got to
San Antonio, and hotel really nice with an Irish Bar 2 min out of the
front door. From what I could see looked like a really happening part
of a very beautiful city (apparently the 8th or 9th biggest in the USA
which surprised me a bit. Population some 8 million I was told). So we
all dropped bags in the rooms and straight to the bar to
find....surprise surprise, most of our crew. The only ones missing were
the lightweights who had not recovered from being there the previous
night.....when they finally left at 5 am!! Lasted a couple of hours and
hit the sack for a very good sleep. Another 5000 or so airmiles in the
last 2 days. Needed it!!

Woke early of course and unpacked and
set up laptop etc then down to the venue. Met up with production guys,
checked out the big Big Eddie, who does look incredible, went through
pyros with pyro guy Keith etc. Band turned up mid afternoon to check
equipment and have a full run through of the set to see if they could
remember it. Very very hot here. Took a few pics too but so bright not
sure how well they will come out. Everyone hung around for a while
after run through catching up with the crew and tasting some of the
excellent food provided backstage and then headed back to the Irish Pub
along with Bruce, Jan (of course) and Dave. Nicko is staying miles away
at some golf hotel doing what he loves (second) best.

A few
pints of Guiness with John McM our photographer and various crew too
before getting that lagged feeling and headed off to bed about
midnight. Countdown. One more day to the first show.

Back to work for Ian and Gaddsy.

Dave arrives.

First gig and no-one showed up!
On
Tuesday we had a full day planned with band rehearsing some more in the
afternoon, then taking the chance for some photos with John then a full
production run through for the band to see how it all looks and to
reacquaint themselves with pyro positioning so they don't get blown up.
As can happen on the road with all the travel though Steve got hit by a
bug was out for the day so all plans put to the sword. Everyone in the
band though was very happy with the full run through of the set
yesterday so not a problem. They are ready for the show and I can drag
them out to do some pics another day -- hopefully! I went down to the
show anyway to do a production run through and Jan came with me to
check out some of his gear, and Bruce came down a bit later for
something to do. We checked out pyro cues and other production timings
and then got the huge mummy Eddie out of his sarcophagus to perform
especially for us. Bruce spent about an hour with the crew on this
working out movements and timings to make it as dramatic as possible
and from what I saw later I would say he had succeeded. It will take a
few shows to get it spot on as all these things do but generally
speaking we are well ready for the first show here on Thursday. And
everyone is very much looking forward to it.

Eddie's even on the drums... and so is Sooty

No, you play it like this!

Nick thinks about his diary... about time... Tour doing strange things to our crew

Warming up
At
8pm Bruce and Dave were doing Rockline, a well established program
which is broadcast by major stations all over the USA. (yes Maiden on
the radio for a bit -- how about that. The times they are a changing ??
Unlikely, this is a specialist type program) It's been going I think 27
years and all the big rock acts have done it, some, like us, a few
times. Its format is playing the music of the guest interspersed with
fans calling in to ask questions -- and we apparently got a LOT of
calls so if any of you missed out then sorry. There was even a call
from Ireland, unusual for a US radio station!! It is usually broadcast
live but as we had a show to do the night it comes out it was arranged
for it to be pre-recorded, which is apparently quite an honour as its
only the fifth time they have conceded this for a band. As we were at
the gig and the hotel was not on the way from there to KISS FM, whose
studio was being used, Bruce and I had the car drop us off at a bar
near to KISS and then, while Raouol our driver went off for Dave, we
had a couple of beers while waiting and chatted to some of the locals
who thought it a bit weird for a couple of Brits to drop in as the bar
was not exactly in the tourist area. As we were leaving we invited a
couple of these very friendly and hospitable people to come to the show
as our guests -- prior to that they had not put two and two together
but then it was "hey, Iron Maiden has been in our bar!"

Dave
arrived and we went to KISS. The building it is in is really not what I
would have imagined for a rock radio station, so I rechecked the
address I had with a janitor and it was the right place so we went up
the lift to the sixth. It was vital we were on time as the ISDN link to
the main Rockline studio in LA started at 8. By now it was 7.55. Anyway
we were there but the door was locked, a big metal thing at that. So we
banged harder.......and harder ....and kicked it.....then a call from
Elliott at our label asking where the eff we were. BLOODY OUTSIDE THE
DOOR. Finally got in and got started. Went great I thought, so all of
you in America I hope you get chance to hear it. Maybe you can Google
it on the web the rest of you. Davey and Bruce were on fine form and
although most questions were serious a great deal of fun was had.

At Rockline
Headed
back to hotel after and yes you guessed it a visit to the Irish bar. It
had been a busy day for me so didn't get chance to eat so selected
bangers and mash from a wonderful Brit menu and of course washed it
down with a bit of the black stuff. Not much though, big day tomorrow
and still lagged. Next I will let y'all how the first show in San
Antonio went and a bit about our history in this beautiful city.

Your round or else!

Best looking member of the band.

Rod's Diary - San Antonio Show Day
Published: May 25, 2008

SAN ANTONIO 2 -- May 21 -- FIRST SHOW

At
last after a couple of months -- its showday!! Excited. Up and about
early, catch up with email, pop out for some poached eggs, sshhhh,
shower and shave and down early to the show.

If memory serves me
right we first played in San Antonio in 1981 supporting Judas Priest on
our first US Tour, part of the Killers World Tour, with Humble Pie
opening. We came back a year later as special guests to The
Scorpions, I think, on the Beast on the Road World Tour, then
headlined, and I think sold out, the major arena there in 83 on our
World Piece Tour, supported by Saxon and Fastway, though we called the
package the British Metal Onslaught. And it was!! Texas was a great
place for us in those days with huge business and sold out arenas. It
was also fantastic to visit the Alamo on that first trip, I was always
a fan of the old John Wayne movie and the recent one is not a patch on
the original. But still an inspiring story. Many of you will have seen
the 'Ello Texas bonus piece on Live after Death shot outside the Alamo
in 83 on our first headline US tour. We returned to San Antonio pretty
well every tour except recently -- last time was in 2001 or 2 I believe
at the Sunken Gardens. (Haven't got my full files on the road with me
so cant check all this but we will soon hopefully have ALL historical
dates on the web) We had an audience of about 6000. So it's fantastic
today to be returning to an audience of about 13,000.

Met up
with Jeff and Jason on some security issues then watched the Champions
League Final at 1.45 Texas time. Most of crew gathered in the canteen
to watch too, and also there was Harry. I guess it will be a while
before the Hammers make it! I thought Chelsea deserved to win and what
a proverbial slip up by John Terry. But though I don't watch that much
football if I do I like it to be Man U as they do play a fast
attractive attacking game.

Shit that was close!

Would you believe Harry watching Man U and Chelsea?!
Then
went with John Mc, Dave and Johnny be to have a look round. Dave roped
me into an interview for IMTV. I asked what was the point as it
wouldn't get shown on the site til Xmas 2011 with the entire backlog
they have. And they thought l was joking!!. To be fair the guys have
been very busy and are trying to catch up (with Japan Feb 16!!!) but I
do kick them on regularly. They just want to make it so bloody perfect
like real TV, with lots of edits, whereas I think they should shoot and
post. Let Admin know what you all think. When it goes up it does look
good I think and the content is appropriate. They promise to catch up
on first leg very very soon and they had better or we will get Eddie to
do it. Once that's done it will start on this USA tour, weekly I do
hope. Guys, sorry about this and if you see this dynamic duo at the
shows you attend help me out and give them a bit of lip....or a well
aimed kick!! Perfectionists indeed!!

Got by IMTV
So
after being interviewed by Dave I went off to check the merch stands to
make sure it was all there and well displayed which it of course was.
We do carry a lot of items and the merch co would rather carry less but
we think our fans like the choice. There are a couple of cool event
shirts as in the pic here. The Texas one is a copy of the original one
from about 85 with Eddie lunching on the armadillo, with Texas map and
dates on the back, and the other is the Eddie Rider for the whole of
the US tour. We enjoy doing these event shirts (as we call them i.e. Ts
for a specific city or country) and we do quite a few again now. The
designs often sell out quickly and are apparently wanted by fans who
weren't at the show so to satisfy this we are starting to make them
available in Eddie's Megastore , but without the dates to distinguish
it from the shirts bought by fans who were actually at the show. I
think that makes sense all round. I am writing this in LA after the
Houston show and both there and in San Antonio we broke the merch
records. Merch has always been hugely important to us as you all know.
We do try to come up with the best concepts and designs and quality for
you guys and certainly the extra income on the tours has helped since
the very beginning to enable us to afford to take our extravagant shows
on the road.

Check out cool event shirts!
The
venue, what we refer to as a shed, is a custom built outdoor arena with
a certain proportion of the space seated and behind those seats are
lawns. In this case about 7500 seated. Some are quite corporatised
which we hate, for example here right behind the sound desk was a large
flat area with tables and chairs in small areas sectioned off. These
were about half full during the show mainly with older people lounging
in the chairs drinking beer with a "go on then, impress me" sort of
attitude.. Not all of them but enough to piss me off and want to go
over and tell them to eff off. These areas are not on sale to the
general public so are usually sparsely populated as not a lot of the
corporate types wish to be at our shows thankfully. There is quite a
lot of corporatisation in the sheds and it varies in scale and manner
one to the other. We don't like it but in many other ways these are
great summer venues to play with great atmospheres and crowds. If you
sell plenty of the tickets -- which fortunately we do -- it becomes
much less noticeable but remains the proverbial bee in my bonnet!! But
fans certainly seem to enjoy the facilities of these sheds and I have
to say to sightlines for the audience are terrific as the venue widens
out from the stage so everyone has a direct line to the drum kit in the
centre of the stage and do don't miss a thing. Whereas in arenas of
course a large part of the audience on the sides or on the floor in
front of the PA never get to see Nicko. Of course though that can be a
blessing!

BANG!
To
the show. I wont spoil it by saying too much but Big Eddie is
spectacular and the whole staging looks sheer class and the pyros
really do highlight the dramatic parts. But then I would think that
wouldn't I? When you go along, see for yourself. The audience was
terrific, loud and incredibly active and enthusiastic, but of course
there is a huge Latin influence here and we all know that Latin plus
Maiden equals mayhem!! For a first show all went pretty well. A few
things need to be cued more precisely and we made some adjustments but
probably less so than I would have expected on the first night of a
show as complex as this.

Sparklers go wild
As
there were so may people there we did a runner to avoid the traffic and
got back to the hotel quickly. It was very hot on stage so the band
were suffering a bit from the heat ( and the first night of full on
action) but some managed to drag themselves over the bridge over the
canal from our hotel and to the Irish Pub. It was strangely
quiet.......the crew weren't there.......and nor was Nicko!!!

The Irish bar is over there

Rod's Diary - Houston
Published: May 27, 2008

ROD'S DIARY -- HOUSTON MAY 22

It
was a late night after the show last night in San Antonio so had a lie
in to charge the batteries for the Houston show. We left the hotel at
about 3 to go to the airport for the short flight to Houston and for a
change everyone was on time and we arrived at the airport ahead of
schedule. That is, all expect Nicko. As I mentioned before he was
staying about 30 miles out of town to get some golf in. His car was
late getting to him as was held up due to a crash on the freeway, so
Nick was unavoidably almost an hour late. We pick up our plane here, a
Gulfstream 200, a 9 seater charter for band, me, Ian and Gaddsy - the
band party as we call it. The plane has been unofficially christened Ed
Force One and a Half. Then, finally ready for take off, they couldn't
get the jump seat down for the stewardess and its illegal to take off
without all crew securely seated. In the end though after another 20
minutes a screwdriver did it. So by the time we got to Houston we were
running late and hit all the traffic going to the show which delayed us
even more. Just goes to show how the best laid and most convenient
travel plans can get wrecked -- which is why we have to allow plenty of
"eff up" time to our schedules.

H on his way to Ed Force One and a Bit.

I
do have to say though that without Ed Force 1.5 or similar it would be
impossible to tour with any level of enjoyment. If we had to go through
2 airports every time we would all go mad. Dallas a couple of days ago
fully illustrated this. The queues, the needless delays, the sheer
insanity of some of the security levels. It really does sometimes
appear that the lawmakers just want to keep the public in a permanent
state of anxiety and even fear with niggling rules and regulations
which vary in level at different aiports. For example in Dallas I was
asked to take my handkerchief out of my pocket before entering the
X-ray machine, and that is a first anywhere on the planet, and there is
a lot of planet that we visit!!

To the show. Again a shed, some
corporate seats around the mixer but thankfully no tables and these
(more comfortable) seats seemed to be full of fans. A really good
atmosphere, around 11,000 in all. It all went very well, the screens
here were big and of good quality so would have looked good at the
back. By the way we have Dave P here with us on the whole tour to work
on the editing of the screens so coverage is really good. If you don't
have someone to edit who really knows the music and where pyro etc is
it can be tough to really "get" the show, especially the guitar solos
as we have 3 guitarists and a lot of solos, and we know you guys want
to see these. We have been having problems with Nicko's remote cameras
so far so you have not been seeing much of him but I can assure you
this is not personal!! Timing on Big Eddie is coming together well, its
key to the impact that he comes out and rises in harmony with the music
and equally important that he goes back in his box at the right time
and this improved a lot today and will soon be perfect. So all in all
another good show and another good audience, which of course is to be
expected in Texas, so thanks Texas for the welcome and your
appreciative response. Well worth returning to see y'all and I promise
we will be back!!

Captain Bruce goes Texan!

Texas lights.
After
the show it was straight back to the airport for the 3 hour flight into
LA. We have a couple of days off as Dave took the plane back to Maui
for his daughter's Graduation and we are all very proud of Tasha --
well done! University next year and Dave and Tamar are very proud of
her too of course. Dave flies back Sunday to pick us all up at LAX then
on to Albuquerque for what promises to be a huge show there.
So far, so good!!

Bruce's Top Gun mates.

They get younger in Houston!!

Rod's Diary - Albuquerque Published: May 27, 2008 ROD'S DIARY -- ALBUQUERQUE MAY 23-25 Worked pretty much all day Friday then went out for a very good seafood meal in evening with Nicko, Gaddsy and Jen and our hosts Erik and Kelly Paiste who run Paiste Cymbals, which Nicko has been using for many years now and they give him a very good service and of course an occasional free meal. A fine evening ended out in the hotel bar til the early hours. Nick with Erik and Kelly Paiste. Saturday was quiet, more work and some sport on TV and read English Times I was able to get hold of courtesy of the concierge. In the evening we intended to go and see the Dodgers (baseball for the initiated) but we never got it together mainly as it really wasn't very good weather and its less fun sat in the magnificent Dodger stadium if it's a bit cold. Watched on TV though but they were soon four down to St Louis and then switched to watch an interesting move called Vantage Point, worth catching. I used to go the Dodgers a lot when I was based in LA in the mid eighties and do very much enjoy the game and for a Brit am quite knowledgeable. It was always a good night out -- we used to meet, about 20 of us, at an English pub the Cat and Fiddle on Sunset and hire a tour bus to take us. We always sat near a bar! But over the years you lose touch with who the players are which makes it a bit less interesting. Welcoming party! Our escort - thanks guys Jan on the run! So to Sunday and show day in Albuquerque New Mexico. Set off from hotel at 1.30 expecting to be at the show by about 5.30 with a photo session planned to make up for the one we missed in San Antonio. But the travel demon caught up with us again. We got on the plane on schedule no problem but it wouldn't start. Some soft ware problem. We hung around in the lounge while they tried rebooting but no success. Its Memorial Day weekend here so everyone is off but we managed to find a back up plane which was parked at Van Nuys, some 40 minutes away. We had to drag a very helpful driver out from his hols to get us there. He happened to be a big fan so was delighted to be driving us and for helping us out we gave him signed pics and a couple of tickets for the LA show. We were running late but it never looked like a major problem. The views on the way from the plane were magnificent and in Albuquerque the airport we used was very close to the show and we had a police escort to make sure we got through the traffic going to the venue. Great fun as always, there is nothing like the wailing sirens of a police escort to make you feel important -- like South America all over again!! Our rescue driver and our replacement jet So we got to the show about an hour before we were due to go on. On the way in there were still long lines of traffic going in and the show was sold out to 15,000, the promoter suggesting that this may be the only sold out show in this venue all summer. The shed is in the middle of nowhere with stunning views around. There is so much space and wonderful scenery in this part of the world and at near dusk there is a very special almost surreal quality to the light. The shed layout was good with excellent big screens again, and the audience was fantastic as it always has been here. Very loud and enthusiastic from beginning to end. The show itself continues to take shape well and we are almost there with it now. There is only one route into the place so we did our runner off stage to cars and the plane -- stopping to check out an amazing chopper at the airport, pics included. Would love to had ridden it off. I should also mention the local rock radio station here, KZRR. Not only are they big supporters and our no 1 most supportive station in the whole of the USA, they also play us FOUR times as much as our second best station, KCAL. Its unusual to be able to say thanks to a radio station but here goes -- thankyou KZRR for your support of all things Maiden. Sadly I was unable to thank them in person as we were so late so I hope one of you readers can pass this on to them. On arrival in Phoenix, our next port of call, we were met on landing by Jim Silvia who lives there. Jim used to work with us as security and was co-piloting with Bruce bringing our Cessna 210 back to England after the 2003 US tour. Some hundred or so miles out of Greenland a light went on to signify a fire in one of the twin engines and at one point they were running out of fuel and thought they may have to ditch in one of the fjords. Thankfully it was an electrical malfunction but it didn't make the ordeal any less terrifying in retrospect. They even had the dinghy out at the ready! Anyway it was great to see Jim and we all had a couple of beers in the bar as Jim cant make the show as he was flying out the next day to meet up with and tour manage the Judas Priest tour which starts in Finland next week. Tomorrow Phoenix and with tickets already past 10,000 looks like another big show. Bag time. Bruce checks out the view. Doug at work. Hanging around. Ian ready to run! Ready to go... or not. View over New Mexico

<table class="plugin_2_2" summary="Not Available" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td> Diaries <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr> <td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top"> </td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod's Diary - Albuquerque</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod's Diary - Houston</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod's Diary - San Antonio Show Day</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod's Diary - San Antonio</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod in Toronto and back home!</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod - New Jersey</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod - Puerto Rico - part II</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod - Puerto Rico part I</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod in Santiago - part II</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod in Santiago - part I</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod in Buenos Aires</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod - Porto Allegre</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod in Curitiba</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod in San Paolo - part II</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-bottom: 5px;" valign="top">Rod in San Paulo - part 1</td></tr></table> <table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tr><td align="right">Next »</td></tr></table> </td></tr></table>

© 1998 - 2008 Iron maiden

Rod's Diary - Phoenix
Published: May 29, 2008

ROD'S DIARY PHOENIX MAY 26-27 Usual
- laptop hot most of day til met up with Douglas from EMI in the hotel
bar. Douglas is the new worldwide head of new technology etc for EMI
and was previously at Google. We are working on ways to improve how we
function and communicate in these areas, particularly if there are ways
to enhance our site and related functions. We are just throwing ideas
around at present but hopefully will come up with some progressive
ideas for the future. We are always looking at ways to do this.We
then went to the show with the tres amigos. Around 11,000 tonight, good
for a Monday night and again a great crowd, singing along to
everything. In the past we have been a bit critical of the “enthusiasm
rating” of audiences in some parts of the USA (eg NJ in March) but we
can certainly have no complaints about the passion of our audiences
here so far. Great reactions which really do act as a catalyst for the
band to really cook. Bruce had some onstage sound problems but l
couldn’t detect it from his performance. The out front sound here was
particularly good on the desk, loud, defined and solid, and also the
side screens were huge and great quality which has to be good for the
kids at the back. After the show we went to the airport to fly
back to LA. Sushi, mexican food, beer and wine was readily available
and taken with great fervour. Back in hotel watched a bit of TV news –
sad world we live in in many aspects – and crashed.I am writing
this Wednesday prior to flying up to and then back from Concord for the
show here in Northern California. Yesterday was a quiet day and had a
couple of trips to the Kings Head, first for lunch between work, and in
the early evening to meet up with some of our label team – our product
manager Emily, PR Todd, and radio Elliott. Mainly going through this
weekend’s big LA shows at Irvine. Who they had coming, making sure key
media was fully covered (well, if you are hot you have to flaunt
it!!!), who was likely to be visiting my room for a beer before the
show etc etc. Anyway time for a shower and get ready to leave for the
airport.Didn’t get any new pics as I was busy running around on stuff but here is a KNAC review of the show in Phoenix...
Somewhere Back in Phoenix

By CrpnDeth, Staff Photographer/Writer
Tuesday, May 27, 2008 @ 10:09 PM

We
shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the
seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing
strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may
be. We shall fight on beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,
we shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the
hills, we shall never surrender!

And with that infamous war
cry once again bellowing out from the mighty PA at the Cricket
Pavilion, Iron Maiden is bringing us back to 1985. Somewhere Back in
Time is the tour that is the blue print for how the band rolls. Aces
High is coming off the stage at full throttle, much like it was back in
Long Beach when the historic Live After Death was recorded during the
World Slavery tour. This time it appears more ferocious. As the band
continued on with 2 Minutes to Midnight, the entire crowd was singing
along with every word, something that consistently lasted throughout
the whole night. Every song. Every word.

Not only musically,
but the boys are in fine shape physically -- constantly running from
side to side and jumping over the monitors on the stage. The intensity
coming out of the guys was definitely a result of feeding off the
energy of the crowd. It was like watching the Live After Death DVD all
over again, this time with Janick Gers thrown in to the mix.

The
precision riffs and solos were flawlessly traded back and forth between
Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers. The triple axe symphony was
a treat all in itself. At one moment during the show, even above the
PA, I could actually hear Steve Harris' fingers nailing each bass
string. Nicko -- hidden well behind his mountain of drums -- was
keeping things moving at a hectic pace. It's amazing to watch the fills
he plays when he's up on the big screen. One of the greatest moments
that showcased the band as a tight unit was Rime of the Ancient
Mariner, the epic tale of the albatross.

An integral component
to the band's power and longevity is easily attributed to Bruce
Dickinson's massive vocal strength. Being barely three feet away from
me at times, it was utterly amazing to feel how powerful his vocals are
and how easily he harnesses it. One of those truly amazing singers who
make everything seem like second nature. Ripping his way through The
Trooper, Wasted Years, Can I Play with Madness?, Heaven Can Wait and
Iron Maiden shows off the talent very well.

By the time the band finishes, you have been completely transformed back in time, just as the tour promised.
Opening
support was none other than Steve's daughter, Lauren Harris. Hitting
the stage with a blistering cover of UFO's Natural Thing seemed like an
odd choice, and the expression on the crowd's faces showed this isn't
what they were expecting. The track appears as a bonus track on the
European release of her new disc Calm Before the Storm, but it just
seemed out of place to open with. But as she belted out her own tunes
the crowd slowly warmed up to her and the unfamiliar material. By the
end of her set, the crowd was cheering and throwing horns in approval.
She definitely has the energy of her dad and the pipes like Uncle Bruce
(weellll, almost). The band sounded as if they have been playing
together forever, and all seemed thoroughly thankful to be supporting
such legends as Maiden.

This weekend the band is hitting the
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine CA on the 30th and 31st. I
caught Maiden here a few times back in the late 80s/early 90s (when it
was called Irvine Meadows) and to catch the current tour there would be
well worth your time, it's easily going to be one of the best of 2008 .
Don't miss it.

Rod's Diary - Concord
Published: June 2, 2008

ROD'S DIARY - CONCORD MAY 28-30 It’s
about 2pm Friday 30th, the day of the first of the big shows in LA at
Irvine Meadows. As you can see on the pics from my balcony we get to
stay in a real holiday hotel with pool and palm trees – thanks Ian! We
moved down yesterday from our previous LA base to be nearer to the show
as traffic down to Irvine from LA can be murder with huge delays
especially on a Friday evening. Nice to be by the sea for a change of
pace. We get 4 nights here before we head off for Seattle. It will be
good to lounge by the pool over the weekend when incoming email of
course slackens off. A deserved bit of R and R.


As
our plane is still out of commission all they could find us for the
trip from LAX to and from Concord a couple of days ago was a G4, a
bigger plane. I hope the band didn’t get too used to it as they would
be very expensive to use for a whole tour! We got there in plenty of
time to finally, after 2 aborted attempts, get a photo session so as to
have a few band line up shots on hand for future requirements. We had
time, it was a nice day so all went off with no complaints for a change
and took less than an hour for John to get about 4 different locations.

Wow - a bigger plane!

Buses...

...and some trucks

At last, some pics!
The
show in Concord was again fantastic with around 12,000 there. Concord
is another shed surrounded by beautiful scenery and rolling hills. It
works really well as it has a big pit and front section so many fans
are right up to the stage. I took a few pics around there of real
interesting stuff like trucks, buses, our outside catering (which is
great on a nice day like this was), loading docks to show how easy the
load in and out is for our crew, with gear straight in and out of the
trucks onto the stage area. This is pretty standard and hence easy at
all the sheds. Just thought you might be interested to see how it all
looks back there.

An empty shed... not for long

Charlie - Nicko's tech

Easy load in and out.

Some of the par cans


Monitor genius Gonzo

Soundcheck with Shaun the mummy.


Steve's tech, Michael.That
night one of my preshow guests was John Lassiter, the genius behind and
head of Pixar. He seemed to be a big fan but here was no doubt his kids
were. One of his five sons (yes five, we have 3 and that’s tough
enough!!) PJ had a recent birthday and attending the show was one of
his presents, and he was along with a couple of brothers and friends. I
have seen a load of Pixar movies as my kids grew up and what John has
done with graphic animation is truly spectacular and it was a pleasure
to meet him and thank him on behalf of my kids!! Maybe he will do a
Pixar Eddie movie one day – Fantasia 3 with Maiden music and Eddie
would be some fun (no I didn’t suggest this to him, much too polite to
hassle my guests!) The audience again
were excellent – the only downside was a number of people smoking dope
at the front of the crowd. Now we have no problem with this per se - as Bruce's old mate Aleister Crowley often repeated; "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law"!
But it’s bloody hard to sing well if you are perpetually getting a
lungful of first grade marijuana – it is northern California after all
so l am sure the quality was top notch. So if any of you guys want to
smoke this or anything else at our shows please drop back away from the
stage so we can give you a full on show without Bruce falling asleep on
stage after an hour of inhalation!! If you are singing you have to take
in great gulps of air and definitely will fully inhale unlike of course
some politicians! And if you see anyone else ask them nicely. A
runner after the show and on to the plane and back to LA. Nicko and I
got a car down to this hotel late morning so we could get in a round of
golf. I hadn’t played since Perth in early February and Nicko was out
every day on the wonderful courses in Phoenix, he even stayed an extra
day there. He is such a golf maniac and getting pretty good with
handicap of around 8, or ten if he is playing for money!!. He recently
met Nick Faldo and is swapping drum lessons for golf ones so watch out.
Of course, even though rust was falling off me on the swing for lack of
use, I still beat him!! I have to say though that he gave me a stroke a
hole which is quite a bit. I was however pleased and surprised to be
hitting the ball quite decently after the lay off so maybe I will get
out again soon for another round.

Nicko with caddy (and Maiden fan!) Steve.
Have
to thank everyone at the Big Canyon course in Newport Beach, wonderful
course, for their friendliness and hospitality. We stayed after for a
couple of beers and to watch the beginning of the Lakers v Spurs match.
Of course being a Lakers fan from my days in LA, and after the Forum
show earlier this year perhaps a notorious one, I was rooting for the
Lakers. We got a cab back to our hotel and watched the end of the game
there and pleased to see the Lakers win comfortably in the end after
being about 14 points behind at one stage. So they are in the final. I
am not sure whether Celtics V Pistols is decided yet but it would be
truly ironic if it were to be Lakers v Celtics as these were the top
teams in the mid eighties and of course this tour is also based on that
period – synchronicity!!!. Which is where we started so goodbye for now
and catch you after LA (Lakers in 6).


How can they ignore such a pretty stewardess? Must be the beer.

Lucky chaps.

My turn!


Nicko - best looking member - with the lovely Kat - best looking crew.



Time for lunch for some of the team.

Very dodgy card school!

Gaddsy losing so much money he contemplates self-suffocation

Rod's Diary - LA
Published: June 10, 2008

ROD'S DIARY - LA - MAY 30-31

Sorry
guys but a bit behind as have been spending some time with family in
Canada and will try to catch up next couple of days. Back to LA last
week delving into the mists of time (it seems) long gone!

Got to
the show early and met up with some old friends who used to be at
Capitol Records, our US label in the 80s. They were a terrific team and
we have always kept in contact. Various other assorted mates were
hanging out round my beer cooler, Rick Sales, Slayers manager, Andy
Gould (Rob Zombie and Axl Rose), Vaughn and Kenny who look after
Killswitch Engage, Brian Slagel from Metal Blade (who comes to many of
the shows but always buys a ticket so is particularly welcome to share
our beers!!) Spent time with our agent Rick from CAA and our LA
promoter Rich.

Photographer John with IMTV team Johnny & Dave.
Prior
to the show Bruce and I did interviews with Mark Levine regarding Metal
and Islam. Mark is a Doctor of Islamic History and recently wrote an
interesting book on the influence of music and particularly Metal in
the Islamic world. I will put up a jpg of the book here when I get it
from Mark. Apparently Metal and Maiden are very influential with the
kids from Morocco to Pakistan and he promises to write a piece for this
website about it which I am sure will be of interest to all of us. It
would be brilliant to play in some of these areas but obviously many
would be very difficult but we are looking into it. Dubai, although not
at all typical of this world, was interesting last year with fans
coming in from all over the Middle East. I am sure we will return there
and perhaps look at getting into Morocco some time in the future.

Journo
Daniel Lane and photographer Ashley were also there covering the
weekend for Kerrang, along with our EMI PR william. Daniel was
reviewing the show and also talked to Steve and Bruce for a feature
prior to Twickenham. We gave Ashley plenty of access to get some great
shots so will all hopefully turn out really well
Both
shows at Irvine went very well with about 13,000 at the Friday show and
then Saturday sold out to 16,000. with the Forum show in February it
means we have played to about 43,000 Southern Californian fans in the
last 3 months or so. Like last time the audience was well up for it
although of course the rowdy Saturday night crowd had the edge.

K photographer Ashley and journo Daniel.
Most of us hung around backstage after the shows seeing various friends etc. all in all a good weekend there
As I
said before the hotel we had for the weekend was really great and I
actually got to get some R and R on the Saturday and Sunday, lounged by
the pool, bit of gym, read some, etc. We were also fortunate that the
weather improved a lot and was nice and hot over the weekend.

Pics for Kerrang.
Fyi
- The Boston Celtics qualified to meet the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
Interestingly this is the first time the pair have met in the Final
since Lakers beat the Celtics in 1987. In the three years prior to that
they also each won one championship. So between 1984 and 1987 they met
three times and not again since then until now. Reminds me of
something.

Back of the stage in LA.

Irvine from on-stage. Note the lawns at the back hold 6000! There are 10,000 seats.

Rod's diary - Seattle
Published: June 10, 2008


Rod's diary - JUN 2 - SEATTLE

Usual
email catch up in the morning then early pm off to airport to fly up to
Seattle for the show at the White River Amphitheatre, which is about 30
miles out of Seattle and is another "shed" type venue. As soon as we
are in the air Nicko gets the cards out and he, Gaddsy, Ian and myself
get going again at 10 card brag. Rest of band read or listen to music,
though Bruce is soon in the jump seat behind the cockpit.

Gaddsy's shocked he didn't lose a hand!
The
car ride to the venue was long as we had to detour to get round the
heavy traffic going to the show, in all about 13,000 attended with many
arriving from all over the area by commandeered school buses! But we
went through some beautiful scenery much of which was very "small town
America" with farms (llamas!! -- thought I had seen the last in Peru
for a while) and white picket fences, it was very emotive and straight
out of the movies. This north west region around Seattle has some
spectacular scenery.

Another solid show and excellent audience,
though it was bloody cold, on stage too. Especially sweating under the
lights the dampness of the clothes makes it appear even colder. Not the
best of weather going north so a great turnout on a cold Monday
evening, the fans seemed to keep warm and active though. A lot of cool
banners in the audience with one claiming to go back to 1987!! And a
lot of "welcome to Iron Maiden" banners - thanks everyone. We had a
really good night.


Hope he does better than me.

Rod's Diary - Vancouver
Published: June 16, 2008

ROD'S DIARY - VANCOUVER JUNE 3

VANCOUVER
is definitely one of my favourite cities anywhere. I have been here
quite a lot on past tours but also passing through to see my parents
who live on the adjacent Vancouver Island just 30 min away by seaplane.
We also stayed here when I took the family on an Alaskan Cruise a
couple of years ago, out of Vancouver up to Ketchikan, Juneau, Sagway
and the Hubble Glacier (hope I spelt/remembered these correctly). I
highly recommend this cruise, it's very memorable with plenty of whales
and bears and eagles, and the scenery and Glacier itself was
spectacular. (Although, upon hearing his friend comment that he hoped
to see columns of ice falling off the glacier, one chap asked if that
was due to Global Warming. Doh!) Staying a few days after in Vancouver
my 15 year old daughter was demanding to live there.

Over the Rockies.
Sadly
we ended out in a supposedly quality but actually naff hotel downtown
whose only advantage was its proximity to a good Irish bar. But that's
what you get when Janick books the hotels! The hotel also seemed to
generate a background noise and most of us had trouble sleeping, which
is not much help for 3 consecutive nights on a tour.

All these
Canadian shows sold out in days in late March and over 12,000 attended
this show. It was completely packed. In the morning the crew were able
to move the stage back a bit with fork lift trucks freeing up a few
hundred more tickets at the sides and these were selling as soon as
they were made available. Although these seats aren't great we feel the
fans would rather be there than not at all and Bruce goes out of his
way to make the sides totally involved in the show so I think they all
get to have a great time.

One thing I did notice though was how
relatively few standing tickets are allowed on the floor in Canada.
More elf'n'safety gone mad. Canada is actually quite a PC place,
probably more than the UK now. It looks a bit odd when the standing
crowd doesn't even reach back to the mixing desk. In Chicago a few days
later there were over twice as many on a similar sized floor. We like
as many fans on the floor as we can, especially noisy active ones as
their passion really drives the show. It was a really fantastic
audience here and at all of the Canada shows so this anomaly wasn't
that noticeable but it's a shame we couldn't get in another five
hundred to a thousand fans due to what I would consider overzealous
security/safety measures. This may be an unfair comment as often
capacity is ruled by adequacy of fire exits but the exits looked pretty
good to me, and the same thing largely applied to the other venues here
too.

Look into the eyes... the eyes!
The
show went really well (thanks everyone) and after most of us ended out
at an Irish Bar near the hotel -- only to get chucked out at closing
time... midnight would you believe. Anyway we found another so all was
not lost.

Irish Jan.
I
should mention we have Sam, Scot and the documentary crew with us for a
few days here to film to do some band interviews. Apparently the
documentary movie is taking shape and they needed some specific
comments and links to cover areas which were starting to become
apparent as necessary as the edit proceeded. They caught up with Jan,
Ian and myself today and the rest over the next few days. Of course
they were all in the second pub and you could say a good night was had
by all .....well it is a day off the next day!!

On the way to Vancouver Island
However I
was up early to catch a seaplane from the Inner Harbour downtown a few
blocks from the hotel. Although a bit cramped its great fun on sea
planes and you fly low so get a great view of the spectacular scenery
and islands between Vancouver Island and the mainland. I met my parents
in Victoria. My sister Pam, my only sibling, and husband Keith moved to
Edmonton 30 or so years ago and my parents followed them soon after to
be with their grandchildren Nicky and Scott. Years later when the cold
winters were getting too much -- it can get to minus 40 on the prairies
-- they moved to the more equitable climate of Vancouver Island.

Victoria
Halibut
is a popular local catch and we had that for lunch at an English pub,
what else, and then went home to watch what was to become the final
game of the Stanley Cup, Detroit beating Pittsburgh to win the best of
7 series by 4-2 I think it was. Ice Hockey is THE obsession in Canada
and is a terrific game to watch. Even my mother, whose only contact
with sport while in the UK was washing my smelly rugby kit, is into it.
When they lived in Edmonton in the 80s we would go and watch the Oilers
who were kings then with the (truly) Great (Wayne) Gretsky, along with
Jari Kurri, Mark Messier, Grant Fuhr and enforcer Slemenko
(spelling??) I even saw Gretskys first ever game for the LA Kings when
he moved there later in the 80s. He was one of the greatest sporting
figures of all time smashing every hockey record there was, and I would
assume many still stand to this day. He was the national hero of Canada
and when he moved to LA, with part ownership of the franchise as part
of the deal, Canada was in mourning. I guess they were in mourning
again this year as there was no Canadian team in the Stanley Cup!!!

It
was great to spend time with my parents who I hadn't seen for a while
but the following morning it was back on the seaplane to Vancouver to
meet up back at the hotel to head for Calgary.

Back to Vancouver.

Vancouver float planes

Yes, you've guessed it!