Lauren Harris
Well, to be honest I know who this girl is but never heard one single song of her. After listening to the first three songs it is clear this young woman knows how to rock and perform. 

Too bad the quality of the songs is not that good. It is clear she has had a great opportunity opening up for her dad (Steve Harris, bassist Iron Maiden, red.) and good for her. But there is still a lot of practise to be done. With simple hard rock she manages to put on an acceptable show but it simply does not fit in front of Trivium and Iron Maiden. (Buzzin Hornet)









Trivium

Second band on stage is the American (new) thrash band Trivium. Also young but extremely talented musicians enter the stage and the people present in the venue simply get blown away by the extreme power these guys manage to create. After 'Entrance Of The Conflagration' and 'Detonation' it is time for some older material. I still think the old material does not sound that good in the new form the band uses on their latest album The Crusade but the Iron Maiden fans seem to like it.

These youngsters can be described as show-offs in a positive way; this is because they can play! Their latest single 'Anthem (We Are The Fire)' is even sang along by various people in the venue and I was surprised by the support these guys had from the Iron Maiden fans. This wasn't the case when they were supporting Metallica earlier this year. When I look back to their set I can conclude these guys have got great opportunities this year and the qualities are there. So they have to get big soon, there is no way around it!

Iron Maiden

And then, as the lights brightened up a little, the DJ decided it was time for The Announcement; he put on UFO�s �Doctor Doctor� which says enough for every single metalhead in the town of Duke�s forest that night. Everyone got excited and started to get on their toes to get that first glimpse of the single most legendary band in heavy metal history, Iron Maiden. Hell Yeah!!!!

Of course, it was no surprise that the first one and a half hour of the set consisted of the entire latest album A Matter of Life and Death and I believe a only a few people were really skeptical about that. The thing is, that although the production simply can�t compete with the live ambience of the band, even criticized songs as �Different World�, �Brighter than a Thousand Suns� and �Out of the Shadows� did a tremendous job with a more than solid band that shows that three guitars are not only interesting for the promotional pictures. The new album was thus great to hear live.

The stage wasn�t that over-decorated, yet there was enough to see besides the band members. Bruce of course ran a few times on the wall behind the drummer as always, waving his arms towards the crowd as if he�s controlling the basic elements of the earth. Man, what a revelation it was to see this man performing his work in front of the audience. His voice seems to be usable into eternity and his capabilities certainly gave the new songs another dimension than on the album. The other members of the band showed that they are also still able to do what they�re expected to, namely playing their songs so damn tight that it�s almost frightening. And the good thing is, and this is so very important, the vibe is so positive. When I see Dave Murray playing a guitar solo I just cannot follow with my eyes, and he laughs afterwards like he�s just having a good conversation with a dear friend, the credibility of the band only rises even more.

Also, my personal favorite songs of the album, �The Pilgrim� and �The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg� gave me goose bumps and emphasized my points even more. A positive vibe brings the songs to a higher level. And right when I thought that the ambience in the venue was decreasing fast, all the songs of A Matter of Life and Death were played and it was time for some oldies, starting with my personal favourite �Fear of the Dark�.

Now, if you�ve never witnessed an Iron Maiden gig before, it is almost impossible to imagine every single person in the venue sing that �ooo oooo ooo oo oo ooo oo ooo� tune. I couldn�t but now I can. And I can also imagine what it�s like to sing along with the classics �The Evil that Men Do�, �Iron Maiden� and �Two Minutes to Midnights�. For the fans no big news, but to me it was incredible to see how this material still stands up straight in all the new shit today. At a certain time, somewhere in the middle of the set, Bruce said it just right: �Who needs MTV when you could create something like this?� And of course, we all agreed.