Sound Island

Location: Makuhari Messe, Tokyo
Date: Feb 16, 2008

The show was opened by Lauren Harris who as you might know time to time happens to accompany Iron Maiden as a supporting band. I definitely liked their set and I suppose the majority of others were also pleased a lot. It was a really lovely glam/hard-rock performance with easy-to-listen themes and the pretty nice girl at the vocal. Surprisingly, the guitar sound was rich and sufficient despite the fact that there was the only guitar besides of bass.

Iron Maiden itself was just super. The first song - Aces High - put the crowd into a terrible mess. Everyone were shouting, jumping and pushing each other during that “dance of death”. I believe Iron Maiden are the ones who really never betray their fans’ expectations. Their performances are always full of enthusiasm and have not a hint of insincerity which have some commercialized bands. The members are still full of energy as their were in 80’s.

Bruce Dickinson was climbing up and down all the several levels of stage, demonstrating his perfect physical shape. No need to say it was typical for him to swing British flag on The Trooper and to shout “Scrrrrrrrream for me Tokyo” at those moments he usually do that. Also, during the show he changed the clothes frequently so for almost every song he had a different fanciful appearance.

The concept of scene decorations was based on Ancient Egypt and background themes, as it is easy to guess, represented different reincarnations of Eddie. Following the tradition, a giant Eddie appeared right at the stage during the “Iron Maiden” song, schocking the audience by its awesome size and aiming the huge blaster into the crowd. The way Eddie moves through the stage is still a big mystery for me.

Unfortunately, I am not able to present you the accurate set-list played but for the most part it included Iron Maiden’s “classical” songs, such as those from the albums Seventh Son of the Seventh Son, Iron Maiden, The Number of the Beast and Somewhere In Time.

When the live is over, all of us were completely exhausted but nevertheless totally happy. It was with no doubt a really great event for all the lovers of high-quality heavy metal.

To my great surprise I met Sam Dunn at the Makuhari Messe and he told me he was there to shoot his new documentary which is gonna be about Iron Maiden. So I hope we can see it on DVD soon.

P.S. By the way, what seems to be strange about this world tour is that Iron Maiden is going to visit Bombey, India which looks a bit irrational at the whole tour map. Is there a special reason why they decided to play there?

Bands: The Haunted/Dark Tranquillity
Location: O-EAST, Tokyo, Japan
Date: Jan 19, 2008

“Double Titans in Japan” was the slogan of the tour which had Tokyo as its closing point. Well, it’s hard to argue, the bands no doubt represent an elite of melodic death metal scene and that night they gave us a brilliant show made of both aggressive atmosphere and dynamic guitar solos.

The Haunted: Their set was arousing. A massy, well-balanced instrumental sound was the first good impression. Powerful bass and deep tom drums were filling the space with low rumble while distorted rhytm and solo guitar completed the sound perfectness. As the first chords struck up, the fans went nuts and the hall began to shake under shattering guitar riffs and crowd jumps.

Peter Dolving’s erratic behaviour at the stage was one of the features of whole performance. His furious and spontaneous movements changed repeatedly into sudden freezing with a fixed stare into the crowd, just to explode with the rage again. As for me, the most notable thing was outstanding live performance of the lead guitarist. The way he carried his technical solos and chunky riffs was really exciting. Anyone who is mad about that mixture of violent rhythm and dynamic solo phrases should be able to understand my delight.

Dark Tranquillity: After the staff had changed the stage with instruments and other musical equipment and a prompt sound-check was completed, at last! the Swedish melodic death metal legend is right in front of us! Their equipment was extended by keyboards which are that cutting edge of Dark Tranquillity’s gloomy atmosphere. Short salutation and here we are, let the insanity begins!

During the show there was an amazing sensation of emotional intensity around. People were yelling, snarling, performing crowd-diving and let emotions out. On “Final Resistance” (”Damage Done”, 2002) we all took up the guitar bridge melody and joined our voices in a ambient and powerful “wooh-wooh-wooh” which was sounding as a roaring stadium during football match. The band members were also extremely active, especially the bass player who all the time kept in touch with the crowd. But who amazed me most of all was their vocalist. It was the first time I visited Dark Tranquillity live and before I actually imagined Mikael Stanne to be a dismal person who are hostile towards everyone and permanently self-absorbed. But how unexpectedly sociable and friendly he was to the audience!

It obviously was a great pleasure for the band to play here, Mikael called Tokyo “the capital of metal music” and expressed admiration for the local listeners. When the live is over he stepped down from the stage right to the first row, so we could salute him in person and shake his hand.