Iron Maiden gig in Helsinki, 2011-07-08.
After a long wait in the sun in a perfectly organized queue I finally got inside the stadium to find that everything in front was already packed - I wasn't even close to the beginning of the line when I got there. I took a place in the 2nd row to the far right, but soon realised that I wouldn't be able to see Janick from there when he played the acoustic or just walked away from the front a bit, so I abandoned this place, bought a bottle of water and took a place somewhere in the middle of the 1st zone.
At 7 the opening act started - Alice Cooper! That's some opening! I haven't been to his concerts before, so I enjoyed it very much, even though I don't know his material very well. Alice is coming to Moscow this autumn as a headliner, so I guess, I'll come to watch the whole show. His stage act is a bit silly for my liking - all the killing bits, but the atmosphere is great. And he his songs are very catchy :) But he played only his greatest hits during the short set, most of which even I knew and could sing along during choruses.
After Cooper IM crew started to prepare the stage and tuning the instruments, talking quite a lot to fans in the first rows. Now, how cool is that? :)
At approx. 8:45, while it was still sunny, 'Doctor doctor' started playing from the speakers, and after - the long intro to The Final Frontier. The crowd gone crazy, and everyone moved a couple meters closer to the stage :) I didn't mind :D At first :) But then I realized that I wouldn't see anything here either behind the tall Finnish guys, who stood exactly in the direction of Janick. Oh well, the show was still great! I sang along every song (unlike most of the people around me, who knew older songs and the choruses, but not the entire lyrics). I also tried to snap some pics, even though I didn't think anything good would result from it. But by raising my camera I at least could see what was going on on its screen :) In the middle of the set I moved a bit further back hoping to find a spot without tall guys in Janick's direction :) Found it, but it was so far away that taking any pics with 4x zoom camera was pointless :) And my eyesight is very bad.
The 1st thing I noticed about my favourite man onstage was tan marks on his arms :D And of course, he was as amazing to watch live as always. How much energy does Jan have? :D But he was so far away!... Yes, closer than at the Moscow gig, when he impressed me so much that I immediately became a Maiden convert, but still far!
All in all it was the worst concert from the viewing point of view :), but one of the best if you consider the vibe and atmosphere. It was my first gig outside of Russia, and our people seem to be much calmer and less active and participative at the gigs. Not always but as a rule. And here everyone around me jumped up and down during FotD – amazing experience! And one more thing - since the gig was outdoors, half of my face and one arm got a bit sunburnt afterwards :) 'coz it wasn't dark, and during the first half of the gig sun was still up :) Bruce even sang during FotD "Helsinki *not* in the dark" :)
The new big Eddie looked fantastic!
The Maiden guys were great, as much as I could see :) Playing big arenas is always exciting, I bet. But on the other hand big stadiums always bring people who aren't exactly fans - not many people around me knew all the lyrics. But I lost my voice after singing along every line :) When the gig ended and 'always look on the bright side of life' started playing, I felt so elated that I was dancing to it and singing and whistling along not caring what others thought of me :) But I noticed that some others were doing the same, so it was totally ok :)
Then I wanted to buy a Nordic event shirt for Meghan and myself, but naturally they were all sold out on such a big arena. So I bought just the usual TFF tour shirt - my first one, 'coz I had no official merchandise before that. It's even not that big, I can almost wear it without looking completely ridiculous, as if I stole it from my dad or older brother (especially since I don’t have either :D)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v653/Windfreak/photos/july2011-1.jpg
Afterwards I realised that I had so much energy that I could run a marathon if I wanted, so I decided not to go with the rest of the crowd towards the tram stops, but in the other direction along the route I memorized back when I booked the hotel a few months ago. It took me through the Helsinki sleeping districts, which were very tranquil, though once in a while groups of teens were seen. But it was still just twilight even though it was nearing 12am. During the walk I spotted a red Nissan Micra, the car I have back at home, and I regretted very much that it wasn't mine :D Not that I was tired or anything, but it would've topped off the perfect night - I love driving :)
Half an hour later I was in the hotel, getting ready to get out again and do some partying with Adam, Elfi and Celia. The whole city center was in Iron Maiden colours! What a fantastic atmosphere! Not much chance to spot the band in such circumstances, but it didn't matter - I had a great company even without Janick :D We checked out a few pubs, though I was drinking only coke, as is normal for me :) Adam surprised everyone by ordering beer both times (and acting quite funny afterwards :)), and Celia downed half a pint of stout. Then when I noticed that we were just half a minute from my hotel, I decided to finally give the guys some souvenirs I brought from Moscow, because they let me join their company and because they weren't going to visit Russia any time soon :) Besides Celia also gave me some small souvenirs from Mexico, which was quite unexpected and very pleasant :D
We had a great time, laughed a lot, drank a bit... Well, the others did, I just observed, but still was as happy as the others. But soon it was 3am and the next morning I had a relatively early train to St.Petersburg, so I just had to leave and get a little bit of sleep. It wasn't easy - the guys just didn't want to let me go, and I didn't want to go either, but I just knew I had to if I didn't want to collapse the next day, so after exchanging the last very warm hugs, I left for the hotel :) What an amazing 2 days it were! But it was about to get even better!
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