I saw them last night in LA, 24K people in the BMO stadium, general admission on the floor/pit. It was fun, a lot of chaos in/around the pit, but nobody got seriously hurt that I saw. A lot of stink/sweat, spilled bear and a few pushy drunks.

Anthrax sounded very good (the performance, especially the vocals, not necessarily the production/mix). I listened to their latest album before the show and wow, they really have improved in their song writing and Joey's voice sounds better than ever - much more Dio and Dickensen in there now.

Megadeth was weird - most specifically, Dave's voice. They started with Mechanix and then Ride The Lighting (from Metallica), I know he wrote the former, but wasn't sure about the latter (I guess he wrote parts). I heard they may've performed it in tribute to Cliff Burton who died 40 years ago to the day. The instructions sounded great but Dave's voice was very weird, like he was just not projecting his voice at all and singing about half the words and out of time. Sounded like shit. His voice got a bit better though the set and more of their own songs, but man, I know it's been like 30 years since I've seen Megadeth live, but wow - how long has it been like this? Anyway, he's retiring, so it was still a good one last look/listen at him. I'm sure the other "members" (hired guns) in his band will go to other bands and keep playing, though maybe not the bass player. He was the only one that seemed about the same age as Dave.

Iron Maiden was great, again (I've lost count how many times I've seen them, but I saw them at least one show the last 2 tours before this one) - Bruce sounds the same, like he didn't age (since those last shows anyway), he has the same energy and range. It's incredible. They replaced all the inflatable stage props with videos which looked great (animated Eddie, scenes, 3D-ish). Of course, for me, the big interest was in the new drummer, Simon. He sounded fine. Nothing special, but nothing really bad either. There was strange tempo things going on, but that's not new to Maiden (Nicko and Clive also had unique tempo changes in their live performances so I suspect that's usually driven by Steve Harris, the bass player and bandleader). I was a huge Nicko and Clive fan and no, Simon doesn't measure up, but he's not bad in any way. He has a strong right (bass drum) foot, that's really important in any Maiden drummer, his drums sounded fine though it would've sounded better with a snappier snare and more toms (not rototoms) and cymbals. He had like one crash he used almost exclusively and just barely hit it. I understand conservation of engergy and all that, but it changes the sound and looks like he's not putting in much effort (though I know he is, still). Anyway, it was a great show and I think 99% of those in the audience didn't notice or care that it wasn't Nicko on the drums. As a drummer, that kind of hurts my heart (no mention of him either), my 22-year-old daughter and I had a great time and definitely recommend it. But bring/use some hearing protection - especially if you're going to be there for all 3 bands (5 hours)!
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digital man (rob)

This Is Spinal Tap quote #8:
Derek Smalls: Making a big thing out of it would have been a good idea.
Norco, CA WX: 81.5øF, 45.0% humidity, 15 mph W wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
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