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Put them in the iron maiden!

Here's a fun little thing, showing a little behind the scenes of the writing and editing process. Read my edited review of last Friday's Iron Maiden/Coheed and Cambria review, and read the following, my original draft. Notice little differences and tweaks here and there, and compare and contrast.

Iron Maiden, Coheed and Cambria
Gexa Energy Pavilion
Friday, August 17


Seems like Iron Maiden’s set on Friday night was a make-up for the last time they were in town. Talking to a number of people who saw that show back in June of 2010, the common complaint was, too many new songs and not enough old songs.

No one leaving the old Starplex said that after the “Maiden England” tour on Friday.

The six-piece gave the nearly-filled shed 100 minutes of classic songs, including “2 Minutes to Midnight,” “The Prisoner,” “Run to the Hills,” and “The Number of the Beast.” On an arctic themed-set, along with several permutations of the band’s mascot, Eddie, a handful of songs from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son were performed and the “latest” material came from ’92’s Fear of the Dark.

Frontman Bruce Dickinson still sounds as good as he’s always been, hitting operatic high note after note with complete ease. And not too bad since he ran and jumped around the stage constantly. Bassist Steve Harris throttled every one of his four strings while guitarists Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, and Janick Gers had plenty of fun tossing off solos. Harris and Smith did a fine job on backing vocals, especially on the harmonies with “Can I Play With Madness.” And once again, Nicko McBrain playing complicated Maiden’s material look as easy as playing basic jazz shuffle.

Earlier, Coheed and Cambria played a set that was good at the beginning but really kicked into greatness towards the end. Surrounded by their Keywork logo, touching on material from all of their previously-released albums, they included their cover of Black Sabbath’s “Heaven and Hell.” The very appreciative crowd went especially wild for that one mere seconds into it.

Personal bias: My first time to see both Maiden and Coheed; bands I’ve enjoyed since college. I certainly want to see a headlining set from Coheed after this show.

Random quote: “If you find the guy who’s smoking the weed, tell him to keep smoking it,” said a passerby usher.

Coheed’s set list:
“No World for Tomorrow”
“Gravemakers & Gunslingers”
“Delirium Trigger”
“Here We Are Juggernaut”
“The Running Free”
“Heaven and Hell”
“In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth:3”
“Welcome Home”

Maiden’s set list:
“Moonchild”
“Can I Play With Madness”
“The Prisoner”
“2 Minutes to Midnight”
“Afraid to Shoot Strangers”
“The Trooper”
“The Number of the Beast”
“Phantom of the Opera”
“Run to the Hills”
“Wasted Years”
“Seventh Son of a Seventh Son”
“The Clairvoyant”
“Fear of the Dark”
“Iron Maiden”
Encore
“Aces High”
“The Evil That Men Do”
“Running Free”

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