Iron Maiden MEN Arena 28/7/2011

Last week I went to music gig. Of itself that isn’t earth shattering news. Those who know me also know that I love my music but for reasons I can’t be bothered to go into here I never get to go to many gigs. In my time I have seen Queensryche, The Eagles, Eric Clapton, Edwin Starr and plenty of smaller bands. Last Thursday I got to see one of the bands I have wanted to see for probably the last 30 years, Iron Maiden.

The day started well with wonderful weather and as we arrived at the MEN in Manchester it continued to improve. The fans arrived and queued up quietly joking amongst each other. The atmosphere was friendly. My son was with me and this was his second gig. In the programme one of the band, Steve Harris I think, remarked that the band now had three generations of fans coming to their gigs and that we were all one big family. This was reflected in the faces in the lines waiting to go in. There were kids and pensioners and all forms of life in between waiting patiently. When stewards asked people to move, they moved without complaint or fuss. Not very heavy metal you might think.

A friend of mine recently attended the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth and in his review of the event remarked that there had been no arrests throughout the whole festival whereas at other festivals arrests were not uncommon. The concourse outside the arena was a sea of black. There were no sidelong glances or snide comments about the way people dressed there was an air of acceptance.

The doors opened and we went through to the actual arena. The music playing whilst people waited was heavy metal unsurprisingly. Then at just before 7.30 the support band came on. Airbourne are likely to be one of the biggest stars in heavy metal and their first two albums have generally been well received with people arguing whether or not they are the new AC/DC or the new Rose Tattoo. Frankly I don’t care the music is great. There are no frills and no airs and graces about Airbourne. The music isn’t subtle it is loud and it is fast.

The auditorium darkened and a cheer rose then silence fell as the theme from Terminator 2 started to play. Then the band emerged on stage and launched headlong into Raise the Flag. For a band who have only two albums of material they worked the crowds like seasoned professionals. In their 45 minute set they managed to demonstrate their ability, energy and at the same time show gratitude to the headliners to come. Iron Maiden have history of having support bands who turn out to be pretty damn good, anybody remember Guns N Roses? Airbourne played plenty of crowd pleasers Cheap Wine Cheaper Women, Diamond in the Rough, Blackjack, Too Much Too Young Too Fast. The two tracks which may become live anthems for them in the coming years, assuming they don’t burn out, are No Way But The Hard Way and Runnin’ Wild. The band were hugely enthusiastic and energetic and were very well received by the crowd.

The general feeling was that Maiden would have to go some to top that performance. Well they managed it.

The set launched with the UFO classic Doctor Doctor which made some of the fans near me very happy. Then the screens came to life and the band emerged on stage to a rapturous welcome from an expectant crowd. Many of the bands I grew up listening to seem to have developed a tendency to ignore the past success and explore new avenues musically. When they then go on tour they seem to struggle to understand why fans are disappointed. The simple reason is that you need to strike a balance between the classics and the new stuff. Iron Maiden did that in spades. Their previous tour had been the Somewhere Back In Time and was entirely classics which musically would have been brilliant. This time they chose to showcase some of their newer material.

Maiden are known for their driving anthemic rock but what I experienced was a masterclass in working the crowd. The band started with two tracks from the new album, Satellite 15…The Final Frontier and El Dorado and then launched into a classic, 2 Minutes to Midnight. The crowd were in ecstasy at this point this was what they wanted to hear. Then came to newer tracks The Talisman and Coming Home. They then slowed things down with the title track from the underrated Dance of Death album. Then like master puppeteers they changed the pace again and launched into The Trooper and the crowd responded loudly. They maintained the pace with The Wicker Man which is taken from Brave New World which was the first album with the current lineup and which relaunched their career.

Bruce Dickinson then stopped and had a chat with the fans and spoke of how they had had to cancel a gig in Tokyo because of the tsunami and earthquake and how they had played a gig in Indonesia to tens of thousands of Islamic Maiden fans. To the delight of the Scandinavian fans in the arena he pulled no punches about what he thought of the gunman in Norway. The band then sang what may become a bit of an anthem for them, Blood Brothers. They carried on into When The Wild Wind Blows. Then they left the fans with what they had been wanting all evening back to back classics. The Evil That Men Do from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son came first the crowd responded enthusiastically. Then came the stadium classic Fear of the Dark. Then into the band’s anthem Iron Maiden.

Then came the encores which started with Number of the Beast. Then came the track I had wanted to hear live Hallowed Be Thy Name. This track just shows what a range that Bruce has. Lastly came Running Free. This saw the emergence of the band’s mascot Eddie. I missed the finishing piece of music which was Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life which just seems to sum the band up. They are clearly enjoying what they do and what is more the fans are enjoying it again.

I had been waiting to see this band for the best part of 30 years and it was well worth the wait. I was treated to two bands led by two lead singers who if you were able to capture their energy you would be able to power a small city. My ribs took about a day to recover from Airbourne’s sonic assault and my voice and hearing took about the same to recover from Iron Maiden.

I saw two contrasting bands both of whom I would recommend that you see at least once before you shuffle off the mortal coil. I want to thank both bands for giving me a great night out.

What I've been up to lately

Well this may be only 24 hours late but here is a bit of an update. Back in September I started a PGCE. For those not in the UK that is a qualification taken by people who wish to train to be teachers.

The last term has been like a typical rollercoaster. There have been good days and bad days and I have discovered a number of things. Firstly I don't want to teach in an ordinary comprehensive school. This is because I am too old and too set in my ways to put up with all the hassle of teaching people who don't want to learn. There is for my money too much hassle and bureaucracy in the profession and too much emphasis is placed on things like 3 part lesson plans and other 'great ideas'.

I find the actual course also to be tedious and unnecessary. There are lectures which I have attended and for which I won't ever get the time back. The course propounds more pointless theories and does not concentrate on actual teaching.

In the next few days I start on my second placement at a grammar school but I am already looking for jobs outside teaching. If I stay in teaching it will be in the independent sector or in the FE sector. But I am also looking for jobs in the legal profession for which I am trained as well or in training somehow. Whatever I do I want to somehow end up in Ireland which is where I feel at home or if I stay in the UK somewhere more rural and in a bigger house.

I went into teaching with the idealistic aim of changing the way that kids think and thus hopefully changing the future of the country. What I have learned very quickly is that there is no place for idealism in the profession. Teachers are their own worst enemy by signing up to every crackpot idea that comes along. I heard one lecturer criticise a teacher just because he didn't appear to sign up to a type of assessment. This teacher had twenty years plus of experience and the lecturer said openly that she felt that he didn't understand assessment. On the contrary he probably understood it better than she did.

In the legal profession in England and Wales you are given a small inch thick A5 book which contains all the professional rules to which you must adhere. You sit a small exam and you either pass or fail. After that you are deemed to know the rules. Nobody will check that you have read the rules but if you infringe any you will be held to account. In teaching you have to produce portfolios of evidence to show how you meet each of the 33 standards. This is just needless paper creation.

Until teaching starts to behave like a profession in the way it treats its members then it will never be considered to be one of the professions.

Films on Freeview w/e 14th January 2011

Well Happy New Year to all my readers and apologies for not posting anything recently. I will explain my absence tomorrow all being well.

Over the next week on the Freeview channels there are a number of films of note to watch. For new readers these films are not necessarily the best in cinematic terms but are films I like and that I would recommend to anybody.

Today we have had a few films which on any given day would be my film of the day and even occasionally a film of the week. The day got under way with The Searchers starring John Wayne and directed by John Ford. Arguably this, or one of the Cavalry trilogy, should have been the film that Wayne won an Oscar for instead of True Grit which has just been remade and is due at cinemas imminently. Wayne plays against type to a degree and is not at all likeable as a character. As usual he has his reliable acting troupe around him. At around the same time there was Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country. This was one of the best of the movies and many argue that it was the best. It is worth a look in its own right. One slightly odd recommendation is Cronos by Guillermo Del Toro. It is a slightly odd 'vampire' movie and is worth a look.

Sunday brings The Princess Bride. This film is a work of genius and you should not trust any human being who says that they don't like this film. In the evening there is a plethora of films to choose from. You have The Long Kiss Goodnight with Geena Davis, Samuel L Jackson, Brian Cox to name but a few of the cast. This is a brilliantly comic action film. You have The Last Samurai with Tom Cruise, Billy Connolly and Ken Watanabe. This is a beautiful film and one of my favourites. There is also The Hunt For Red October with its all star cast. or my money this is thebest of the Jack Ryan movies and Alec Baldwin is a better Ryan than Harrison Ford for my money. One last recommendation is to avoid Aeonflux like the plague. Now I like pointless films and mindless violence but this is just utterly without redeeming features.

Throughout the week on ITV2 theya re showing the Bourne films one after another. They are all worthy of a look. Monday night sees Mars Attacks (ITV4) a gloriously anarchic film. The film was based on a set of cards and is brilliant and the all star cast just go for it. Jack Nicholson, Pierce Brosnan, Rod Steiger the list goes on. A little later on there is Alien Nation (Film4) which is a quirky little film and which is generally underrated by most people.

On Tuesday is South Park Bigger Longer and Uncut. Much like the cartoon series this film is a bit hit and miss but for me the stand out bit is the musical number 'Bomb Canada'. Wednesday night brings possibly Arnold Schwarzenegger's finest film (OK I know that that isn't saying a lot) The Terminator. It is a film that stands out and which is still as effective as it was when it first came out.

Enjoy your films.