Description

Double album on white vinyls

Rare live material recorded at Bruce Dickinsons old school Queen Marys College where Iron Maiden played a secret warm up show before the Monsters Of Rock festival in 1988, 17th of August to be precise. The band played under the moniker Charlotte And The Harlots for this gig, the name would fool no one and the gig was quickly sold out. The recording is very good near excellent with a superb instrument and vocal mix with little crowd interference, it has a nice in your face feel to it and sounds good at loud volumes. The band is obviously excited to play back in their home country and the gig is special for singer Bruce Dickinson as he is an alumni of the prestigious college. The recording picks up with the Seven Deadly Sins intro played over the PA system just prior to the band hitting the stage. Once they do take the stage it sounds almost as if they will over power the recording equipment (and listener) but thankfully it just adds to the concert experience. The opening double salvo of Moonchild and Evil That Men Do is quite well received, after all the Seventh Son record debuted at number 1 in the UK charts. The Prisoner keeps things going but for me it is the blistering take on the classic Wrathchild that really heats things up. Musical perfection it is a dynamic and powerful rendition that harkens back to the Maiden Japan version. Bruce does his introductory speech talking about their gear being stuck in customs for a week, the last gig on the American tour was on August 10th so their nerves must have been frayed by this point. A powerful Infinite Dreams follows. It has it all, powerful vocal performance, a ton of musical twists and turns with a huge progressive feel but in a compact five and half minutes.
The band waste little time, there is more pummeling of the audience to be done and they quickly start The Trooper, there is a disturbance close to the taper at the beginning, someone is trying to push through and can be heard saying c’mon…let go around them. It is minor and adds the live feeling, the audience do participate with some “Ooooohhhhs” as expected. Bruce complains about the monitor system but tells them that the Donnington system is incredible, he also intros Can I Play With Madness, to a nice round of applause. The song would be the highest charting single from the record and be somewhat light and airy for a Maiden single, the chorus is an instant crowd favorite. A fast tempo Heaven Can Wait follows and Bruce sounds as if he is almost struggling to keep up. Fast paced music makes for frantic playing and both Adrian Smith and Dave Murray rise to the occasion and deliver blistering solos, all the while Steve Harris plucks his bass strings to perfection. Then Bruce speeks about the American tour and chants of Maiden…Maiden and goes into a rap about the issues with death and blaming music leading into Wasted Years, the song seems to liven up the audience and they clap along with the intro to great effect and the song is well received. The brilliant Clairvoyant follows, the momentum is certainly building. Dave’s solo is spot on, his melodic leads flow from his fingertips and his interplay with Adrian is what makes this song so good. Bruce acknowledges the attendance of a few record company executives that gains a round of boo’s from the audience as well as one punter exclaiming “F*** the bastard”, its all in good fun though and leads into the epic title track Seven Son Of A Seventh Son. The keyboards come through clean in the mix, important as they really add to the ambiance of the song. Of course the keyboards are played by one Michael Kenny and would be positioned off stage, keeping with the no keyboards on a metal stage policy. The audience is restless during the quiet interlude and are loud but it does not ruin the segment, Bruce’s spoken word is quite strong and well punctuated. The loud ones quiet down for the prelude before the violent section, Dave and Adrian are vicious in their playing and one can almost picture the battle between good and evil, light and darkness, and the understood versus the misunderstood. Things heat up as the opening of The Number Of The Beast goes over the PA, it is all down hill from here as the band wring out the audiences last energy with a superb Hallowed Be Thy Name (featuring a great laugh from Bruce after the I’m Waiting in my cold cell line) and finally the set ending Iron Maiden. For the encores Bruce talks about the power of positive thought and asks about Donnington and gets a huge response. Some punter is asking about Eddie and Bruce tells him he is waiting in the wings. The band aim to please for the encores beginning with Run To The Hills, their enthusiasm is unmatched up to this point, they also do a fine job of backing vocals. The number 2 is prevalent for the next two songs, the band dust off 22 Acacia Avenue for part of the tour, not heard in something like four years. 2 Minutes to Midnight is the other, played hot on its heels is certainly a crowd favorite although both songs would be better off in the main set, in my humble opinion. Running Free is a major crowd favorite, the crowd knows what is coming and proceed to get on with it, clapping and singing the chorus. During the middle section Bruce begins the audience participation by acknowledging his history at the school, the crowd respond and represent well when they get the chance to scream I’m Running Free..YEAH. Sanctuary is the perennial closer it seems, one does not have to wonder why as it really delivers everytime.

Track list:
1. Moonchild
2. The Evil That Men Do
3. The Prisoner
4. Wrathchild
5. Infinite Dreams
6. The Trooper
7. Can I Play With Madness
8. Heaven Can Wait
9. Wasted Years
10. The Clairvoyant
11. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son
12. The Number Of The Beast
13. Hallowed Be Thy Name
14. Iron Maiden
15. Run To The Hills
16. 22 Acacia Avenue
17. 2 Minutes To Midnight
18. Running Free
19. Sanctuary