This weekend I played with madness. I drove 5 hours to see Iron Maiden, with opening acts Anthrax and Megadeth, at a sold-out Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey.

Two-word review: Fucking awesome.

Longer review (with setlist spoilers). Maiden played exclusively classic material, the newest “Fear of the Dark” which is 34 years old at this point. They opened up with FOUR songs off their first two albums: The Ides of March (recorded instrumental) followed by “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “Wrathchild,” “Killers” and “Phantom of the Opera.”

Killer(s).

My highlight was a couple of bangers off Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. According to Bruce’s monologue Maiden hadn’t played “Infinite Dreams” in 35 years, but we got to see it and it sounded incredible.

Maiden sounded fantastic, easily among the best sound quality experiences I’ve had at a live show. Bruce is still soaring as a vocalist. They are still bringing huge energy and played without pause for two hours and 5 minutes. I was tired watching them.

In short, Maiden is an absolute marvel and inspiration for all of us greying and creaky metalheads. I greatly admire them for their uncompromising commitment to delivering great performances. They have integrity. They do what they want, they don’t change with the times, or blow with the winds of fashion. If you don’t like it, tough shit.​

And fans are responding by going in DROVES.

The venue, which typically hosts a major league soccer team, was sold out. The listed capacity of the arena is 25,000, and even though a couple large sections behind the stage were roped off, the entire floor which typically is an empty field was packed with bodies. A sea of bodies. There had to have been 25K fans there. And they sold out a SECOND night, on Sunday.

WTF. Metal lives, man. Live After (purported) Death. We’re not giving up the ship.

And the thirst goes on and on for them and me

The stage show was astounding. There were real props--Eddies on stilts, a cage for the condemned man of “Hallowed,” and Union Jack flags for “The Trooper” and the like--but a massive, high-definition screen projected visuals so immersive and detailed it felt like you were inhabiting the Egyptian world of "Powerslave," the mean streets and dirty back alleys of 1970s London, the deck of a haunted galleon of “Ancient Mariner,” and the cold wastes of “Seventh Son.”

It was half rock show, half opera or a high-end Broadway performance.

If had any criticism—and this is a reach, I’m straining to find anything to complain about—the show was almost too produced, to the point of absence of rawness or spontaneity. I can see why Steve Harris with British Lion and Bruce and Adrian Smith with their side solo projects seek the release of small venues and solo side-projects.

Again, complaint? Hardly. Just an observation. Also, last I checked people are still trying to exit the parking lots. Parking was kinda trash.

Megadeth sounded great except for Dave’s voice, which has lost much of its power. But he gets a pass, he’s been ill and details his struggles with cancer in a new memoir In My Darkest Hour which I’m sure I’ll buy.

Anthrax played a short setlist but were great and played two of my favorites in “Indians” and “Medusa." So I was happy.

Did I mention I’m going AGAIN tonight?

The summer of insanity tour rolls on.

A welcome metal reunion

An amazing moment Thursday occurred amid the buzz of the release of Growing Up Metal. My old friend Pete McKinnon messaged me several times, letting me know he was reading the book on Kindle and greatly enjoying it.

I’ll be honest I was swept up with emotion, a mixture of gratefulness and relief. I didn’t get much done the rest of the day.

I haven’t seen Pete since our 10-year high school reunion. That would have been 2001… 25 years ago. The one and only reunion I’ve attended. But if you want to reconnect with old friends I guess the answer is, write a book.

Of all the people who appear in Growing Up Metal Pete was the person about which I was possibly the most apprehensive (wife aside, but she had already read the draft). Pete was the ringleader of our friend group, a bass player who joined a metal band named Den of Thieves—which I thought was really fucking cool at the time (it still is!). He meant a lot to me then, and still does. We hung out constantly in the late 80s, through high school and into college, when changing life circumstances caused us to drift apart. All detailed in the book.

I wanted to do that period in our lives justice. I wasn’t sure if I had, until I heard from him.

I found out much more. He’s married to his high school sweetheart Liz. The two have a daughter heading into her senior year of college—just like my younger daughter Libby.

And he’s still playing bass, in a band called the Drinkmore Brothers (love the name). With his permission I’m sharing a link to the album, Pour Decisions (love that name too):

​https://music.apple.com/us/album/pour-decisions/6788669443​

Fellow metalheads, they do a very solid cover of “War Pigs.”

Even better, we’re going to get together for lunch, to catch up properly. We’ve got a lot of blanks to fill in after 25 years.

Honestly if this is all that comes out of Growing Up Metal I’m good.

Cheers to Pete. That’s him in the middle of this pic, with my old friend Dana at left. Me at right. Our high school days/daze.

You can order Growing Up Metal in e-book or paperback on Amazon.

I’ve had at least three requests for an audio version, so who knows? Maybe that’s my next project. Let me get through September at least.

Baen Books announces David Drake award

​News release here on the Baen website.​

I’m happy about this for a few reasons.

Any writing award that encourages good writing and celebrates authors is welcomed.

This celebrates the muscular, military-infused fantasy Drake was known for and many (raises hand) still enjoy. Per the release, “In the spirit of military science fiction and fantasy written by David Drake, especially the Hammers Slammers and RCN/Lieutenant Leary series, the contest will seek engaging stories with military themes.”

It keeps Drake’s name alive. I haven’t read most of his stuff, but the stories I have encountered have been uniformly good. “The Barrow Troll” is in my top 25 S&S stories. I also am a fan of “Killer,” “The Mantichore” and The Dragon Lord.​

We still need a dedicated award for sword-and-sorcery but this at least puts us in shouting distance.

What's your favorite Iron Maiden song? Send Brian your deep (or shallow) cut.