We arrived at Riverport a little before7 and stopped at the merchandise counter to look at the shirts. My friend Bill was having credit card trouble so I went to the seats to watch Halford. He was singing "Made In Hell" when I got to the seats so I only missed one song. His set was good but it seemed a little too loud and sounded a bit muddled. "Electric Eye" and "Breaking the Law" got the best crowd response. After the set Bill went back to the shirt stand and finally got his stuff. To my surprise he returned with two of the soccer shirts, a blue one for him and a white one for me! Cheers to Bill for the kick ass shirt!!!

Queensryche were next and played a very good set with some old school tunes. By this time the people were starting to settle in. The seats were probably 90% full and the lawn seemed at least half full so there were maybe close to 12000 people there. This was better than I expected considering the rain we got all afternoon. Queensryche got a pretty good response from the crowd, but when their set was over everyone was ready for Maiden. One last piss break and back to my seat so I wouldn't miss any of the show.

House lights out! Here comes Adrian and "The Wickerman" is underway. Two more new songs and the crowd are really into the show. Bruce took the opportunity to share his displeasure at some idiot who was shining one of those laser light pens on the stage. He invited the guy to come up front and then Bruce said he would rip his head off and shit down his neck. After that the laser light stopped shining. "Wrathchild" and "2 Minutes" really get the crowd going with everyone singing along. Many in the crowd were probably not that familiar with the Blaze songs but I thought "Sign of the Cross" sounded great. Some people thought it was time for a beer run when they played the newer songs, but they missed out on some great material. I was surprised how many were singing along to the new stuff (at least knowing the chorus) considering how many free tickets the local radio station was giving out. Everyone was on their feet singing for the last three songs and especially the encores. It seemed that the only real disappointment came when the house lights came up and everyone wanted more.

A great evening of music and a really cool shirt, so what else could I ask for?

January 23, 2003

Set list:
The Wicker Man
Ghost of the Navigator
Brave New World
Wrathchild
2 Minutes to Midnight
Blood Brothers
Sign of the Cross
The Mercenary
The Trooper
Dream of Mirrors
The Clansman
The Evil That Men Do
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden
The Number of the Beast
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Sanctuary