My friend and I arrived very early, so early that we were just in time to hear one of the three bands rehearsing down on stage. The three bands were (In order): Polar,a cross between Live and Bush, Geezer, (feat. Geezer Butler), and, of course, Bruce Dickinson.
The show started with Polar, a few guys from Oklahoma who were too loud and too young to understand the things they were singing about. Live did it better at Irvine.
Next was Geezer. They were one pissed-off band!! The blonde lead singer switched between thrash and melodic singing, and he sweat like a horse in the process. Geezer Butler just kicked back and played his part, dressed down in all black, skinny as a rail. I thought the bass might break his back at one point. The set went on forever, and finally the singer plugged Bruce's band"Tonight.. here on this very stage.. Mr. Bruce Dickinson!" Like we didn't know. Then, they played another 37 songs and got the hell off the stage (finally).
The curtain went down and Bruce's roadies set up. The time was near. After close to an hour of setting up their gear, the lights went down and over the house speakers came this royalty-sounding, pomp-and-circumstance music that just screamed British. As the music blared on, the curtain slowly came up to blackness. They fired into "Freak" and just before the lyrics came in, Bruce ran out onto the stage. It was incredible!! He sounded great! At the end of the song, he picked up the mic and proceeded to scold some loser in the crowd about a video camera in Bruce's face.. "You fuc**ng di**head! How would YOU like a fu**ing camera in your face all the time? Take it away or I'll shove it up your arse..." He got HOT! Anyway, the show proceeded to go through the "Accident" album, throwing in a few old Iron Maiden tunes for good measure. They did leave out "Omega", Arc of Space" and "Tears of the Dragon". During the acoustic part they did "Taking the Queen". In the middle of the show, Bruce introduced the band and did some joking aroundwith the crowd. He seemed so relaxed up there; it was almost like it was he was waiting for some bigger challenge to come along. The light show was pretty complimentary to the tunes. Lots of reds and yellows to theme the show to the new album. Although the show was only about an hour and a half, I had a great time and recommend anyone who is a fan go see him live. Definitely worth it, and if he ever sees fit to come back to L.A., I'm making it a second time!