Eddie In the Big Apple

July 21, 2017. New York City in July equates to humidity, sweat, and frizzy hair for us girls. New York, a melting pot of diversity and music. You will find anything here, from jazz to Mexican cumbia, and the yearly international heavy metal bands that pass by. I napped midday on Saturday, just to be awake for the show. I arrived in Brooklyn at around 4:30pm, looking for the arena, I asked a Brooklynite where it was located, they pointed to the giant building one block away from me, I felt like a tourist, instantly. (P.S. I went to graduate school in Brooklyn) As I approached the Barclays Center, I noticed a Starbucks full of metal heads, went inside to get an iced latte, and found the General Admission line for the show. There was already about 80 metal heads lined up! I got in line and started socializing with the people around me.

Before the Show

As I stood in the GA line, I met this wonderful couple, the girl was wearing a Kreator t-shirt, I complimented her, and we spent half the night discussing metal. She shared that friend had done some album art for Warbringer. So random, but cool. She and her husband invited me to Slayer this upcoming week. I had to think about it, Slayer, I went last year in 2016, and I got pretty bruised up. However, they’re playing with Behemoth and Lamb of God, so I might just take them up on their offer. During the show, my new friend did not take any sh#@ from any man, it was amazing, I realized last night, that as a woman, you have to be brutal with the men at shows, they’ll push you right out of the way! I’ve got to work on my metal toughness.

Ghost: Swedish Metal

Ghost opened the show, I haven’t really heard much of them, so I was anticipating their set! They’re a metal band from Sweden who wear masks, and some awesome face paint. Their backdrop was brutal, human sacrifice themed, which looked nice when lit up with red and blue lighting. I fell in love with their keyboardist, they seemed so into their performance! The lead vocalist, Ghost, wore a Pope-like costume, while the rest of the band wore all black with demon masks. The juxtaposition between religion and demons adds to their stage presence, this plus the face paint create a feeling of a theatrical performance. The vocalist remains anonymous and sings with such a unique voice, absolutely stunning. It slightly reminded me of AFI’s lead vocalist, in a weird way. He’s got a cute swedish accent, and made it a point to yell, “United State of America and Brooklyn!” I thought it was cute, we, as Americans don’t really do all that patriotic stuff. He has an amazing stage presence and keeps the audience laughing with light humor. The vocalist flows in unison with the bands progression, almost like an instrument that is strum simultaneously with their drums and guitars.

During the Show

As Iron Maiden began their set, I took some deep breaths as I got my first glimpse of Dave Murray with his white guitar. Then, I saw Steve Harris, and Bruce Dickinson, however, Nicko was hard too see behind his massive drum set! The instant Maiden started, a wave of human bodies thrusted forward, and I got crushed. I was about 30 feet from the barrier, in 5 seconds or less, I was literally 6–10 feet away from Bruce. It all happened so fast, I didn’t have time to process what happened. It pissed me off at first, but then I felt grateful, seeing Adrian Smith, just calmed my nerves. The moment Maiden started playing Wasted Years, I sang along and felt a sense of peace. I loved Children of the Damned, The Trooper, The Number of the Beast, Fear of the Dark, Blood Brothers, and Iron Maiden. Fear of the Dark was absolutely magical. I was sad we didn’t get to hear Moon Child last night. Thirty minutes in, I stopped and stared at Steve Harris, sweat dripping down his left arm, his lips moving with the lyrics to Fear of the Dark, he started jumping up and down towards the end of the song; the crowd joined in unison. I was in absolute bliss.

After the Show: Belgium Death Fans

After the show, I ran down the stairs, trying to catch the 5 train headed to 42nd and Grand Central. It was packed with metal heads, I quickly stood against the doors and leaned backwards. I’d been standing since 4:30pm and it was now 12:10am. I had just witnessed the Book of Souls Tour for the second time; last year I had flown to Seattle to see them. As time passed, more metal heads entered the subway. Two gentlemen with non-american accents came aboard. They were hyped off metal, and very social. They simply stared at me, and I just looked away. Having slept 3 hours the night before, with a 1 hour nap the day of the show, I was just not having it. They took one look at my death shirt, and asked, “Hey, you like them?”

I replied, “Who? Iron Maiden?”

They said, “No, that band, pointing at my chest, really close to my shirt.

“Oh, Death….yeah.” They were surprised and expressed how they loved death when they were 16 and were now 50 years of age. They shared they hailed from Belgium and loved old school thrash. They kept asking me questions, as if they could not believe this woman in her mid-twenties could possibly like Death. The asked, “What other bands do you like?”

I replied, “A bunch, mostly from the 80's.”

One asked, “Like who?”

I listed, “Oh, just like Destruction, Kreator, Morbid Angel, Death Angel, Black Sabbath, Megadeth, Havok, etc.”

I was just physically exhausted and they just kept going and going, looking back, it was a really funny situation. They kept repeating how America has Death, Metallica, and Obituary and not much else. They suggested some European metal for me to check out, if I can remember some, Suffocation, Tankard, Destruction, etc. Both suggested I travel to Europe and see some shows there. They complimented my taste in music, and asked me to “keep making them proud…” as they exited on Wall Street off the 5 train. They asked if I was attending the second Brooklyn Iron Maiden show, honestly, I wasn’t planning on it, however, I just might.

(left) Anna, Liz (me)

Elizabeth Rodriguez

Written by

Just a 5th Grade Teacher, with some Ph.D dreams

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