IRON MAIDEN: Seoul, South Korea, March 10, 2011

I've been an Iron Maiden fan forever. However, they've been one of those bands that I always managed to miss when they came through whatever town I was living in at the time. There was always something: work, lack of money or transportation, work. Well, when the opportunity presented itself to see the boys in Seoul, I jumped at the chance. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait!

The oddest thing about the night was the fact that only about 1,500 people showed up for the show. For those of you unfamiliar with Maiden, this is a band that usually plays to packed stadiums, so I imagine it was a bit of a shock. It did lead to one of the more amusing quips from front man Bruce Dickenson who said, "Amazingly enough, this is our first time in South Korea. When we come back next time, call a few friends, eh?" Despite the small crowd, Iron Maiden showed themselves to be the consummate professionals they are and played just as hard as if they had been playing for 50,000 people.

They played a good mix of new stuff from the Final Frontier album as well as all time classic songs like "The Trooper" and "Number of the Beast". Dickenson introduced the song Blood Brothers by saying that being an Iron Maiden fans transcend the political, racial boundaries that divide so much of our world. He ended his spiel by saying, "I'm sure there are a couple of folks up there in Kim Jong Il Land right now going, 'FUCK! I'm missing Iron Maiden!'" Needless to say, that got a few laughs out of the crowd.

All in all, it was a great show, and I'm happy to say I can finally cross Iron Maiden of my list of must see bands.

UP THE IRONS!!!