[Asmo]

Been on an Iron Maiden binge since the last week. Fuck. I love this band. Allow me to indulge. Getting a tad nostalgic.

"Alright kids, let me tell you about the time i had dinner with Iron Maiden..."

I started listening to metal via Metallica and Megadeth, but the band that really got me in to the genre was Iron Maiden. Brave New World to be precise, and everything off The Best Of The Beast. The guys who got me in to metal gave me access to a VCD of Rock In Rio, and that was my first taste of what a Maiden gig was like. I wanted in. This was around 2003, i think. I gave up my first chance to catch the band live when they played Bangalore in 2007. My parents didn’t let me travel to another city to watch them, and in retaliation, i locked myself in my room for a day playing Maiden tunes on the guitar, and whining. Like any teenage situation that doesn’t work for you, this was the end of my world. Anyways, i got out of the slump and continued the Maiden worship. Cue September 2007: Maiden confirm another gig in India in Feb 2008, and this time, they play the city i live in, Bombay. So while that news had me ecstatic and bouncing around like the energizer bunny, it got me to think of a way to meet the band. I joined a local newspaper as a freelance music correspondent the very next day, and worked hard enough to get the editor to grant me complete freedom on what i wrote about. The purpose – meet Adrian Smith and Steve Harris. But being a small local paper, labels and concert organisers rarely sent out material or invites to us. As the day of the concert came closer, i tried all that i could to setup an interview with the band, but to no avail. Disappointment was an understatement. The band would play Bombay on Feb 1, and word got around that they would arrive two days earlier. I missed their arrival, but got wind of a ‘press conference’ the same evening. After haggling with the PR team to recognize me as ‘legit’, and forcing the editor to give me a press id (which was only meant for employees), i managed to smuggle inside the small conference room at the Marriot. All my “journalistic behaviour” was thrown out of the window as soon as the six walked in two hours later. The first thing i did was pull out the CDs i bought along and a marker, while the other grizzled reporters took out notepads and pens. The next hour and a half went by in a blur. Not only did i get the chance to meet, get pictures and autographs with all of them (except Dave, who disappeared as soon as the conference ended), i also interviewed Adrian, dined with Steve and Janick, and to round it all of, met Sam Dunn as well. As regards the concert, it was everything that i’d hoped for and more. I battled my way to the second row, right in front of Adrian, and screamed and shouted till i lost my voice. Maiden remains one of the best live acts i’ve ever seen, and they didn’t disappoint that night.

TL;DR: Hatched a plan to meet Maiden by gaining media credentials. It worked.

To move this on, which band got you in to metal? And what was it like when you first saw them live? Have you met any of the band members?