the drive to the white river amphitheatre sure was long enough and the ticket price sure was high enough. it all begged the question; could the quintagenarians calling themselves "iron maiden" still deliver the metal goods in 2008? the answer turned out to be a resounding "YES." often when geezer bands reunite, things can get a little embarrassing. not so with maiden. i'm too young to have seen them in their "classic" phase, but i naively suspect this concert was comparable to something from back then.
steve harris
adrian smith
dave murray, somewhere in time eddie
next up was the take back labor day event on harriet island in downtown st. paul. the event was put together by the service employees international union. the line up included steve earl, tom morello, mos def, and atmosphere, none of whom i'd say i'm a fan of. fortunately, thanks to my shady union connections, the tickets were free. i should mention that this concert took place while the republican national convention was happening and i just couldn't pass up the opportunity to go gawk at the RNC. for me, st. paul will always be this sleepy river town and to see it become so militarized was surreal. as for the music, steve earl and tom morello were not my thing. i also failed to enjoy mos def, but i dug atmosphere. meanwhile, gunboats patrolled up and down the mississippi.
a couple weeks after that, i went down to the triple rock to see neil hamburger and pleaseeasaur. i have been a fan of neil for a while but this was the first time i got to see him perform. i knew nothing about pleaseeasaur, but he (they?) turned out to be just perfect. here are some pictures i took of neil with my mobile:
after the show, i picked up a split seven inch single, signed and dated by both acts. the cover art is by mark mothersbaugh.
on side a, we have neil singing a rather ironic selection from the bee gees songbook:
while side b finds pleaseeasaur running through the "business incorporated" song cycle. enjoy:
