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Rating: One of the many unmissable metal appointments of this summer was the mega-concert held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on June 20, where the headliners were the Maiden. Besides the Iron Maiden, other performers included the Italian Sadist, Lauren Harris, Mastodon, Machine Head, and the spectacular Motorhead led by the charismatic Lemmy.
The day was sultry, and I arrived with my cousin and other friends around 12:30 pm, and after about an hour, we immediately got inside the stadium. We settled on the field, and the first to play were the Sadist. We were very enthusiastic and excited to see such a big concert with all the important and historic bands, and as we started getting comfortable, the group led by Tommy Talamanca started the massacre. The Sadist immediately put the pedal to the metal, managing to engage the already significant audience and recalling songs "Sometimes they come back", the new "Tearing away", and their repertoire from "Tribe" and "Above the light". Although their technical thrash is quite complex, the audience continued to support the performance of Tommy Talamanca and Trevor, which ended after a good half an hour.
Once the Sadist finished and we started popping open the first beers, the "recommended" Lauren Harris took the stage. Despite being Steve Harris's daughter, she didn’t have much in common with the other hard and raw bands that participated in the concert. Lauren presented a modern rock, jumps, and a sexy look that triggered some rather inelegant comments amongst us. While waiting for her official album, she performed a handful of songs that might have been nice to listen to, but after her show, we couldn't remember the titles or riffs of the pieces.
The next act, Mastodon, brought back to the stage the aggressive and violent metal we like, sparking the audience's headbanging. After a few notes, the band made it clear that we would be witnessing a rocky and explosive show thanks to their doom/hard style, psychedelia, and the great work of drummer Brann Dailor. Meanwhile, the Stadio Olimpico continued to fill for the headline shows, and the band's virus spread rapidly throughout the stadium, making us completely lose our minds. By the end of the show, it was a general triumph, thanks to their technical, progressive, and high-quality songs that managed to convince everyone of the band's power.
The metal onslaught continued with Machine Head, a group that exploded with the great album "Burn My Eyes" in 1994. Naturally, we started headbanging with the band that played well, performed some hits, and was charged with modern thrash that conquered the audience. The tracks from the new "The Blackening" oozed fire and anger from every pore, thanks also to the performance of frontman Rob Flynn, who screamed like a damned man, managing to conclude a good show, even though I personally preferred Mastodon.
From this moment on, we were certain that history was about to begin. The next band to take the stage was one of my favorites, the Motorhead. A name, a guarantee. My friends and I started to get excited and justifiably drink some beer when Lemmy, Mikkey Dee, and Phil Campbell took the stage. 1-2-3, and the band's sound began to massacre like the old days with tracks like "Stay Clean", "Metropolis", "Killed By Death", "Over The Top", and the heavy "In The Name Of Tragedy". The band was now pure delirium and scorching sound, with Campbell grinding out historic riffs like "I Got Mine", "Overkill", and "Killers", while Mikkey Dee gave a long solo on the explosive "Sacrifice". But the triumph, as always, belonged to Lemmy, who with his Rickenbacker bass and his facial lumps, which were so large they seemed to be headbanging, managed to drag the entire audience along and conquer everything. His voice is still rough and scratchy, the look is just like twenty years ago, and he continues to demonstrate to everyone the true soul of a respectable rockstar.
After their show, we and the whole audience were happier and more enthusiastic than ever after seeing this great band, but also because after a while, Dickinson & Co's Maiden would perform. When the Iron took the stage, they were greeted by a huge roar from the audience and immediately started with the new "Different World", "Brighter Than A Thousand Suns", "These Colours Dont Run", and the beautiful "The Reincarnation Of Benjamin Breeg". The many fans welcomed the new album with much enthusiasm, although there was certainly a part of the audience that preferred the new tracks and the other the historic ones, both with Dickinson and with Di Anno. The stage was adorned with the classic figures of Eddie, while Steve Harris mastered his bass, the three guitarists ran on the stage, and Bruce yelled, jumped, and involved the fans. Famous tracks also came along like "The Trooper" which triggered headbanging while surprising tracks like "Children of the Damned" and the classic "Fear of the Dark" immediately accompanied by the usual audience choruses.
The tracks the Maiden presented were mostly from "The Number Of The Beast" as well as the famous "Run To The Hills" and the ever-present "Iron Maiden", the last two songs before the band retired backstage for a break. Upon their return, it started again with "The Evil That Men Do", the beautiful "2 Minutes To Midnight", and the long "Hallowed Be Thy Name" which magnificently closed this magical event for our country, thus capturing another page of history created by the Maiden. At the end of the show, we were delighted, excited, and (a little drunk), after having seen all these bands and heard a lot of good music, but above all, for having attended the show of two great bands, Motorhead and Iron Maiden.
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