This is him…

Anyway, this is the little critter, House

This wasn’t meant to be a politically or historically oriented post, despite the prologue. What I really wanted to say was something funny that happened yesterday. We have one of those blue “Naš Tito” books, I wanted to read it during the summer. On the back cover there’s a picture of Tito and his dog. My cousin was sitting on my bed and saw the image, thinking it to be a framed picture she asked: “Oh, that’s your grandfather?”

A few weeks earlier I just became convinced that he is, like Che Guevarra, one of those cultural icons everybody in the country would know.

One thing that I noticed is, little sisters have it easy. Well, there are the daily arguments with big sisters, but that’s a two way knife, in order for a little sister to be having an argument with a little sister, the big sister needs to be having an argument with the little sister as well. The main advantage of being a little sister is, that you have an easier time getting away with things, especially if the big sis is considered difficult and rebellious by the higher forces (meaning: parents). Anything the little sister does, the big sister probably already tried and got the majority of the higher force’s wrath, not much left for the little sis.

Little sisters have had their shoes broken in for them, their clothes worn to a level where they’re comfortable to wear, ways to sucessfully win an argument have been shown and tested numerous times before by big sisters, traumas due to music choice or clothing style already caused by big sisters… And so on.

I always wanted to be the little sis, seriously, she gets away with everything. -.- But she’s cool, now. She likes Guns ‘n’ Roses.

I feel acomplished now, that I know Vitalinea has 0% fat.

Me and my cousin got to the stadium around 1pm. There were a few people there already, been there since 9am, and I thought my cousin was a big fan. :P They were all really nice, especially an Israeli chick, whose name I think is Lil (but I might have spelled that wrong), a Brit named Matt and a Slovene dude named Žiga. After a few hours’ wait, those were the people me and my cousin ended up in the front row with. That and a friend with his group of friends, who just got lucky. :)

The doors opened just after 4pm, followed by a run to the front row (other side of the stadium) and a victorious grin upon reaching it. Nifty feeling, knowing you’re in the front row and that there’s nothing anybody can do about it. ;) We were soon joined by the previously mentioned folks, amusing bunch. Lil said this was her 19th Iron Maiden gig, Matt’s 14th… Mad people, I wish I could do that. :D One of the roadies who apparently knew Lil brought her a set of Maiden guitar picks and spared two for me and my cousin. Very kind of him. Also, it started to rain while we were waiting and he brought her an umbrella. If that just isn’t the nicest guy…

At around 19, the show started with Steve Harris’ daughter, Lauren. I’ve never heard them before and I was pleasantly surprised. First of all, during our wait outside the stadium we overheard a rehearsal, I guess and it sounded dreadful. When it actually came to the show, it was pretty good. Not great, but not bad either. And Zakk Wylde was on guitar. :P

The other support band were Tide. Odd, since I was told Mary Rose were playing. When I saw their logo hanging down on the stage set I was shocked, I didn’t quite remember where I’ve seen them before until they came on stage, then it came to me. Rock Otočec 2006, I didn’t like them much back then. I didn’t like them much this time either, just isn’t my cup of tea. I jawned, can you imagine that? The only other time I jawned on a big gig was when I went to see Dream Theater. If my hearing wasn’t too bad, I can say that the biggest applause they got was when they said: “This is our last song.” Rude of me to say so, but… Anyway, I wished it was Mary Rose playing, but I lived never the less. It was worth it after all, d0ch, Iron Maiden!

After a wait, it came, the time, it finally came. IRON MAIDEN! Oh my god, they were so close! Not just a speck on the horizon! An amazing feeling. The set list was better than expected, I thought they’re going to play more songs from “A Matter of Life and Death”, but they only played Different World, These Colours Don’t Run, The Reincarnation of Benjamin Berg, For The Greater Good of God and Brighter Than A Thousand Suns. The rest were old hits… Things that sent even more chills down your spine… Wrathchild, Fear of the Dark, The Trooper, Run To The Hills, Number Of The Beast, Iron Maiden, Evil That Men Do, 2 Minutes To Midnight and Hallowed Be Thy Name.

The preformance was really good, they all displayed ther usual full measure of energy that we know so well from random videos… Some even from previous concerts. It was a very energising experience.

Somewhere around the 9th or the 10th song I had to get out of there. My cousin was pulled out by the security a minute or two earlier. I stayed in for a little while, thinking I could do it, but I just got to worried about losing her, her phone battery was low, so I asked them to pull me out too. I lost her anyway, but at least the pressure was gone. Everything hurt, I didn’t know how much till I got out and there was no crowd pressing against me anymore. I went to get something to drink and then a guy tapped me on the shoulder. I didn’t know who he was, but he knew my name. It turned out he was one of the folks the friend I met in the front row was with. I stuck to him till the rest of the show, he was amusing. :)

After the show I went on a quest to find my cousin, which didn’t go too well. I left the stadium till someone told me she’s seen her at the front row fence, waiting for me. I fought with the security guard cause they wouldn’t let me back in to find her. I would see the point in it, and the necessity if they would keep everyone from going back in. However, you could get right to the door and if you didn’t step over it you could go back in. How frustrating. I waited for around an hour, enraged, till she finally came out. She couldn’t have known I wasn’t there anymore, and the best thing when lost, and when you know someone’s looking for you, is to stay put. Na yah… All is well that ends well.

The gig was great all in all. Well worth the time, the money, the pain, the frustration, the neanderthals…

Untill last October, the most painful show was Apocalyptica at Wacken 2005. Not so much due to crowd pressure, but more so because of the surreal amount of crowd surfers, all wearing Doc’s, or something along those lines.

All other shows were pretty normal, yeah, you get squished and bruised, but it’s not intolerable and it’s bloody damn worth it. On the 14th of October 2006 our VPK got a visit from Blind Guardian. Fucking painful but also fucking worth it. As stupidly discriminating as it sounds, the majority of the pain was caused by our Croatian visitors. Never the less, it was an awsome show, probably not one of their best with Hansi having a cold and all, but I didn’t care that much. Blind Guardian are the first metal band I heard and also the first I fell in love with. After 5 years of wanting to see them, they could have come on with progressive stage Alzheimer’s and tried to play for all I cared. To be a bit more objective, the show was actually great, though I don’t know if it was because the band or the fans.

For a good few months, it held the first place on concert pain level. That was, until last night. Iron Maiden, the Ljubljana Bežigrad stadium, 2nd of June 2007, ouch. As discriminating as it sounds again, the majority of the pain was caused by… You guessed it, the Croats. Luckily for my integrity, I know a few Croats who are awesome, but those who I meet on our gigs are… well, assholes. The majority of the ones in the front, I can’t say for the rest of them because I don’t know them.

So, more about yesterday (*heart* Iron Maiden) in “Maiden report”. Lack of time and such jazz atm. :)