La bête a détruit Montréal lors d’une incroyable soirée de pur Heavy Metal, peu importe que ce soit en anglais ou en français.
INTRO: No for IMFC Meetup… but yes for FTTB, Pt. II
Although I don’t think there was an official Iron Maiden Fan Club meetup in Montreal on Tuesday night, as most fans seem to have attended the Habs game instead, The Future Past Tour 2024 stop in the city by THE HU and IRON MAIDEN at Bell Centre was absolutely amazing from start to finish, with the rowdy Montreal crowd giving a hard time to security and to everyone who endured FTTB – First to the Barrier the entire day, including myself. In addition, we couldn’t have asked for a better weather in the city the day of the show, as miraculously it wasn’t cold at all; quite the contrary, the temperatures were above the +17oC mark (I think it even went past the +20oC at some point), making our lives a lot easier than of the folks who had to brave -2oC and snow in Quebec City a couple of days before. and of course, althoguh the headline of this review is in French, the review will be in English, in the best montreal style possible, ça va?
OPENING ACT: The Hu
Also, for our total delight, we had Mongolian Folk Metal brigade THE HU opening the show in Montreal (instead of the horrible DJ from Toronto), and let me tell you that those Mongolian warriors put on a great live show, if you’re curious to see them live one day. Spearheaded by the trio formed of Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar, Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts and Enkhsaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal, armed with their beautiful morin khuurs (also known as the horsehead fiddle, a traditional Mongolian bowed stringed instrument), and playing songs from their excellent albums The Gereg and Rumble of Thunder, all also featured in their 2024 live album Live at Glastonbury, those Mongolians kicked some serious ass, with songs like TATAR Warrior, Wolf Totem and This Is Mongol sounding absolutely heavy and tight on stage. I guess most people at the venue enjoyed their set, of course even without being able to sing a single song along with them, but in the case of The Hu it’s all about the power of their music, their theatricals, and their Mongolian heritage. And seriously, they were shredding those stunning morin khuurs! I truly want one of those!
Setlist
Gereg
Bosoo
Tuurugdul
TATAR Warrior
Grey Hun
Black Thunder
Yuve Yuve Yu
Wolf Totem
This Is Mongol
Band members
Galbadrakh “Gala” Tsendbaatar – morin khuur, throat singing
Nyamjantsan “Jaya” Galsanjamts – tumur hhuur, tsuur, throat singing
Enkhsaikhan “Enkush” Batjargal – morin khuur, throat singing
Temuulen “Temka” Naranbaatar – tovshuur, backing vocals
Unumunkh “Ono” Maralkhuu – percussion, tumur hhuur, backing vocals
Jambaldorj “Jamba” Ayush – guitars, backing vocals
Nyamdavaa “Davaa” Byambaa – bass, backing vocals
Odbayar “Odko” Gantumur – drums
It was then finally time for another killer round at the barrier together with the one and only IRON MAIDEN, once again melting our faces with their Somewhere In Time and Senjutsu-based setlist, and add to that the rowdier than usual crowd in Montreal and there you have the recipe for a warlike, incendiary metal concert. If you ever do FTTB, be warned that trying to stay on Dave and Adrian’s side because they throw more picks also means having to endure a lot more pushing, sweat, disrespectful people who arrive five minutes before the show but somehow believe the band members are their friends and they’re special, so they need to be at the barrier at all costs, and so on. That’s why I chose the other side of the stage for a less rowdy experience, which doesn’t mean there weren’t tons of circle pits, crowd surfers and some fist fights around us. Yes, FTTB can be a small war when the boys start their show. In my case, there was this middle-aged dude right behind me trying to hold the barrier with both hands, and I understand he was trying to do that to stay safe because of all the pushing, but it looked like a metal version of Jack and Rose form the movie Titanic at times.
I honestly don’t know how I managed to take decent photos of the show because it was total anarchy close to the stage, to the point several fans had to be taken out because they were not feeling OK at all, with a couple of them even passing out during the show. And speaking of photographers, why were there so many in Montreal, but basically none in Toronto apart from Tom Pandi? I mean, I really miss having the photos by Keith Ibbitson on the Toronto review, but I guess it is what it is. Anyway, back to the show, although the setlist was the exact same of the entire tour, as well as Bruce’s jokes, at least this time he told all of those jokes in French (just like in Quebec City), which was good for me so I could practice my French as I knew exactly what he was going to say; not only that, the band sounded amazing just like in Toronto, and I will say it again that these two Canadian shows I attended were like a return to form by Nicko at least for me, compared to his performance in Australia. He even threw one of his drumsticks directly to me as if he was like “here, my friend… this is for you to see that Nicko is still alive and kicking!” I loved it!
It was once again a true pleasure witnessing the boys blasting amazing tunes like Caught Somewhere in Time, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Prisoner and Alexander the Great to their avid Iron Maiden family, and not even the absolute mayhem caused by the fans in the floor section during Hell on Earth, The Trooper and Wasted Years could make the entire night less special. I know some people believe a show is only cool with some wild pushing, but I personally think you have to respect whoever arrives before you, and also pay attention to who’s around you because smaller people can get really hurt in some cases. Well, when the show was over and we were all covered in sweat (our own and from others too), holding our beloved prizes, and taking the famous flag photo, I was already thinking about the next tour, or when I’ll be able to see them next, because the boys undoubtedly love Canada and they’ll surely come back in the coming years for more Iron Maiden madness in the Great White North.
Setlist
Doctor Doctor (UFO song)
Blade Runner (End Titles) (Vangelis song)
Caught Somewhere in Time
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Writing on the Wall
Days of Future Past
The Time Machine
The Prisoner
Death of the Celts
Can I Play With Madness
Heaven Can Wait
Alexander the Great
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden
Encore:
Hell on Earth
The Trooper
Wasted Years
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python song)
Band members
Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals
Steve Harris – bass
Dave Murray – guitar
Adrian Smith – guitar
Janick Gers – guitar
Nicko McBrain – drums
THE HEADBANGING MOOSE 