Maiden Scotland + Vantage Point
Henry's Cellar Bar, 9th September 2006
'We're Vantage Point, and we'd like to play some songs for you.'
Yup, VP's on stage banter is as straight to the point and no-nonsense as their music, so heads down everybody for an hour of classic, power-laden, good old fashioned heavy metal, in which Saxon meets Priest meets Iron Maiden and parties all night with the stereo turned up to an ear bleeding level.
Vantage Point have the enviable knack of mixing rock hard riffs with great melodic tunes, as evidenced on the driving 'Motorman', insanely catchy '24 Hour Breakdown' and rather splendid 'Too Much Work, Not Enough Fun', overlaying thumping bass lines with Steve Harris-esque guitar work and throwing in plenty of straddle-legged posturing for good measure.
The sound levels aren't quite right tonight, and by the end of the gig the bass is almost drowning out the impressive virtuoso guitar work that's going on in the corners of the stage, but that aside, VP play a great and very entertaining set, ending with a couple of Priest covers in preparation for their tribute night in November.
So now we're in the mood for tribute bands, what about Maiden Scotland?
Last time I saw a Maiden tribute band, I was in Naples. The knee high, spherical lead vocalist had more chance of being mistaken for the bastard offspring of Ronnie James Dio and Kelly Osbourne than Bruce Dickinson, but boy could he rip out those tunes.
Likewise, the Bruce substitute in Maiden Scotland is never going to get picked out of a line up on Never Mind The Buzzcocks, but he has an amazing pair of lungs on him, belting out classics like 'Can I Play With Madness?', 'Fear of the Dark' and 'The Evil That Men Do' with operatic ease.
In fact, if you shut your eyes, you could be at the best Maiden gig ever, in a tiny underground venue, being treated to earsplitting renditions of all your favourite songs, from 'Iron Maiden' to 'The Number of the Beast'. Except of course they have to chuck in a couple of more recent songs ('Brave New World' and a track taken from the new album, which is fast work – we've not even bought it yet) – just like 'proper' Maiden. And then it's the obligatory singalong to 'Run to the Hills' and our night of classic metal is over. Until December, and our next encounter with the 'real' formidable Iron Maiden, anyway…
