I doubt anyone as renowned as Blaze Bayley in the Metal community has taken more crap from the so called devotees. The criticism for his work with IRON MAIDEN hasn't been merciful all the time but of course there's always a backside to the coin too. The ones who like Blaze really love him. Unfortunately, people remain stubborn and deny his ability to write great Metal. It's not cool to slam someone without a fair chance I think and I know for a fact a lot of people stick to their opinion just for the cause of it rather than it's what they actually think.

No matter what, one must admire his persistence to succeed. Constantly the underdog struggling against the grain and I'll be damn if things shouldn't start happening for him soon. Hard work normally pays off and The Tour That Will Not Die... Ever! is only one way of showing it. Sure the tour seemed endless, I can't remember when I last saw THAT many dates on a shirt. The next that struck me beside the extent of the tour, the massive setlist taped to the stage. With the show clocking in on just over 2 hours and continuing every night for about four months with just few days off, if that's not hard work...

What more is admirable is his ambition to make all dates special, some small changes to the setlist night after night and all the time different stories. Perhaps they all had sort of the same purpose, though told from a different angle every night, that BLAZE BAYLEY Band is here to stay and that nothing could have been done without the people showing up for the gigs. Cliche for sure but it all felt very genuine, very honest and believable. BLAZE BAYLEY the band yes! With their latest release The Man Who Would Not Die the band's moniker was changed from BLAZE to BLAZE BAYLEY but Blaze made sure it wasn't to focus more on his own persona, the band is BLAZE BAYLEY and one big reason for that is the communication culture nowadays. If you google Blaze Bayley he says, explaining the name change between two songs, it is this face you will find! It is a very simple explanation and very much the truth.

It's also fascinating to see the differences in response from time to time. Surprisingly the highest number of attendances was in Stockholm which has been a really lame town when it comes to band-support lately. Ok, it was a little half and half. Some just hung around the bar or comfortably far in the back and just chilling out. But the ones at the front really went for it, more than 100%. As soon as the music silenced the chanting began. The response from that part of the crowd was deafening and it never died out. Vasteras was pretty much the same when it came to response, the fans in the front gave everything from start to finish. The difference here is that that was all, there were no ones chilling in the bar or standing relaxed in the back. The floor was empty apart from the support in the front. Then Gavle! The floor filled quite fast and when the band finished their first song it got completely silent. A few in the front started to look around and gave some sorry excuse for a cheer. But Mr Bayley himself wasn't to be let down by that. Rather the opposite, he sure gave it all and stared out people until they started being a part of the gig. Or perhaps no one dared to do anything but what Blaze said because he looks totally furious and manic staring directly at you. A little scary of course but it also felt very intimate, like being a part of the show. And at the end the crowd was as elated as the other places. So, Gavle was perhaps not the finest ending of the Swedish leg of the tour, it took a lot of hard work from the band but I'm sure it will pay off. The comments afterward were all good. I doubt this would have happened if the band had been lazy, they too put a lot of effort into the gig and served flawless playing. In less than a year they've grown from a bunch of hired musicians (at least judging by the feelings I've been having watching them) to a super-tight machine. Of course, without being mechanic, everything feels very much alive and spontaneous.

The setlist was close to perfect. I did not really miss any songs, not until afterward at least or when they showed up on the list next day. Ok, I wouldn't have minded a few more from Blood & Belief. And now with around two hours the BLAZE and BLAZE BAYLEY material got enough space without compromising with the IRON MAIDEN stuff. The time flew by quicker than imaginable and I could easily have taken a little more. All in all I liked the concert in Vasteras the best, there the sound was the best and the crowd was good. Both in Stockholm and Gavle the guitars drowned a little in the whole sound and the rest was a little fuzzy. That is very common on smaller clubs for sure but such a shame because BLAZE BAYLEY deserves only the best.

(photos by the photographer that would not fail Erika)

BLAZE BAYLEY