Iron Maiden live in concert, Mumbai

Official concert picture

World tour plan

My ticket

Live in concert

Gateway of India

Juhu Beach

Hard Rock Cafe

Cafe Leopold

Iron Maiden Live in Mumbai, a dream come true for all the rock music lovers in India. They played live on 1^st February, 2008 after their maiden concert last year on the Indian soil.

 

Begins

 

In the month of October last year, my good friend Rahul Demetrius Chugh called to inform me about Iron Maiden touring India in the month of February 2008. In order to pump my blood even faster he said they are flying down in their own Astraeus Boeing 757. For a rock fanatic nothing could be bigger than watching Iron Maiden open the first leg of their world tour from India. Guess my instant reaction…I disconnected the call and booked two flight tickets to Mumbai, departing on January 31, 2008. (Some might think it was too early to book the tickets but, in India if you buy ticket 2 to 3 months in advance you get the cheapest air fare). Meanwhile, Rahul made some arrangements with his friend for our 2 nights stay at YMCA in Old Mumbai. Finally, the count down began!! Someone gifted me an Iron Maiden poster from a daily newspaper; I pinned that poster on my work station and started striking out days after days in the calendar.

 

Airborne

 

After passing 3 months in slow motion, it was January 31^st. We worked in the afternoon and later in the evening we packed our bags and headed straight to a wine and beer shop to collect beer. Rockers and beer are like hand to gloves and we were not alien to this behaviour. We had a couple of beer each and went straight to the airport; our flight was scheduled for departure at quarter past 10 at night. We met one of our common friends at the airport and shared some excitement of the entire event, as he was headed for the same concert. During our flight journey I was enjoying and listening to some Iron Maiden numbers, oblivious to Rahul’s fear of flight. We landed at Mumbai airport around half past mid night and what we saw up ahead was breath taking. Iron Maiden Astraeus Boeing 757 parked in the airport hanger, couldn’t take any picture as we were in the bus transfer to the terminal…sad.   

 

We took our exit from the airport and hired a taxi straight to YMCA hotel. On the way to our destination we tried to get some beer but no luck. Rahul and I were amazed to see huge line up of taxis parked on the corner side of the road, backed up from miles and going further down. We were breathing the air in our holy land where iron maiden was going to play live and I was humming one song all the way; Man on the Edge. After an hour and half drive from the airport we reached to the YMCA hotel. Two of our common female friends were already there and waiting for us to arrive. We checked in and had a quick conversation with our friends before kissing them goodnight.

 

Day 1

 

We woke up at 8 in the morning and had breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant on the 1^st floor. One female from our group was away with her friends since previous night, so we took another one and went to the nearest restaurant to check some local delicacies. After the horrible lunch we started hunting for a wine and beer shop and when we found one we bought a carton of heavenly Budweiser. While waiting for the run away friend, we planned to paint our face like rockers but dropped the idea for the next time. Our missing friend called up and asked us to get along with her as she had a company (Kingfisher) provided vehicle. It was getting better and better, we bought more beer to set our mood and started listening to Iron Maiden touring numbers from ‘Somewhere back in time’.

 

“Concert”

 

We reached to the venue just in time and entered the Kurla Complex to soak up the electric atmosphere where Iron Maiden was set to hit the stage. Around 8 pm suddenly the lights dimmed and a recorded speech by Winston Churchill, the prelude to Iron Maiden’s hit Aces High, drove the crowd wild. The first performance was good enough to set the atmosphere on electric fire and what followed was absolute mayhem.

 

Rahul and I started to bang our head till madness and heard some of the band’s greatest hits, some of which singer Bruce Dickinson himself declared they have not performed live in years. Songs like Can I Play with Madness, Wasted Years, Moonchild, The Trooper, Fear of the Dark, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Two Minutes to Midnight and Powerslave had us eating out of our hands. Well before the concert Rahul made me listen to Moonchild a hundred times in order to memorise the lyrics and trust me Bruce had a tough competition singing with me…cheers!!

 

After 2 hours of power packed display, they promise to come back soon and bade Mumbai a fond farewell. It was a concert to remember for us and undoubtedly for Iron maiden as well. Dickinson yelled ‘Scream for me, Mumbai’ for the final time as he made ready to leave the stage. And they certainly did.

 

**Flashback** WOW…what an awesome experience, I still get goose bumps all over my body.

 

Day 2

 

We got up in the morning around 10 am to have breakfast and planned to explore Colaba in the afternoon. We made our way to Colaba on a local taxi and reached there after 1 hour drive from Old Mumbai. The Gateway of India, Regal theatre, cafes and Taj Mahal Palace hotel, all add to the atmosphere. Colaba reminds you of London because of its old British architecture and a very modern feel as well. I looked at the buildings all around me and felt as if I was standing on the streets of London. Elegant!!  Later in the evening we went to the rockers’ hideaway in Worli, Hard Rock Café, and had a rollicking night.

 

Day 3  

 

The next day, we went back to Colaba for shopping and spent our day in a fantastic bar restaurant called Leopold. While discussing, we played the entire trip in rewind and cherished every moment of our fun packed trip to the holy land. In the evening we took our flight back home and yelled “Scream for us, Mumbai”.

Ends

 

I wish if I could go back in time. Nevermind, Iron Maiden will return soon. 

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