Sunday 29 June 2025.

Sunday 29 June 2025. VICTOR MANUELLE live at Shepherds Bush Empire. Víctor Manuelle( now aged 56), is a Puerto Rican salsa singer, known to his fans as El Sonero de la Juventud ("The Singer Of Youths"). He is identified primarily with salsa romántica or "salsa monga". Víctor Manuelle has neither recorded in English, nor made a Latin pop album, nor (with rare exceptions) ventured into acting, preferring to remain a musician grounded within salsa music. He has released over 20 albums over the past 35 years. ---------- I have always got stuck in to different genres , so this week after just seeing three classic rock band events, i am now at .......a salsa gig. All levels are open, but there is space on each. Maybe 1200 ex pats here , with 75% of them females . It is a lively atmosphere as folks are singing and dancing to the DJ support and the main artist. VICTOR MANUELLE is on at 8.35pm for his 95 mins set. He is backed by a nice big band, as 12 musicians on stage , including a 5 man brass section and 2 backing singers. There is a big screen showing some of his videos, and some old TV recordings. The show ticked along ok, and the crowd loved it. ------------------------------------ ------------------------------------ Saturday 28 June 2025. IRON MAIDEN live at London Stadium , Stratford, East London The band performing at the London Stadium, which is home to West Ham FC, the team that founder Steve Harris supports As part of a 50th anniversary UK & European Tour . Iron Maidens early gigs were at venues like including The Cart & Horses , Stratford, East London , which is now full of Iron Maiden memorabilia , as Maiden fans flock there to visit . Drummer Nicko has been replaced by Simon Dawson. I have seen Iron Maiden over 30 times since 1980 , when they supported Judas Priest at Hammersmith Odeon. Iron Maiden would play multi-nights at Hammersmith Odeon during the 1980s on their UK tours ----------- It is a totally sold out 80,000 capacity show tonight. As expected, it looks like around 90 % male crowd. The merch stands are doing a roaring trade. I have seen both support acts before, back in 2022. THE RAVEN AGE are on at 6pm for their 30 mins set. The Raven Age are an English heavy metal band formed in London in 2009 by guitarists George Harris and Dan Wright. Harris is the son of Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris. They played good tracks from their three albums. HALESTORM are on at 7pm for their 45 mins set. The band are massive back home in America where their albums have done well in the Billboard 200 charts. Female singer Lizzy Hale oozes glamour in her black thigh high boots and leotard , and is a great front person. A really good set from them. At 8.15pm - Their intro track UFO 'Doctor, Doctor' got the crowd singing loudly and bouncing along . IRON MAIDEN arrived on stage at 8.20pm for 2 hours 10 mins. They have the big screens , flames and pyros but there is no stage extension or b stage. The gold circle standing is much livelier , than Guns N Roses a couple of days before as we have proper moshing and crowd surfers. The settlist is perfect as they pull out material from their first nine albums, 1980’s Iron Maiden to 1992’s Fear Of The Dark. Their huge mascot Eddie , made a couple of appearances , as he moved crazily around the stage The three guitars and bass player Steve Harris pull out every cliche rock & roll stage pose , as they run around and swop stage sides . It was a totally excellent show , that has to be a 10/10 gig. Full IRON MAIDEN settlist played... Tape - Doctor Doctor (UFO song) Tape - The Ides of March Murders in the Rue Morgue Wrathchild Killers Phantom of the Opera The Number of the Beast The Clairvoyant Powerslave 2 Minutes to Midnight Rime of the Ancient Mariner Run to the Hills Seventh Son of a Seventh Son The Trooper Hallowed Be Thy Name Iron Maiden Encore: Tape - Churchill's Speech Aces High Fear of the Dark Wasted Years

Posted 29th June 2025