Iron Maiden gigs

[lira]

Hi all. I'm an Iron Maiden fan and some of you have seen this band playing at the Bridgehouse around '76-'77.

I didn't find any Maiden photos at the site but I have 2 or 3 with the singer at the time, Dennis Wilcock.

I know that their music was more like blues and the set list had a few gems like "Burning Ambition", "Floating" (that came to be "Purgatory"), "Phantom of the Opera", etc. 

Please I've been in search of some live tapes from this era for a long time. I ask if some of you could help me in my quest !

Would love to share music or informations about this band cause I have so many!!

best to you all!
Ricardo Lira

ps: Remus Down Boulevard is the other band I've been searching too. So anything you know about them would be very appreciate...

[TerryMurphy]

It is on of my biggest pleasures, that Iron Maiden made it to the big time. I still see Steve Harris a few times each year when he plays football with my son Glen in the West ham celebrity team, he is such a nice person, fame has not change him one little bit and that says it all.
I would love to see the pictures of Dennis, he was the vocalist in Iron Maiden when they first played for us. Was he the singer in the band Smiler as well?
I remember fans of the band shouting out, 'Dennis you are not leaving are you?', at a Iron Maiden gig, the next time they came to play he was gone. Did he live in Enfield?

We have Remus Down Boulevard out on the 'live a week at the Bridge House' CD recorded in 1978.(see web site) And we hope to be releasing a DVD of them at the last night of the Bridge House before it closed down.
Great to here from you. Terry M

[lira]

Please, how can I upload photos on this forum? When I'm going to preview, the manager says that I need to reatach the image, but I can't see how it works... 

thanks

[Jeff]

You can attach a picture by clicking on the 'Additional options' link on the Reply page and choose 'Attach'.

There is a limit to the file size of attachments of 192kB.
You may have to optimise the size and compression of the photo in an image editing program.

If you still have no luck, email the picture to info@thebridgehousee16.com and we can upload it for you.

[lira]

It is on of my biggest pleasures, that Iron Maiden made it to the big time. I still see Steve Harris a few times each year when he plays football with my son Glen in the West ham celebrity team, he is such a nice person, fame has not change him one little bit and that says it all.

Steve Harris has great personality. His vision and dedication help put Iron Maiden on the mainstream. He had success but he dedicated all his time and heart to it and he didn't become a star. He is still the bass player and the man behind. That's one of the reasons I admire him so much.

I would love to see the pictures of Dennis, he was the vocalist in Iron Maiden when they first played for us. Was he the singer in the band Smiler as well?
I remember fans of the band shouting out, 'Dennis you are not leaving are you?', at a Iron Maiden gig, the next time they came to play he was gone. Did he live in Enfield?

I'm still trying to make the pics available thru this forum. When I tried to send them to the Bridgehouse email, received a message of failure. I will try again.

Yes, Dennis and Harris first met in Smiler. I think I have one picture of them grabbing beer cans and smiling to the camera in a hall. Doug Sampson was the drummer in this band, too.

I don't know if he lives in Enfield.

Terry, do you remember details of the Iron Maiden shows at the time? What was it like? How they acted together?

We have Remus Down Boulevard out on the 'live a week at the Bridge House' CD recorded in 1978.(see web site) And we hope to be releasing a DVD of them at the last night of the Bridge House before it closed down.
Great to here from you. Terry M

This is great! What can I do to buy this cd? I live in Brazil.

There are known footage about Maiden in Bridgehouse?

cheers

[TerryMurphy]

Hi there Ricardo,you can purchase the ,Live a week at the Bridge house CD from our web site                            www.thebridgehouseE16.com     click on records.
you can pay via PAYPAL. this is the compilation CD of all the bands that played for me on a regular bassis.,it is what it says. a week at the bridge house,recorded in 1978.
its a great sham Iron Maiden are not on it,they played mostly in 1977, by 78 they were on there way to stardom
we did have some recording of them ,before they got a record deal,they must be in our archieves.somewere.
i do have in my collection a picture disc, of a interview with the band, Bruce Dickenson,does most of the talking.
the record in shaped like a saw.They were on tour,so it was early 80s i guess. keep in touch.

[lira]

Hey Jeff, the system throws this error message after trying to upload a pic:

"The attachments upload directory is not writable. Your attachment or avatar cannot be saved. "

Is this a permission problem?

[Jeff]

Hi lira,

You were quite correct, the attachments folder did not have the correct permissions.

It is now fixed, please upload.

Meanwhile here is a photo of Iron Maiden at the Bridge.

Over to Terry to supply the details...

[lira]

Thanks, Jeff.

Nice picture! Seems that its from the same show than the ones I have.

Well time to show you... Have fun!

[lira]

The formation is: Dennis Wilcock (vocals) | Dave Murray (guitar) | Bob Sawyer (guitar) | Steve Harris (bass) | Ron Matthews (drums)

Some more pics below. The first shows Dennis cutting his tongue with some kind of blade and fake blood coming down. The other is the Smiler band in a hall.

[Jeff]

Yeah, I remember seeing Iron Maiden with this line up at the Bridge and the Cart & Horses.

The singer (Dennis?) used to neck some blood capsules towards the end of the gig and then play around with a sword ( an épée or foil i think) before drawing it across his mouth and spitting out the blood.

They were playing the circuit at the same time as Dogwatch and they used a lot of theatrical effects as well.

[lira]

And this theatrical thing originated the Eddie mask, used to spill out blood on the drummer's head.

I think that macabre scenes always occurred when they played the "Iron Maiden" song.

It would be very cool if you have these recordings... 

[lira]

Hi lira,

You were quite correct, the attachments folder did not have the correct permissions.

It is now fixed, please upload.

Meanwhile here is a photo of Iron Maiden at the Bridge.

Over to Terry to supply the details...

Terry were you at the time those pictures were taken?

cheers

[TerryMurphy]

Hi Lira,yes these pictures were taken, at my time at the Bridge House,
i was there from 1975 until 1982,and one of my jobs was drawing and placing the posters on the back of the stage, now looking back i wished i had been more artistic,

The Idea of putting them on the back of the stage ,who ever came down to see the bands would also spot the comming weeks  line up.

These pictures would have been taken in 1977.
most likely by Colin Rapp,who has made contact with us, via the forum, he now live in the U.S.A.

[lira]

I got in contact with him. Seems that Colin has just found a Sony to play some old tapes of the Bridge House. Hope that all go well!!

If you Terry, Jeff and Colin need some work in searching, archiving or documentation I'm here to help.