Iron Maiden cruised through SoCal again stopping by Universal Amphitheatre for a couple of sold out shows. As I entered the venue the band Cage out of San Diego was warming up the crowd with show outside on the lawn. I don't know how these bands get this gig but it looks like a great one with a large crowd stopping to watch.

Tonight's opening act is the screaming hot death metal band Arch Enemy. This band opened for Slayer here recently and was back for more tonight. For those of you not familiar with Arch Enemy they are a Swedish band formed by brother guitarists Mike and Christopher Amott with Sharlee D'Angelo on bass and Daniel Erlandson on drums. The most recent addition to the band is female vocalist Angela Gassow who is a fireball of energy and belts out the growls as well as anybody. Touring in support of their latest release "Anthems of Rebellion" this band has built up quite a fanbase here in the Southland and their next tour will take them around Europe. You can get all the latest info and sound bites from the band at www.archenemy.net.

Some of the things you can expect at an Iron Maiden show are huge crowds, spectacular stage settings and pounding metal provided by an army of guitars. Tonight's show provided plenty of all these and more. The army of guitars is made up of Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gerj with the phenomenal Steve Harris on bass and awesome vocalist Bruce Dickenson fronting the group. Maiden shows are usually theatrical in nature and tonight Bruce donned a Phantom of the Opera outfit as he performed the title track of the their latest release "Dances of Death". Bruce is quite the energetic fireball who is covering miles on the stage whipping the crowd up. At one point he slipped and fell in the drum kit but continued singing as he pulled himself out of the mess. I'm sure that episode hurt but being the "Trooper" that he is, they kept right on jamming. It's a real shame if you missed these latest shows because the Maiden may not be back for awhile so you'll just have to visit www.ironmaiden.com to keep up on their latest info. If you want to keep up on my latest info then visit www.revnkevin.com.