The Iron Maidens Get A Hell Yeah In Auckland

Can we take The Iron Maidens seriously? Hell Yeah! Despite audio and equipment glitches at the start, the all female Iron Maiden tribute band demonstrated how they played with madness at The Studio Venue in Auckland.

The line up of The Iron Maidens were Kirsten ‘Bruce Chickinson’ Rosenberg (vocals), Linda ‘Nikki McBURRain’ McDonald (drums), Courtney ‘Adriana Smith’ Cox and Nikki ‘Davina Murray’ Stringfield on guitars, and Wanda ‘Steph Harris’ Ortiz (bass).

The last time I saw the band (with the same line up) was in 2015 at St James Power Station in Singapore. The Maidens were great then and they were brilliant again 3 years later in Auckland. Strangely enough, Ortiz suffered similar cabling issues with her bass at the start of the set in both those shows! This time, Stringfield’s guitar solos were cutting in and out, most likely also due to a cable issue. I also noticed the volume of Rosenberg’s mic was affected from time to time as well. Halfway through the set, all audio problems seemed to have been resolved and the full force of The Iron Maidens swept over the crowd.

Audio and equipment problems aside, I was delighted to see and hear the band in top form. All of the band members are seasoned musicians. McDonald is the only original member since the formation of The Iron Maidens and she was also a founding member of all female Heavy Metal band Phantom Blue. Rosenberg also sings for cover band Crabby Patty (I’m So Unclear!) which also features bandmates Cox and McDonald.

At the Auckland show, I was particularly impressed with McDonald’s drumming and Ortiz’s bass lines. The drum patterns during Phantom Of The Opera were especially stunning and McDonald played it effortlessly with a huge grin. Ortiz’s exceptional bass playing during The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner was a sight to behold. Cox and Stringfield both showed superb technical prowess in their guitar work but the audio issues kind of ruined it for me.

The setlist for Auckland appeared to be slightly different from other shows that the Maidens played earlier in the year. The Duellist and The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner were not usually part of the show but I, for one, enjoyed these unexpected treats. Having said that, I felt the spoken word intros to some songs could have been left out.

In the end, was the show cheesy? The sight of Cox overpowering a robot-like Eddie with her animated guitar solo made quite a few people smile with a shake of the head. But, that’s part of the charm watching The Iron Maidens celebrate their love for Heavy Metal and the original Iron Maiden from Leyton, East London.

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