Made For Maiden 2008

Whether you're into metal or not, every skateboarder became a Iron Maiden fan the moment we saw THIS. So, when we heard (more like when Eric Stricker heard) Maiden was coming to Irvine (just 45 minutes north of Transworld) we couldn't resist. Stricker got the tickets, I drove us up, and JT Rhoades piled in last minute. We made a quick stop at El Toro to find a missing rail, and then on to the Double Tree hotel where we met up with Bobby Worrest, Billy Marks, Chris Hall, Oliver Flores, Scuba Steve, Matt Ball, Sean Eaton, Active Erica, Cullen Poythress, Erik Bragg, and the rest of SoCal's Maiden metal heads.

We only caught half of Anthrax's opening set, and they warmed us up nicely nonetheless. But once Bruce Dickinson and the rest of Maiden took the stage, the 15,000 fans at Irvine Meadows were lit afire. Air guitars were turned up to an eleven, metal heads were in full head bangin' mode, and a 10-foot tall Eddie walked the stage during a two-song encore that coincidentally ended with THIS.—Ben Kelly



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