PAUL DI'ANNO,В Smallman, Lavina.
25.09.2009, ‘Blue Box’ club, Sofia - Bulgaria.

words byВ Metal Willie, photo: Milena RadevaВ (Pro-Rock mag).

2001...that was quite a long time ago when you think about it. A year that, for us here in Bulgaria, brought the usual post-Commie (i.e. modern "democracy" with a distinct old style Commie mentality) grief, but that was nothing compared to what happened in the good old US of A for instance. Not only did the Yanks get a new president - the universally reviled and thoroughly obnoxious George W. Bush - but eight months later they were beffalen by the 09/11 tragedy.

Somewhere around that time the first issue of ‘Pro-rock’ magazine hit the shops in Bulgaria and, of course, was initially met with suspicion and skepticism. "Who the fuck are these guys," we asked ourselves. You see, we were used to reading our regular ‘Rhythm’ magazine edition for the past 10 years or so (sadly, that mag is no more).

Now, eight years on, I'm on my way to ‘Pro-rock’'s annual birthday bash and thinking how well those cats have done to stick it out and keep their creation in the shops and newsagents. Let's face it - a country that doesn't have its very own rock'nroll/metal magazine is a bloody shithole. So, big up to the ‘Pro-rock’ crew!

Р”I'ANNO at Sofia Airport slowing down for Dr Stiffenstein's camera

Their birthday party was attended by friends, colleagues and about 400 punters, who were all very determined to raise some hell. Tonight's very special guest was non other than Mr. Paul Di'Anno, whose storming set was preceded by performances from some homegrown talent. First up were Smallman from the town of Asenovgrad. They performed with a passion, mixing heavy mid-tempo riffs with an expressive vocal and a bagpipe.

It all amounts to a somewhat cosmic sound and reminds one of that hidden South African gem of the early 1990s - Tribe After Tribe..

The crowd seemed mesmerized by it all and duly responded with some quite loud applause. Smallman were followed by Lavina, who play generic 80s heavy/power metal and are always very enthusiastic, if not original. They had their own group of devotees among the crowd.

The story of Paul Di'Anno has been documented and told many times in numerous books on Iron Maiden, as well as by the man himself in his autobiography ‘The Beast’. There are those Maiden fans, who don't particularly rate the band's albums with Di'Anno. There are also those (albeit not as numerous) who consider the band's early albums as their favourite. While the Bruce Dickinson-led Maiden have always sounded more "clean", precise and, erm, classic, Iron Maiden circa 1978-81 had a bit of a mystery vibe to their music, something that resembled the dark and dangerous aura of Victorian London streets, as described in stories of Jack the Ripper et al. An element of risk and unpredictability...as unpredictable as Paul himself in fact.

В 

Тstage entry towards the end of the ‘Ides of March’ intro, played by yet another of his vast array of backing bands. Greeted like a long lost friend from the crowd, he said hello with an incendiary version of ‘Wrathchild’, followed by ‘Prowler’. Paul knows what his crowds want nowadays, so while he may be renowned for his long-term experiments with various illegal substances, there was no experimenting with the set list tonight.
This meant about 80% old-school Maiden classics and a few of his better known solo tracks thrown in for good measure.В 

ЗUnfortunately his Italian backing band weren't exactly tight, but Paul more than made up for it with some truly powerful singing. He was also in the mood for some exntertaining banter with the crowd and talked about everything from the USA (yes, them again) to his ex-wife, while also bigging up the crowd, the ‘Pro-rock’ crew, his new-found friend Stiff and dedicating a song to Lady Gaga of whom he said: "Have you seen her? She looks like a drag queen. Still, give me a bottle of JD and two grams of cocaine and I'd fuck her."

After ‘Running Free’,Paul and co left the stage, but none of us left the building, as we knew they'd come out for an encore - the crowd demanded it. And it came, in the form of ‘Transylvania’, a blitzkrieg cover of the Ramones' ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ and an almost punk-sounding ‘Sanctuary’. Looking around me I saw no gloomy or pissed off faces...only pissed and happy ones, as should be the case at any decent party. Cheers you fuckers!