We went to a club last night to celebrate the birthday of a head-banging friend. Words cannot describe the experience of seeing the Iron Maidens, the all female Iron Maiden Tribute Band.

They were hilarious, and the lead guitarist was honestly pretty badass. So, how was the whole metal experience? Some observations:

- There was lots of hair there. Only at Iron Maiden tribute shows do you see so many women with Pat Benatar/Quarterflash hair.

- Air guitar was played by aging, portly Maiden fans. At one point, medics had to rush to the assistance of one aging rocker who apparently was unable to stop rockin'. He looked around, bewildered and helpless, as his fingers danced like wildfire on the neck of his non-existent axe. Eventually, the hose was turned on him and a possible air guitar crisis was averted.

- Some head-bangers really can't bang their heads in anything even marginally approaching the beat.

- People really still make that devil sign thing with their hands. Who knew?

Anyway, it was really a lot of fun. Some highlights included Eddie, the mascot, coming out on stage and basically goofing around. And this guy.