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Iron Maiden - Live - Twickenham Stadium, UK - 5th July 2008
I'm afraid that you will have to excuse a little self indulgent moment with me here. Iron Maiden were the first band I was ever really in to as a youngster. I happily played my double cassette copy of 'Live After Death' at the tender age of ten years old, when most of the kids at my school were still listening to the music their parents played or were just discovering the lure of the top 40 and the work of Stock, Aitken and Waterman. Although diversifying a lot in my taste since then, Heavy Metal and, in particular, Iron Maiden have a special place in my heart.
'Live After Death' was probably Iron Maiden's finest hour. Recorded at Long Beach Arena in California during their gruelling 'World Slavery Tour' it is a live music film to rival any other, even today. Filmed using 35mm cameras it showed the band doing what they do best. Over the top stage sets, striking heavy metal poses and playing some of the best music you will hear to the best fans in the world. Often Iron Maiden are not credited with the technical excellence and song writing ability they have and all the talk of artists like Robbie Williams or Coldplay 'breaking America' is redundant in my mind because Iron Maiden, from London, England, did it in 1984.But this is 2008 and, 25 years on, have they still got it? Can they still hold an audience for two hours and still leave them wanting a LOT more? Are they still up to it? They are in their 50's now!
I was drawn to this Twickenham gig with the promise of the band re-creating the awesome 'World Slavery Tour' look and feel and to play most of the songs included on 'Live After Death' along with a few other classics from subsequent, but still brilliant, albums 'Somewhere in Time' and 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'. OK, 1984 was a very different time and I don't think that you can re-create the feeling of a decade in one night but the set list promised to be damn near perfect.
As the video screens either side of the stage started to show the World War Two footage Iron Maiden fans have grown to know and love and the booming voice of Winston Churchill came over the P.A. system a shiver ran right down my spine. We all knew what was coming. Churchill's speech finished with the famous line 'We will never surrender', there was a flash of fire from the stage and Maiden were there. The opening riff from 'Aces High' filled the stadium and I knew we were in for a good night. Maiden did not dissapoint one little bit. OK, they are a lot older now, but the pure energy of their live performances and the technical mastery were all there.
The 'Powerslave' stage with it's egyptian god theme, was as bold and theatrical as it has ever been. The curtain at the back, which changed with almost every song, took the audience on a journey through the brilliant artwork of Derek Riggs, who designed Maiden record covers, and his creation and Maiden mascot 'Eddie'. Bruce Dickinson even commented 'the wallpaper changes fast around here'. to roars of appreciation from the crowd.
Iron Maiden is not just a band but the whole package. The stage, the clothes, Eddie, the music. They all compliment each other brilliantly. I think the point that is missed so often with Iron Maiden (and most other metal bands) is that it is 'tongue in cheek', it is theatre, it is a show. As Bruce, Janick Gers, Dave Murray, Nicko McBrain, Adrian Smith and Steve Harris took us through a an awesome two hour spectacle the crowd loved it, singing every word and shoving 'devil hands' into the sky at almost every opportunity.
Maiden showed that they can still wow thousands of people of all ages and hold them in the palms of their hands. Bruce told the crowd that Iron Maiden has 'never been bigger than they are right now' and I think that is due to the wide ranging appeal of what they do. In the 80's Heavy Metal was a niche market but now, it is mainstream and probably the 'alternative' to hip hop and dance music which is embraced by kids who are not embaressed to be seen listening to metal. There were all ages at Twickenham from kids young enough to be my children to people old enough to be my parents and everyone had a great time. To see Maiden play tracks such as 'Wasted Years', 'The Trooper', the classic 'Number of The Beat' and the epic 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' was a real treat for me and I would probably have loved it whatever.
As they closed the main part of the night with their anthem 'Iron Maiden' and a 12ft cyborg Eddie came on to the stage I wondered if there will ever be a band like Iron Maiden again and certainly this was a one off show. As Bruce promised a new studio album next year, any future tours will have new material and only a handfull of these classic tunes and I was able to thank my lucky stars that I had been able to take this opportunity to see the Godfathers of pure metal playing their very best stuff. The encore finished with 'Hallowed be Thy Name' and I don't think a single person inside Twickenham Stadium would have been left dissapointed by the spectacle they had just witnessed. 'Long Live Iron Maiden'.
Set List: 01. Intro - Churchill's Speech, 02. Aces High, 03. 2 Minutes to Midnight, 04. Revelations 05. The Trooper, 06. Wasted Years, 07. The Number of the Beast, 08. Run to the Hills 09. Rime of the Ancient Mariner, 10. Powerslave, 11. Heaven Can Wait, 12. Can I Play With Madness?, 13. Fear of the Dark, 14. Iron Maiden. Encore: 15. Moonchild, 16. The Clairvoyant 17. Hallowed Be Thy Name.
