[Live Review] Iron Maiden, Ziggo Dome Amsterdam

Days of Future Past Tour When the mighty Maiden holds court, Sounds from the Dark Side attend. So it is written and so it was done.

Going strong for almost fifty years since Steve Harris founded the band, the flagship of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement is still going strong, selling out arenas everywhere without showing any signs of slowing down. Tonight, the band strikes down in the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam (capacity: 17,000 metalheads) on their Days of Future Past Tour. It’s one of the “inbetween tours” they do nowadays, where they focus on a classic album, era or tour and then cherry-pick some older and newer stuff to go with it. For this one, the band has chosen to finally show their 1986 album Somewhere in Time some well-deserved love.

Of course, Maiden wouldn’t be Maiden if they didn’t bring a support act no-one asked for. Tonight we’re going for another needless round of nepotism with The Raven Age, a metal band featuring Steve’s son George Harris. This makes the second time I’ve seen one of his kids open for the band (the other being his daughter Lauren) and I have hazy memories of seeing Bruce Dickinson’s kid opening for them as well. And as always, not a single fuck is given by the audience. The Raven Age is nothing to write home about and frankly doesn’t deserve to be on that stage. Suffice to say that I found the twenty minute queue for the t-shirt stand more enjoyable.

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When the lights go down and UFO‘s Doctor Doctor blasts through the speakers you know it’s Maiden o’ clock, and after Vangelis’ end credits theme for Blade Runner, the band explodes onto the stage with a searing rendition of Caught Somewhere in Time, a song not having been played since 1987. Everyone is in fine form from the start, but kudos must be given to Dickinson, who’s really on point tonight, hitting all the right notes rather effortlessly. Okay, in the higher regions he still sounds like grandpa Simpson on occassion, but we’re used to that by now. Maiden continues with Stranger in a Strange Land (also off of Somewhere in Time just like the opening track) before new ground is trod with three songs from their latest album Senjutsu, starting with The Writing on the Wall. I’m amazed at how well the new stuff goes with the crowd, which consists now of at least three generations of Maiden fans. The Writing on the Wall is being sung along loudly, and Days of Future Past and The Time Machine go down really well too.

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The rest of the evening is a mix of old and new material. Three more songs from Somewhere in Time are being played, with Alexander the Great being the true highlight of the evening. A fan-favourite since 1986, it has been requested ever since but never been played live before this tour. The intro alone immediately sends a buzz through the hall, and the song is absolutely electrifying live. Let’s hope they don’t retire it immediately after the tour. Talking about retiring songs though: I could by now really do without Fear of the Dark. I’m already ecstatic that Maiden has finally dropped a number of played-out classics from the set (like The Number of the Beast, which is a ballsy move), but Fear of the Dark has been so played to death by now that I can’t enjoy it anymore. The same goes for The Trooper; I understand very well that you can’t leave without playing your most recognisable song live, but I’m ready to hear something else.

Luckily, there is enough “something else” during the rest of the evening, with the fantastic Death of the Celts being a definite highlight. Of course there are multiple incarnations of band mascot Eddie entering the stage at one point or another, including a blaster fight between one of them and Bruce Dickinson behind a huge cannon. It’s cheesy, but it’s all very good fun too and you can’t have a Maiden night without these sorts of silly shenanigans. The band finishes the regular set with their self-titled song Iron Maiden before returning for a three-song encore, starting with Senjutsu‘s closing track Hell on Earth. They close out with Wasted Years.

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Props for the band for still being able to bring their top game to the stage for two hours. The energy on the stage is palpatable and infectious and and amount of running and jumping about is admirable for a bunch of old geezers (drummer Nicko McBrain is 71 for Pete’s sake). As long as they can keep this up, I’ll be more than happy to catch them again on subsequent tours and I can’t imagine anyone not having had a brilliant night. Hell, I’m sure everyone has forgotten about that support act anyway. Up the Irons!

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