Live Review: Iron Maiden - AO Arena, Manchester
30th June 2023
Support: Lord of The Lost
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch Photography
It’ll be thirty-five years in August – the 20th, to be exact – that I first saw Iron Maiden live at the 1988 Monsters of Rock extravaganza at Donington Park. And, regardless of the passage of time and how often I have seen the band, there’s still a shiver of excitement as I walk into the venue, knowing Iron Maiden will be performing on that stage. Tonight.
I like to get in a bit earlier than normal to soak up the atmosphere as the Arena begins to fill, the tape playing over the speakers is full of classic NWOBHM tracks from Rainbow, Girlschool, Motorhead and more; and those nostalgia pieces compete with the increasing chatter filling the vast hall.
The stage is set for support band, Lord of the Lost and I’ve seen enough shows to know no matter who you are, opening for certain legacy bands is a thankless task. For the most part we’re mildly indifferent to whomsoever is playing as most of us want them off and Maiden on.
In keeping with the overall theme of the evening, the German gothic neo-industrial band arrive to a Blade Runner-style intro tape and crank into The Curtain Falls, followed by the post-Rammstein sound of Morgana. Attired like extras from a post-apocalypse wasteland, the band image suggests a far heavier sound then they, for the most part, deliver. Dry the Rain attracts a big clap-along from the steadily growing audience and is clothed in a euro-pop sensibility; Loreley sees vocalist Chris Harms getting up close and personal with the front row as he stands on the barrier, a member of the security staff holding onto his ankles for grim death. Drag Me to Hell closes things out with an anthemic party stomp and, before leaving, Chris announces Lord of the Lost will return in the autumn (he said “the fall”, but I’m not playing that game) for a series of headlining shows.
Iron Maiden had gifted their support act with an impressive amount of space and a multi-tiered stage set, which all has to be dismantled before the main show can begin; but the road crew are nothing if not efficient and it doesn’t take too long until the stage is bare and ready to be unveiled.
You know it’s coming; I know it’s coming; but when those first bars of UFO’s Doctor Doctor begins to play I think a little bit of wee comes out. It’s so synonymous with the start of a Maiden show that even hearing the song elsewhere has me, Pavlovian-style, expecting a two-hour spectacle will follow.
Vangelis’ End Titles from Blade Runner gives way to the synth chords of Caught Somewhere in Time which hasn’t been in the set since the end of the ‘86/ ’87 tour. It’s greeted like an old friend and welcomed like a prodigal returning. Bruce seems to be having an issue with his monitors and he does not seem happy about something; he gives both a sturdy boot and one of the crew appears to reposition them.
Save for a few inclusions on the US leg of the 1999 Ed Hunter tour, Stranger In a Strange Land is dusted off for the first time since the Somewhere In Time trek of the mid-Eighties and, this time, we get a full-length coat and hat wearing Eddie entering the stage and taking an elbow on the right-side gantry as though it were a bar.
But for the opening three songs of last year’s Legacy of the Beast shows, the Senjutsu album had not been road-tested. The Future Past tour is the perfect time to show off a few of the other tracks from the latest record, with the triple-whammy of The Writing on the Wall, Days of Future Past and The Time Machine given an early showing. Obviously, these songs haven’t had the longevity of other parts of the back-catalogue, but they are introduced with a Back to the Future reference, in keeping with the Eighties nostalgia of the evening.
Death of the Celts’ ten-minute run-time is illustrated by lush new artwork and is positioned between the old favourite singalongs of The Prisoner and Can I Play With Madness. It’s almost as though Bruce was giving our voices a rest. No luck following that, as the huge chorus of Heaven Can Wait lies in the wings, with its additional whoo-whoos. We get the full on Somewhere In Time cyborg for this one, tooled up with a laser gun and not afraid to use it.
On the gantry directly in front of us is a cannon and Eddie and Bruce duke it out shot for shot.
Even the ’86/ ’87 tour didn’t include Alexander the Great and many of us thought we’d never hear it played live, so it’s inclusion on this tour is a double-bonus and a welcome gift to us old timers. The now obligatory one-two of Fear of the Dark and Iron Maiden finish the show, as the Senjutsu Eddie brandishes a sword and a huge head inflates behind Nicko’s kit.
The excellent newbie, Hell on Earth, the classic The Trooper and the goes-without-saying Wasted Years form the encore tracks, leaving on Always Look on the Bright Side of Life to entertain us as we leave the arena.
The show isn’t as tactile as previous tours, and by that I mean there’s no spitfire prop and Bruce isn’t strapped to a flame-thrower. What there is a searing lights and aesthetic of the ancient and the futuristic being forced together like nuclear fusion.
With British Lion last night and Iron Maiden tonight I’ve seen more of Steve Harris this week than I have my own wife (bless her). No matter how often I see this band it always leaves me feeling refreshed and hopeful; with Star Wars now being royally knackered, Iron Maiden is the only cultural institution I have left to still believe in.
All photo credits: Tim Finch Photography
