LIVE REVIEW: IRON MAIDEN With Special Guests Killswitch Engage

British heavy metal titans Iron Maiden launched their Australian tour in blistering fashion at a sold out RAC Arena in Perth. The Future Past World Tour has had Maiden fans chomping at the bit after previous tour cancellations but any worrying doubts that a band who is heading towards it’s 50th anniversary would be showing signs of slowing down anytime soon, were quickly dispersed as the band ripped through a fifteen song set, of old & new. As the classic UFO track ‘Doctor Doctor’ blared across the arena and lights dimmed, the black fabric sheets were stripped back from the stage to reveal the artwork depicting a mix of the album’s this tour brings together; ‘Somewhere in Time’ and ‘Senjutsu’. Vangelis’s ‘Blade Runner’ theme echoed across the expectant room before the opening bars of ‘Caught Somewhere in Time’ lifted the crowds excitement as the stage filled with explosive fireworks and Iron Maiden’s Dickinson, Harris, Smith, Murray & Gers sprinted out like a group of youthful teens on their way to the park.

McBrain, hidden behind his now infamous drum kit led the way, setting down a thunderous rhythm with Harris powering alongside him. A playful Bruce sounds as good as ever as he teased the crowd with this exuberant hand gestures, encouraging cheers and punches in to the air. ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ is next and it hits me that already, this early into the show, we could be witnessing something quite special tonight, as the band roar on. Dickinson is in a playful chatty mood tonight with Quokkas the main subject of discussion early on. The first of the newbie’s ‘The Writing on the Wall’ is received extremely well with the RAC Arena crowd in full voice – and even Eddie can’t resist to be in on a little bit of the action as he makes a brief appearance for the first time tonight.

‘The Time Machine’ reminds us that the recent ‘Senjutsu’ produced some extremely memorable tracks, before the crowd explode to the opening audio from The Number of the Beast’s ‘The Prisoner’. I had been disappointed at Iron Maiden’s last visit to Perth when they toured The Book of Souls. I had felt like they were going through the motions that night but tonight they were back to their very best – having seen the band eight times previously, tonight is up there as one of the top two or three shows I have witnessed – precise, powerful, playful. The trio of Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers showed their artistry in incredibly precise fashion as they tore through memorable guitar licks and solos with extreme ease. Gers in particular was a sight to behold, throwing his guitar around his neck at ever opportunity, while dancing and running each and every way possible. Steve Harris defies age and tonight reminded me of Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up – sprinting across the stage at times ensuring every corner of the arena got his undivided attention as he pointed and fired his Fender Precision bass across the crowd.

‘Death of the Celts’ was long and drawn out but again highlighted the artistic precision from Maiden before another playful anecdote from Dickinson about a former girl friend called Anges led us into ‘Can I Play With Madness’ (thanks Bruce – I can’t get Can I Play With Agnes out of my head now)! A welcomed return to the set for ‘Heaven Can Wait’, ensured we could all charge our lungs as the arena sang in unison. Fans have cried out for ‘Alexander the Great’ to reach the live forum and tonight the band finally obliged, and boy was it worth the wait – epic stuff! A word on Dickinson tonight – for a man who has the job of hitting these powerful notes each and every night, there seemed no sign of his voice giving up or wavering. Powerful and precise he set the bar high for a tour that has the country’s fan excited and he looks like he is going to enjoy bringing that to the people.

Another fan favourite, ‘Fear of the Dark’, from the 1992 album of the same name, threatened to raise the roof and again Perth were in full voice, assisting Bruce at every opportunity – goosebump stuff! The now customary ‘Iron Maiden’ filled the air with a double Eddie appearance, his twelve foot samurai version strode on to the stage waving his Japanese blade, while his twenty five foot head nodded at us implying we had served them well tonight.

If there were any fears we weren’t getting any encores tonight then that was quickly dispelled with a trio of them/ ‘Hell on Earth’ was stunning both visually and musically as streams of fire blazed and danced across the stage – I was sat a good forty feet away and could feel the heat. ‘The Trooper’ received the biggest cheer of the night, but gone are the days of Dickinson in bright red tunic waving the Union Jack high above his head. No, tonight it was delivered with gusto and a juvenile Bruce running across the rear ramps like it was 1986 once more. ‘Wasted Years’ closed the night leaving the Perth crowd exhausted of all feeling, having all our senses well and truly drained.

As Monty Python’s ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life’ filled the air, the buzz of chatter could be heard as 14,000 fans compared notes, discussed highlights and exited in sheer disbelief. Iron Maiden showed what a stadium band can and should be delivering to their fans; a fun filled journey to yesteryear and back, but with no sign of applying the brakes just yet. The best I have seen them? Pretty damn close. Outstanding!

Set List: Caught Somewhere in Time, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Writing on the Wall, Days of Future Past, The Time Machine, The Prisoner, Death of the Celts, Can I Play With Madness, Heaven Can Wait, Alexander the Great, Fear of the Dark

Encore: Hell on Earth, The Trooper, Wasted Years.

The Rockpit would like to thank Kerry O’Brien for the media access, to the wonderful RAC Arena staff and to Iron Maiden and their wonderful team for opening the tour in our city.

Photos by Mark Diggins (The Rockpit).