In his 2001 spoken word show Up For It, the great alternative icon and former Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins perfectly encapsulated the trouble one encounters when serving as the opening band for Iron Maiden.
“If you are in front of eighteen to twenty-thousand Iron Maiden fans,” he said, “the upside is, they only want to see one band. The downside is, you’re not in that band. You are the irritant, they hate your guts.”
Rollins went on to recount the heckles and boos he and his bandmates suffered at the hands of irate Maiden fans when they opened for them, i.e. played before them at a festival, years ago. “I’ve been there, I’ve done it, I’ve survived it,” he said.
Despite such mythology, the crowd gathered inside Rod Laver Arena were respectful towards opening act The Raven Age, offering the UK metal outfit a warm welcome to a Melbourne stage and bookending each song with applause.
But whatever enthusiasm they showed for the band paled in comparison to what transpired once Iron Maiden took the stage. It’s nothing against Raven Age, they simply happen to not be in the one band everyone came to see.
Of course, when it comes to Maiden, the stage is a spectacle unto itself and for this particular tour, which is in support of the band’s latest album, the critically hailed The Book of Souls, it’s done up in an ancient Mayan theme.
Naturally, the motif has led to many comparisons to This Is Spinal Tap‘s famous Stone Henge sequence and even members of the audience gathered inside Rod Laver elbow each other and make tongue-in-cheek Nigel Tufnel references.
Often, they’re making them to their children and even grandchildren. Fans who are too young to remember albums like The Number of the Beast, Powerslave, and in some cases, even 2000’s Brave New World.
It’s a testament to the way the band have been able to transcend generations as well as they transcend their own veteran status (The Book of Souls has been hailed as a fresh and vital release, even rivalling the aforementioned classics).
Fans young and old have come together to celebrate their love of Maiden and hear classic tunes like ‘The Number of the Beast’, ‘Fear of the Dark’, and ‘The Trooper’. However, the classic tunes are admittedly rather few.
Instead, the band opted to focus on their new album and songs like ‘2 Minutes to Midnight’ and ‘Run To The Hills’ are noticeably absent from the setlist. But nobody in the crowd, young or old, really seems to mind. They all came here to see the band, just one band.
Setlist
If Eternity Should Fail
Speed of Light
Children of the Damned
Tears of a Clown
The Red and the Black
The Trooper
Powerslave
Death or Glory
The Book of Souls
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden
The Number of the Beast
Blood Brothers
Wasted Years
