QUDOS Bank Arena, Sydney
Thursday 12 September 2024
Photographer/Reviewer : Kevin Bull
Over the course of a near 50 year career, Iron Maiden have earn’t their status within the heavy metal community. Formed in 1975, and a pioneer of the new wave of British heavy metal during the late ’70s and early ’80s, the band rose to the top and have stayed firmly put. Being rediscovered by new generations and the children of fans, and bringing with them a stage production that is quite legendary, it was warming to see a crowd that crossed all ages. What a lovely thing to be able to say that Iron Maiden was one of the first gigs you saw.
Touring Australia on their ‘The Future Past’ tour and in support of their 17th studio album, Senjutsu (2021), the band played at the QUDOS Bank Arena, their first of two sold-out nights in Sydney. The set list has been the same for all Australian shows, a lengthy 2 hour, 15 song night that focused squarely on the aforementioned Senjutsu, and 1986’s Somewhere In Time. Two thirds of the night were cuts from these albums, which left little time for songs that I personally expected to be included. ‘Run To The Hills’ and ‘The Number Of The Beast’ were omitted, as were ‘2 Minutes To Midnight’ and ‘Aces High’. As a casual Maiden listener myself, this appeared a crazy thing to do.
Following a lengthy intro of UFO’s ‘Doctor Doctor’ and Vangelis’ ‘Blade Runner’, the night truly began with a burst of pyro, and ‘Caught Somewhere In Time’. Bruce Dickinson (vocals) is ‘ON’ the moment he hits the stage. Animated, engaging with the crowd, and with the strength of voice that a 66 year old should not carry. Posturing while the mic is in his hand, and on the run when not, it’s hard to not be swept up with his energy.
All band members were a joy to watch, with Steve Harris (bassist) holding a strong focus point near centre stage next to Dickinson. Flanked by a trio of guitarist (Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers), and held solidly in place by drummer Nicko McBrain, musically they were all on point. Visually, it was difficult to know who to watch. Production was quite impressive, with pyro and smoke use sparingly and to great effect. Smoke billowed over the stage and into the crowd during ‘Death of the Celts’ and ‘Fear of the Dark’, a pyro gun battle between Dickinson and ‘Eddie’ during ‘Heaven Can Wait’, and flames being shot over the musician’s heads during the encore, with effective lighting and a big-ass video screen doing the heavy lifting.
‘Eddie’ made a number of appearances with the gun battle with Dickinson being quite exciting to watch. Early in the night during the end of ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’, he appears side of stage and watched the band in mock disdain. And to close out the initial set, ‘Iron Maiden’ saw ‘Eddie’ in a sword/guitar joist with guitarist Janick Gers.
Staging, at first it felt stripped back. Big lights and video screen, but the stage was clear with an upper walkway that wrapped around the back and side of the stage. Where the musicians actually performed, it felt contained by this upper walkway. Dickinson did use this walkway midway and onwards during the set, most effectively during the pyro gun battle with ‘Eddie’. It also provided a great staging point for the overhead pyro during ‘Hell On Earth’.
Personally, I totally enjoyed my evening with Iron Maiden. It’s the third time I’ve seen them, and though staging may have been more elaborate, and the setlist may have included ‘Aces High’ and ‘The Number Of The Beast’ in the past, it was still one of the best hard rock shows you’re going to see.
“Scream for me Sydney“, Dickinson yells. For 50 years we have continued to scream back.
