Friday night I went to the Iron Maiden concert here in Edmonton at Rexall Place with my buddy RCD. This was my fifth time seeing Maiden in concert and first time in 25 years. My very first concert I ever saw at the Coliseum, which used to be Northlands Coliseum was Iron Maiden back in 1984. This fall there will be a new Coliseum opening here (Rogers Place) so this may very well be the last show I see at the old barn. So I had to go to this show. I grew up as a teen a big fan of Iron Maiden. I'm not the fan of the band as I once was as I haven't bought an album of theirs since 1988's Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. So I'm not all that familiar with there newer stuff. This time around the band are on a world tour in support of there latest album The Book Of Souls. I have listened to it, and have to say, it really does nothing for me. But Iron Maiden always but on a big show and is always a spectacle so I bit the bullet and bought a ticket for the show.
Opening the show on this evening was the band The Raven Age which is led by George Harris the son of bassist Steve Harris of Iron Maiden. I was interested in seeing what they were all about having never heard of them before. All I can say about them is they were nothing special to me. How I miss the days of when Maiden brought great opening bands with them on tour. Some of the bands I have seen open for Maiden back in the day were Twisted Sister in 1984, Waysted in 1987, Guns N' Roses in 1988 and Anthrax in 1991. Really wish there had been a better band opening this time. But nope!!! I only watched about 15 minutes of there set and bailed for a drink and smoke.
The Raven Age at Rexall Place.
By the time Iron Madien came on stage the place had filled up with about 14,000 heavy metal fans. The band came out in a blaze of glory, with all the members closing in on the age of 60, they certainly haven't lost any energy. Lead singer Bruce Dickinson still masters the big stage running and jumping all around the place with is voice still very well intact, bass player Steve Harris hasn't aged one bit, he still looks the same as he always has, 63 year old Nicko McBrain on drums sounded great as did Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers. The band opened with "If Eternity Should Fail" the first song from their new album The Book Of Souls. There almost two hour set didn't have as much old material as I was hoping, they did six new songs which did nothing for me, and only one from Powerslave, an album I really like, doing the title track from said album. Only three songs from Number Of The Beast, one from Piece Of Mind and one from their debut album. And that song was "Iron Maiden" a song that Bruce Dickinson wasn't even part of back then. I loved the old stuff but there just wasn't enough of it for me. Though hearing "Children Of The Damned" was very cool. Highlight for me was hearing "The Trooper" and "Powerslave" back to back, that caught my attention but then it was back to a song I'm not that big of fan of.
For the encore they played "Number Of The Beast" which was really good, with a blow up devil making an appearance, and of course Eddie the mascot made his appearance a few times in the course of the night. After Number it was another song "Blood Brothers" that I'm not familiar with and felt like it went on to long. They closed out the show with "Wasted Years" from their 1986 album Somewhere In Time. Bruce also mentioned during the show that this was Iron Maidens 100th Canadian date they have done in the history of Maiden. I'm glad I went to the show but would I rush out to see them again, probably not, but if you are a die hard Maiden fan, and there were lots at the show, I am sure you loved it. Good times!!!
Earlier in the day my buddy Q was at the Edmonton International Airport and snapped these pictures for me of the Ed Force One which is the Boeing 747 that Iron Maiden travel in, which is piloted by the lead singer of Maiden Bruce Dickinson. Thanks for the pictures Q.
Ed Force One at the EIA.
Iron Maiden setlist for Edmonton.
Iron Maiden at Rexall Place in Edmonton.
T-shirt front.
T-shirt back.
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