Live Review: Iron Maiden in London, UK

Within Temptation

I’m not personally a big fan of Within Temptation, or at least I wasn’t till this concert. They had always been a bit to theatrical for my taste. However, knowing the concert approached I started listening to some of their stuff and discovered a few more songs by them, but was still not really impressed. The crowd didn’t exactly go wild for them, but they did give a cheer and acknowledge Within Temptation, and I even found myself, singing along to the words I knew.

I came to the conclusion Within Temptation were better live than they are in studio albums. Having said that, they even had the weather on their side. As they begun, clouds loomed over Twickenham Stadium casting a shadow over us all. It couldn’t have come at a better time, and Within Temptation seemed to control the darkness. At the end of their set they took a strong bow, they’re work was done and they had found a new fan in me.

Avenged Sevenfold

After being pleasantly surprised by Within Temptation, I was hoping for more of the same from Avenged Sevenfold. As they lunched into their songs, I didn’t quiet feel they were really in it, not really giving it their all. Maybe they were used to a crowd that was screaming at the top of their lungs for them, and didn’t quiet appreciate they were a support band, though they said it was an honour. I’m not saying they were bad live, I’m sure they’d be amazing in their own concert, but they could have given a bit more.

Sadly, Avenged Sevenfold’s time on stage was ended in a bad way, when they lead singer took a bottling on the last song. Having none of it he just stopped, and the band said goodbye in the best way they could given the reason for the early exit. I personally felt this was uncalled for, and that Avenged Sevenfold were great. And I’m happy to say I wasn’t the only one; I happened to notice three head bangers going mental on the other side of the stadium, nice work guys!

Iron Maiden

As if there was any doubt in my mind that Iron Maiden would be nothing short of outstandingly brilliant, that was put to rest before Maiden were even on stage. The crowd was hyped up before the support bands had even done, chanting “Maiden, Maiden, Maiden” between each band, as if in the hope Iron Maiden would come on early and we’d get an extra hour of their time. If only. I sat down about 5 minutes before Iron Maiden came, hot dog in hand (I have a thing about eating hot dogs at concerts, I never eat them anywhere else), and the hype everyone was creating was almost overwhelming, I think we all knew something special was coming.

Churchill’s Speech filled the stadium, and the crowd went mental, as it came to a close Iron Maiden burst onto the stage wasting no time with introductions, and blasting everyone with Aces High, an amazing treat for everyone, and excellent for me, being as Aces High is my favourite Maiden song.

For people who had never seen Iron Maiden live before, like my friends, and me this was outstanding. I’d seen Iron Maiden live on DVD, Live After Death, but actually seeing it, being a part of it, nothing compared. As if Iron Maiden’s songs weren’t powerful and jaw dropping enough, seeing them live amplified that by ten, if not more. Even the stage was amazing, taking on the Ancient Egypt theme, which reminded me and many others probably of the stage used in Long Beach Arena, as shown in Live After Death.

The world tour Iron Maiden are still on is in support of the release of Live After Death on DVD and their latest greatest hits release, made up from albums they released from 1980 to 1989, called Somewhere Back In Time. On certain songs the background of the stage changed, and of course with The Trooper, Bruce Dickinson (lead singer) had to pull out a Union Jack and wave it high and proud, reminding everyone as if we’d forgot, Iron Maiden are English, and they were rocking their home tonight.

Fear of the Dark, when this song begun, and everyone, including myself, chanted along to the opening legendary riff it was the most amazing feeling in the world, and nothing compared, to share that with a whole stadium of people, and the legends that are Iron Maiden, was something I will never forget, that feeling will burn inside of my forever. Iron Maiden gives that feeling to people with their music, and that’s why they are one of most successful bands in heavy metal. They are metal.

Verdict: This was the best concert of my life! Iron Maiden’s music made a connect with me on their albums, but live, not only did it connect to me, it became part of me. The legends that are Iron Maiden will never be forgotten, that night at Twickenham Stadium will never be forgotten. If you ever get a chance to see Iron Maiden live, do it, because it will change your life.

Nick