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You have to grant Iron Maiden some balls: their last world tour consisted of playing their newly-released album in its entirety. In fact, the band themselves stood behind plowing through the lengthy A Matter of Life and Death every gig, claiming it was a statement as to how they don’t want to become a novelty rock act who get by on their back catalogue. While their last tour performance still had all the bravado of a traditional Maiden show, many fans salivated for classic material.
In conjunction with the release of 1985’s Live After Death performance on DVD, Maiden have gone somewhere back in time to relive the epic moments of their tour for Powerslave, as well as snippets from tours before and after. But even the most novice of Maiden fans already knew this — and when Somewhere Back in Time, the 2008 tour, rolled into Toronto, the sold-out crowd got exactly what it wanted: two hours of escapist might and magic from a band that’s actually more popular and powerful now than it was in 1985.
The band thundered onto the elaborately decorated stage with Powerslave kickoff “Aces High” — a song that did well to encourage the throng of rabid Maiden fans up front to come together into a seamless mass of singers, fist-pumpers, and euphorics, the epitome of the heavy metal experience. Amongst traditional live servings such as “The Number of the Beast” and “Run to the Hills” lay tracks that Maiden hasn’t played before this tour in quite some time, such as “Powerslave,” “Wasted Years,” and “Can I Play With Madness?”
Perhaps the most well-received of these deep cuts was the inclusion of 13-minute epic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” To date the band’s longest track, Bruce Dickinson successfully tore through line after line of Coleridge’s ballad until the well-deserved break that lies mid-song. The band then unleashed blasts of fireworks and smoke to bring the lengthy song to a monumental conclusion.
Two hours rarely pass so fast, but everyone at the ACC can claim they got their money’s worth from the band. For the entire show Bruce would sprint marathon-like distances across the stage, adorned in various costumes to match the songs (he even brought out the bizarre Pheasant Mask for “Powerslave,” just like in 1985). Props should also be given to Steve Harris, whose fingers cyclone across his bass strings with impressive energy, but who often gets eclipsed by Bruce. Same goes for axeman Adrian Smith, whose sleepy attitude off-stage is the reverse from the absolute rockstar he is in front of a crowd.
Maiden held to their traditional way of closing their first set by playing “Iron Maiden” and having the ten-foot walking replica of Eddie (this time dressed in his futuristic garb from the cover of ’86’s Somewhere in Time) come out and basically lurk about, fighting with the band. For their first encore, Maiden resurrected Seventh Son of a Seventh Son classic “Moonchild,” another track dusted off, and rocked hard, for this tour to rile up many of the more die-hard Maiden aficionados in attendance. After sliding into Seventh Son’s “The Claivoyant,” the band bid adieu with “Hallowed be thy Name” — a song which ends with such power and passion that it makes me wonder why they haven’t been doing this for years (traditionally, Maiden often ends shows with an early song, “Sanctuary”).
One drawback of experiencing a show like this from up close (say, less than ten feet from the stage) is the muddy mess that the sound becomes. Although YouTube confirms that Bruce and the boys sound pretty decent from the back of the venue, the mangled masses in front of the stage don’t quite get the same quality mix. But you’re compensated by the loving wails of lyrics from the crowd that accompany every word uttered onstage.
I’ll admit it’s difficult to write unbiased when reviewing a live performance from my favourite band on earth. But Iron Maiden’s smart setlist, gargantuan stage setup, and unforgettable performance combined into what was certainly the best of the five times I’ve seen them. It’s no wonder the band can still be relevant today, even when they play songs from 15 to 25 years ago. Up the Irons!
Thanks to Bill Whish of Mondo Magazine for the review!
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Tour 2008 
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