Dogmatic

The last time I saw Iron Maiden was in 1985. The band were on their mammoth ‘Powerslave’ World Tour and had set themselves up as one of the biggest bands on the planet. They were at their zenith both musically and visually.

I was also fortunate enough to get to spend several hours with the band at the infamous Countdown studios in Melbourne. The band were filming a ‘live’ version of their song ‘Aces High’ and we got to witness them shooting it approximately 10 times over and then got to hang with them as they signed everything and anything that was presented to them. I was (very) fortunate to get my Powerslave album and a bootleg LP signed by the entire band and was personally given Nicko McBrain’s sweatbands and drumsticks! (I still have them to this day… Twenty-Three years later!)

Twenty-Three years later and age has certainly not wearied the Iron Maiden boys! The show last night was one of the most high energy performances I have seen from any band in my (many) years of gig going! They tore the stage apart and had the crowd in total rapture. Quite honestly, the roar that emanated from the crowd was on of the loudest I have ever heard. It was incredible and just added to the frenetic energy that was pouring off the stage.

The ‘Somewhere Back In Time’ tour features the band paying on a revamped and updated version of their ‘Powerslave’ stage-set. Decked out in Egyptian motif with intricate and detailed backdrops, the stage looked incredibly vast and impressive at the same time.

It truly was a special gig as only Iron Maiden can deliver and just reinforced the fact that even after 30 years together - they are easily the biggest Metal act on the planet. An amazing feat.

Up the Irons!

And for the obligatory cliched look at it all, here’s The Age’s review.

‘Scuse the quality… these were all taken with the iPhone…