Celebrating 50 years not out, Iron Maiden bring out the big guns to close the first night of Copenhell.
In Kerrang!’s recent Cover Story interview with Iron Maiden, frontman Bruce Dickinson explained that he simply couldn’t go onstage if he was unable to perform to the high standards that he has set himself. Thankfully it seems those days are a way off yet, as not only does the man with the air raid siren voice appear onstage in fine form, he – and the rest of Maiden – are giving it some serious welly.
Perhaps spurred on by the fact they were unable to finish their previous show in Paris due to power outages, and couldn’t give fans the full shebang, the heavy metal legends have the bit between their teeth and bulldozing through their career-spanning set with unmitigated power.
“You’ve all heard it before, but not in this order,” Bruce jokes, nodding to the fact that this Run For Your Lives jaunt is the globe-straddling 50-year celebration of Maiden, pulling together all of their biggest hits from over the decades – from 2 Minutes To Midnight to Phantom Of The Opera to a surprisingly early in the set Number Of The Beast – as well as unearthing Infinite Dreams for the first time in 38 years. And even if the 35,000-strong crowd have heard it all before, it does nothing to lessen the impact, as dust clouds are kicked up in the joyously bouncy circle-pits from the very beginning of opener Murders In The Rue Morgue, and a deafening singalong for Run To The Hills rings out across Copenhell.
But this isn’t just your standard metal show full of bangers, this is Iron Maiden, and the levels of production are still staggering to behold. Overseen by a giant screen that takes up the entirety of the main stage, we’re first treated to an Easter Egg filled streetlit adventure around Leytonstone – taking in pivotal pubs in the early days of Maiden like The Ruskin Arms and The Cart & Horses – before a litany of re-imaginings of classic artwork that transform the mood throughout the set, amongst many ghostly apparitions, ocean explorations and a stunning Eddie that through the magic of stagecraft interacts with the various spotlights and explosively pulls the wiring out of the stage. For a band who have long made a name for themselves by putting on a show, it’s remarkable they can still bewitch and immerse a crowd in their world with new ideas each time.
Of course, some of the set is tried and tested, like Bruce’s flag-waving get-up in The Trooper, complete with a sword-wielding Eddie making his second appearance of the night after an axe attack on Janick Gers earlier in the set. But the singer's love of theatrics is on full display tonight, at times finding himself locked inside a cage, hurtling around the stage in a mask, and under a cloak with a lantern against a full moon backdrop. At one point he’s even sucked into the big screen behind him. All the while looking like he’s having the most fun of everyone here at Copenhell, and that’s saying something.
Because, really, how can you not enjoy Iron Maiden on an epic greatest hits run? One of the best heavy metal bands of all time, still going all guns blazing some 50 years into their career, and managing to enrapture tens of thousands who’ve travelled to the Danish capital from all corners of the world. Judging by the sheer number of Maiden shirts here tonight, this isn’t many people’s first rodeo, and nor will it be their last. A 52-year anniversary celebration, anyone?
Pre-order your Kerrang! x Iron Maiden 20-page zine now.
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