In support of the band’s latest release and 16th studio album, the Book of Souls, legendary British heavy metal rockers, Iron Maiden stationed themselves at Mansfield, Massachusett’is Xfinity Theatre July 19th to wage a musical battle with their legion of loyal fans. Fans, who have been waiting not only for their favorite band to return to the US for another tour, but for new music as well. Iron Maiden stationed themselves in Mansfield, Massachusetts to wage a musical battle with their legion of loyal fans. Fans, who have been waiting not only for their favorite band to return to the US for another tour, but for new music as well. Souls was delayed by production hurdles and by health scares as well. However, the band persevered and triumphantly rambled on with a solid album of new material and a new stage production that was most impressive.
Maiden has been opening their set each night by blasting their cover version of UFO’s “Doctor, Doctor” and then projecting an intriguing and entertaining CGI action-packed video of their mascot Eddie, whom is almost as famous and popular as the band itself, trudging through ancient catacombs and jungle terrain. But at the end of the video, the voice of Maiden, Bruce Dickinson captured the audience’s attention by singing by himself, center stage above the McBrain’s elaborate drum kit.
Somewhat hidden behind a waist-high cauldron, from which smoke rose and surrounded the cloaked singer, Dickinson growled, bellowed and howled while singing as he wafted in the smoke that rose from the cylinder. And at the end of Dickinson’s time alone on stage, as if the humidity and temperature off-stage weren’t hot enough, immense flames shot out from both sides of the stage as the rest of the band burst out on to the stage. Nicko McBrain (drums), “the three amigos” – Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, and Janick Gers (all on guitar) and the band’s founder, Steve Harris (bass) made their presence known right out of the gate.
Maiden tore through the set opener, “If Eternity Should Fail” and went right into “Speed of Light” and “Wrathchild”, before taking a short break. Dickinson was chatty and greeted the band’s fans, but it didn’t take long before this British machine galloped through three more juggernauts, “Children of the Damned”, “Death and Glory” and “The Red and the Black”. Maiden’s loyal fans, from those decked out in Maiden T-shirts, military regalia, tattoos and Doc Martin boots sang along to every word. The band and their fans were running full-throttle. It was not surprising that the audience knew all of the words and sang along to even the latest material from Souls. It was a sight to behold.
Just over half way through the first set, Maiden unleashed the hounds with an epic version of “The Trooper”. The Xfinity Center was immediately shaken to its foundation. Maiden executed a brilliant build up by playing a solid mix of vintage and more recent songs before raising the bar with “Trooper”. Dickinson unveiled and waved a road-worn, reliced Union Jack above the heads of his mates who were chugging along with their respective instruments below. It was hard to tell who was having more fun, the band or their fans. Regardless, this was a special event for all.
Maiden continued to pull out the stops for the remainder of their set, with “Power Slave”, “Unknown”, “Souls” with which the famed Eddie made his appearance, much to the audience’s approval. Eddie taunted the members of the band as Dickinson played along, acting as if trying to figure out how to immobilize the towering beast. Dickinson cornered Eddie and ripped out his bleeding heart to do so. The crowd went nuts. They played along, just the same. Dickinson squeezed Eddie’s mangled heart and blood oozed from his palm before tossing it into the sea of fans. Maiden then added two final gems “Fear of the Dark” and “Iron Maiden” before ending the initial set. Now the question was raised? What’s next? What about the encore?
As many bands today are doing away with the obligatory five to ten-minute wait between returning to the stage to belt out a few more hits, Maiden stuck with tradition and upped the ante by making their fans wait a few minutes for one final assault to their senses. And who could blame the gents in the band? They’d been running around the stage, non-stop for the past hour or so. They deserved to catch their breath, especially Dickinson, who appeared to have the athletic stamina of a collegiate athlete.
When the pre-recorded introduction to “Beast” began to descend upon the metal-heads in Mansfield, they knew there was more in store and that their patience was to be rewarded. “Beast” was glorious. One had to assume that any seating would be ripped from the concrete and that the barrier between the stage and the audience would soon disappear. “Brothers” followed and the boys wrapped up the encore set with one of their more commercial hits “Wasted Years”.
At the end, most fans got to actually see McBrain for the first time as he emerged from behind his monstrous drum kit, to join his mates at center stage to take a final bow. The smiles between the band and their fans were shared from the stage to the very last row of seats and into the pathetic lawn area, where some of the most die-hard Maiden fans were pressed up against the wooden fence, forced to listen to the music through the outdoor speakers and to really just watch their performance on the unimpressive video monitors that hung from the pavilion framework. However, Maiden’s performance is unmatched at their stage of the game. It’s without a doubt, that with Dickinson in the captain seat, literally flying this production around the world. The thoughts put into the staging, the set list and every other pertinent aspect – proved that the band holds their fans’ with a definitive priority in mind. And, the fans were rewarded with one hell of a show.
Sweden’s multi-award winning Ghost received quite an invitation and golden opportunity to open for Iron Maiden. Their unique stage production and style of music certainly fit in with the headliners’. Papa Emeritus, along with his five nameless ghouls (two on guitar, one on bass, one behind the drum kit and one behind a keyboard) bestowed himself upon the masses that were in their seats early to see the show.
Though, not the first artist to perform in a band with faceprint and masks, Emeritus was convincingly creepy as he emerged from a blast of smoke, raising his left hand signing with his fingers while holding the microphone in his right hand and singing in his own special way. The spotlight, hitting hard on his face, did not deter him from making eye-contact with those in the first few rows behind the barrier below the stage. His black, purple and highly decorated robe was quite impressive. The ghouls, took their roles very seriously as well, rocking out with twin guitar leads and a thunderous rhythm section that only added gravity to the music and production as well.
The music was tight and Emeritus was entertaining, as well as mesmerizing. Ghost opened the night with “Square hammer” and “From the Pinnacle to the Pit” – which were both greeted by raucous cheering from the audience. Also included in their eight song set was the fan favorites “Circle” and “Monstrance Clock” – which completed their “service”, if you will. Some may struggle with finding an appropriate musical genre to label Ghost with but they shouldn’t spend too much time on it. There are certainly elements of doom, metal, neoclassical and even glimpses of good ol’ rock and roll. Regardless, this troupe from Sweden, with their Hagstrom electric guitars, should be taken seriously. It’s clear that there’s an artistic vision within the epicenter of the band and its creative, fun, different and full of potential.
