Review: Iron Maiden at the First Direct Arena in Leeds

With a career dating back to 1975 and 17 studio albums in their repertoire, picking a setlist for an Iron Maiden show must be like choosing your favourite family members. Of course, it's impossible to play every track.

This time the metal titans chose to feature songs not previously performed publicly from the band's most recent studio album, Senjutsu. Whilst also featuring a healthy dose of songs from 1986’s iconic Somewhere in Time record. The latter is something that the band's fans have been asking for, and as the old saying goes, ask and you shall receive.

Fresh off the back of a recent Eurovision appearance, German outfit Lord of the Lost kicked off the show with a wonderful opening set. The group also featured track that they performed at the Eurovision, that being Blood and Glitter. 

With a capacity crowd in attendance, the atmosphere inside of the First Direct Arena was at Fever Pitch as the unmistakable sounds of Iron Maiden’s intro music Doctor Doctor by UFO ushered the six-piece to the stage.

Maiden kicked off the proceedings with Caught Somewhere in Time. With its up-tempo pace and galloping Steve Harris bass line it was the perfect set opener. The track was quickly followed by the classic Stranger in a Strange Land. With two tracks featuring from Somewhere in Time at the top of the show, it certainly set the tone for the night ahead.

Whilst many commentators in the music industry would argue that you need to keep tracks under the four-minute mark to get played on the radio, Iron Maiden has not been afraid to push their boundaries on their latest album. Senjutsu features many tracks in and around the ten-minute and above time brackets. Throughout Wednesday's gig, the band showcased a whole raft of these epic compositions.

The first of which being the single The Writing on the Wall. Whilst the intricate atmospheres, powerful melody, and soaring vocals from Bruce Dickinson certainly hit the spot during Days of Future Past. The Time Machine completed a trio of back-to-back tracks from the band’s latest release.

A further highlight from the album came later in the set by way of Death of the Celts. Although the song started slowly, it is classic Iron Maiden at the core. With Dickinson's poetic lyricism and passionate delivery, the song's Celtic-tinged melody proved to be a real earworm.

Iron Maiden’s trio of guitarists featuring Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers are a triple threat. The band's charismatic high-flying frontman Bruce Dickinson led the charge all night long. Frequently hollering, "Scream for me Leeds" the audience obeyed his every command. Whilst the band’s legendary rhythm section featuring West Ham loving bass player Steve Harris and powerhouse drummer Nicko McBrain were the driving force behind the group.

Throughout the evening, Iron Maiden's setlist was peppered with classics in between key cuts from Senjutsu and Somewhere in Time. A crowd-pleasing airing of The Prisoner was one of those. And the only track to feature from Iron Maiden's legendary Number of the Beast album. The crowd joined Dickinson in unison, singing back the chorus.

The latter stages of the main set were nothing but back-to-back crowd pleasures. Can I Play with Madness, followed by Heaven Can Wait and a rare airing of Alexander the Great, was just the tip of the iceberg. The instantly recognisable sounds of 90s classic Fear of the Dark had the audience singing along at the tops of their voices before the band closed out their main set with an anthemic airing of Iron Maiden itself. As has become customary, the latter came complete with a theatrical appearance from the band’s talismanic figure Eddie.

A three-song encore that concluded with fan favourite Wasted Years closed out the set, whilst perfectly bringing the show full circle with one of the highlights from the Somewhere in Time album.

With a career spanning back to 1975, in Leeds, Iron Maiden proved that the band are still going strong and showing no signs of slowing down.