Iron Maiden, Glasgow review: 'as potent as ever'

Iron Maiden, the quintessential overlords of heavy metal, are still riotously entertaining after 50 years, writes Fiona Shepherd

Iron Maiden, Hydro, Glasgow ★★★★

Iron Maiden were in the business of rock theatre long before the advent of the sleek mega-budget productions to which Hydro audiences have become accustomed. These quintessential heavy metal overlords are now marking a half century of metal marauding on the riotously entertaining Run for Your Lives tour.

Most of the band members are pushing seventy but they kicked off at a ferocious pace with Murders in the Rue Morgue, performed against a CGI backdrop of Paris under apocalyptic skies, with pony-tailed frontman Bruce Dickinson packing a heroic amount of energy. “Scream for me Scotland,” he entreated on numerous occasions. It was the least we could do in the face of their steely commitment to their craft, with Dave Murray and Janick Gers indulging in an almost serene exchange of riffs on early track Phantom of the Opera.

Frontman Bruce Dickinson packs a heroic amount of energy (Picture: Calum Buchan)

New boy Simon Dawson, replacing retired veteran Nicko McBrain, staked his place on the tour by drumming up a hurricane on Wrathchild, while the appearance of zombie mascot Eddie, stalking the stage with an axe on the turbo-charged Killers, was heralded by a demonic cackle from Dickinson.

From here, the band jumped from level to level in their playful game world, from the Hammer horror intro to The Number of the Beast to astral Egyptology on the epic metal blues blast of Powerslave, with a masked Dickinson strutting the ramparts, to an arctic seafaring theme for Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which was almost as long as the Coleridge poem of the same name.

Next, colonialism was skewered on the wonderfully hokey Run to the Hills, while Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade provided the impetus for The Trooper, with both Dickinson and Eddie in period uniform. The blitzkrieg continued right through to the encore with Aces High, while Wasted Years seemed unfair comment on a band whose performance was as potent as ever.