Iron Maiden

PNC Music Pavillion, Charlotte, NC

July 22, 2019

On Monday July 22, Iron Maiden brought their "Legacy of the Beast" tour to the PNC Pavillion in Charlotte, NC. If you have not seen Maiden recently, or at all, don’t miss them on this tour. This is absolutely one of the best concerts I have ever seen! Maiden is truly a legendary band.

The Raven Age, with Steve Harris's son, George Harris, on guitar opened the show. This isn't the first time one of Harris's children has opened for Maiden. His daughter, Lauren, played on their tour about ten years ago. Having a father that's a legendary metal musician comes with its advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are obvious: you open for a legendary band in front of thousands of their fans. The disadvantages: you open for a legendary band in front of thousands of their fans. I wasn’t overly familiar with the The Raven Age put on a good show and kept the fans in the covered area entertained. Their music is similar to Iron Maiden with a strong emphasis on guitar and vocal melodies, combined with the more contemporary elements like blast beats.

As the light began to fade, the crowd became anxious. Maiden is never late. Blasting over the PA, UFO's "Doctor, Doctor" suddenly turned to "Churchhill's Speech." Everyone knew Maiden was only moments away. At nine pm sharp the curtain drops and Iron Maiden roars into their set with fan favorite "Aces High." A life size World War II Spitfire war plane hangs overhead and vocalist Bruce Dickinson is in full bomber attire. "Where Eagles Dare," "Two Minutes to Midnight," and "The Trooper" followed. Changes in the set and Dickinson's costumes were common, but planned so carefully that they never broke the flow of the music. The massive winged figure Icarus hung overhead during, what else, "Flight of Icarus." Dickenson appeared as cloaked man with a lantern for "Fear of the Dark" and as a British soldier for "The Trooper" during which the crowd eagerly awaited the arrival of a twelve foot Eddie, the ghoulish figure that has been the band’s mascot for nearly forty year. Eddie stomps around the stage, chasing the band, and even sword fights with Dickinson. Maiden balances the darkness and camp aspects of demonic imagery, lyrics, and theatrics better than any other band.

The most surprising element was the inclusion of "The Clansman" and "Sign of the Cross, " from the Blaze Bayley era from the mid nineties. You have to respect Dickenson for performing songs the band did with another vocalist. In too many bands ego would prevent this from happening. Knowing what part of the country he was in, Dickenson sarcastically made a point prior to the song “Clansman” that it begins with a “C” and not a “K.”

Maiden closed out the night with “The Evil That Men Do,” "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and of course, "Run to the Hills." It's difficult to believe every member of the band is now in their sixties as they ran around the stage with the energy of a band half their age. Maiden perform with an unparalleled fervor. They have the musical precision of a symphony, the presentation of a Broadway ensemble, and the passion of a young band with something to prove. They have an unrivaled professionalism that displays the love of what they do and a refusal to let down an audience. There simply is no one else in the same league.

The Maiden faithful were an impressive lot as well. Although standard concert attire has always included band shirts, I have never seen such an overwhelming display of one band’s merch. The pervasive joke is that you don’t wear the shirt of the band you are going to see. No one told the Maiden fans. It's conceivable that somewhere between a third and a half of the 19,000 in attendance were in Maiden shirts. Whole families, parents in their forties and fifties with children in their teens or younger, were all wearing Maiden gear. Every time I passed a merch line it was at least a hundred people deep. It was so overwhelming that I became instant friends with the only other person I saw wearing a Sleep band shirt as we were hopelessly outnumbered. The Maiden regulars looked at our shirts and gave us that "come on, you know better than that" look your grandmother might give you when you misbehaved as a child. We will now have to live with our shame.

Although this tour is basically a greatest hits tour, Bruce Dickinson has always argued against the notion that Maiden are a nolstagia act and these are nolstagia tours. It's a fair argument as the band has continued to put out new music every four or five years and toured in support of those albums. Dickenson asserts tours such as this are for fans who may have missed them in the past, or are too young to have seen many of the older songs live before. That’s one of the greatest aspects of a band at this level -they can play whatever they want, whenever they want, and the crowds will be there.

The “Legacy of the Beast” tour is just getting started. It will continue in the states through September before heading the South America in October. Don’t miss this show!

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