By Rebecca Bush
The mighty Maiden are accustomed to selling out stadiums, but it’s still impressive to see a sea of
Iron Maiden shirts flow into the O2 in London for night one of their “The Future Past” tour.
Lord Of The Lost, a rock band from Hamburg, is the opening act tonight. As this year’s German entry
for Eurovision, the band has recently enjoyed an increase in publicity. They had the opportunity to
share their industrial gothic metal mix with a sizable crowd tonight, and they do not disappoint!
Chris Harman, a vocalist who is incredibly at ease performing in front of a large crowd, makes the
entire stage his personal domain, completely entrapping the audience in his spell. Chris makes a
powerful debut with the anthem “When The Curtain Falls,” showcasing his excellent range of
guttural and clean vocals in a passionate performance.
They don’t waste any time while performing; each member gives it their all with an incredible level of enthusiasm and charm, which undoubtedly earns them a ton of new admirers. It’s clear that “Blood and Glitter” and other well-known songs like “Morgana” and my personal favourite, “Drag Me to Hell,” have a lot of people singing along to them.
Overall, the set is solid from beginning to end and serves as an excellent lead-up to their impending
headline UK tour in September. Grab a ticket for one of the very few remaining concerts that aren’t
currently sold out, if this is an indicator of what they have to give; the headline show is going to be
incredible.
The fact that Iron Maiden has been doing incredible stage performances for decades and that their
fan base is multigenerational gives tonight’s audience a true family feel, oftentimes literally. A band
that has developed their career to this point simply produces an environment that is wholly unique,
the front row is a solid wall of flags and banners and an event in and of itself.
Bruce Dickinson is an absolute force to be reckoned with, and their energy and intensity appear only to have grown with time. He rips around the stage while belting out track after hit with unlimited vigor. With so many young fans in the audience tonight, it is easy to see why they have had such a significant influence and served as an inspiration for a great number of artists. This makes the tour’s name very
appropriate.
Future Past delivers on its promise to take us on a journey through both classic and contemporary
hits, and not a single one fails to elicit thunderous applause and cheers. They really enhance
everything with their incredible staging and production, which features a thrilling shootout between
Eddie and Bruce during “Alexander The Great.”
By no means your typical stage production, balls off lame shoot back and forth across the stage, and we witness Bruce just fleeing before his machine gun is blasted to pieces! Tonight just proves without a shadow of a doubt that the mighty Iron Maiden still reign supreme and are still not to be missed if ever you have an opportunity to see them live.
