It was a little over three years ago when the world eagerly awaited the return of Bruce Dickinson to the land of Maiden. Their eagerness and patience was rewarded with Brave New World, an album with a three guitar attack and brutal vocals delivered by Dickinson. Since then Iron Maiden has sold out Madison Square Garden on numerous occasions, despite getting little to no airplay. Their record sales as well were well over 200,000 units in the USA, again without much help from radio or TV.
Fast forward three years and imagine a sold out Madison Square Garden, where Wayne Gretzky laced up his skates for the final time, and you will see the sold out crowd roaring in appreciation for Motorhead, Dio, and Iron Maiden.
Starting off the evening was Motorhead, mixing the classics with newer songs; Motorhead delivered a good set to start off the evening. Songs such as “Sacrifice,” and “Ace of Spades,” had the crowd in appreciation and once again proved that “Lemmy is god.”
Next off was Dio. Getting some help from Eddie Trunk of Friday Night Rocks before they went on, Dio was ready. Their first song “Killing the Dragon,” had the crowd standing in appreciation. Going through classics such as “Stand Up and Shout,” and “Holy Diver,” Dio showed the crowd that they are a worthy entrée to the band entitled Iron Maiden.
Before I can describe an Iron Maiden concert, I will bring you back to that fateful night when Iron Maiden became a factor in my life. A Saturday night in May of 2000, “The Wicker Man,” is played on Eddie Trunk’s Saturday Night Rocks. Fast forward to July 30th and once again Maiden was ready to light the world on fire with classic Heavy Metal. Blazing through classics such as “The Trooper,” “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” and “Run to the Hills,” Iron Maiden proved that Metal will never die. They also had some time for a little speech before “Wildest Dreams,” the first song off the new album, delivered by Dickinson himself regarding file-sharing. His speech told everyone to call their friends during the song, to download the song, but most importantly to buy the album when it came out. The high point of the night was when Eddie came to life during the final 4 songs.
Most importantly, the sellout at the garden showed that metal knows no rules, it knows only true fans.
Iron Maiden Set List:
Encore:
1. Number of the Beast
2. The Trooper
3. Die With Your Boots On
4. Revelations
5. Hallowed Be Thy Name
6. Wildest Dreams
7. The Wicker Man
8. The Clansman
9. The Clairvoyant
10. Fear of the Dark
11. Iron Maiden
12. Two Minutes to Midnight
13. Run to the Hills
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