The mighty Iron Maiden made its way to Denver Saturday night on its “The Future Past World Tour,” which found the band’s setlist leaning heavily on both their latest record, “Senjutsu,” and their classic 1986 release, “Somewhere in Time.”
I’ll be honest, I had mixed feelings about going. To be clear, I love Iron Maiden. The string of five records from “The Number of the Beast” through “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” are a staggering feat of quality, consistency, and classic-ness that few catalogs of any metal band can compete with. In 1984, I was a scrawny kid running cross country for my high school each weekend, with vocal tracks like “Aces High,” “The Prisoner,” and “The Trooper” as well as the deep-cut instrumental “Losfer Words” lodged in my brain, playing inside my head and somehow keeping my feet moving past the pain of a 5K race. Iron Maiden provided the soundtrack to my runs and some sweaty nights of air guitar performances in my bedroom. Ah, the memories of music in my youth were strong and positive…something that going to see a beloved band now 40 years later puts at serious risk.
Let’s be honest. We’re all getting older, and there’s no shame in that. But it presents a difficult reality. They say that first impressions matter. I say that final impressions also have a major impact, and in recent years, I’ve seen a few shows that tragically tarnished the legacy of some of my favorite acts growing up. This was the risk of going to see Maiden in 2024. Bruce had battled cancer. Nicko suffered a stroke. Father Time has a way of coming for us all and the fountain of youth has yet to be discovered.
Would “The Future Past World Tour” solidify my fears that the days of seeing Eddie’s gang in respectable form had in fact moved far into the past? Just outside the photographer’s pit, moments before the lights dimmed and the ever-familiar strains of UFO’s “Doctor Doctor” wafted through the arena’s speakers, I was told by a Maiden rep, “Don’t feel bad if you can’t keep up with Bruce, nobody can.” Turns out she was right.
I was so happy to see the slightly-mad front man racing around on an elevated runway stage left and right drawing in all levels of the arena. Bruce perched high above Nicko’s claustrophobic drum set center stage, bending over at one point to bang the gong and sparred in a gun battle with Eddie, all adding both nostalgia and energy to the show. Denver’s mile-high altitude has a way of kicking lead singers’ asses, especially ones that are hyper. Bruce showed no signs of slowing down, losing his breath, or ducking expected high notes throughout the night. Up the Irons! Bruce brought a remarkable energy that defied his mid-60s age, and that was a welcome, pleasant surprise.
What about Nicko? One doesn’t exactly just bounce back from a stroke. I wondered if tempos would drag and the fills be jettisoned for simple timekeeping. While Nicko’s setup makes it nearly impossible to see him playing on stage, he took the stage with a triumphant shaking of fists to the crowd before settling in. He was the last one to leave the stage at the end of the main set, beaming a huge grin and tossing a couple of drumsticks to reach fans on the floor. Up the Irons! His set was mic’d and mixed well and sounded punchy and steady throughout the night!
And ‘arry? Well, Steve Harris delivered a classic Steve Harris performance of galloping bass lines, spraying the crowd occasionally with imaginary shots from the bass and jubilantly bouncing up and down (especially during “Fear of the Dark”) that inspired nearly the entire crowd on the floor to join in.
The three-man guitar onslaught of Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, and Janick Gers was an endless onslaught of rock face poses, signature tandem chorusing solos, and melodic power chords that delivered charges of electricity throughout the arena all night. Up the Irons! The band sounded cleaner and tighter in the cavernous Ball Arena than many previous acts that have blown through in days of the past.
The setlist was a pretty good mix of new and old tracks, as mentioned previously featuring five songs from “Senjutsu” and five from “Somewhere in Time,” including the until-recently never performed live “Alexander the Great.” In a perfect world, I would have traded out a few “Senjutsu” tracks for “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” “Flight of Icarus” and “Number of the Beast,” but I have to give props to the band for sticking to promoting the new material and not trotting out the same old setlist year after year. Perhaps the largest sag of energy in the set was “Death of the Celts,” which felt like it lasted longer than the audience’s attention span a bit, but “Can I Play With Madness,” “Heaven Can Wait” and “Fear of the Dark” all had a very galvanizing effect on the audience made up of many older members, but also represented by teens and an early 20s crowd.
Worthy of note is that the setlist also includes a historically rare performance of “Alexander the Great.” The first song in the encore set was “Hell on Earth,” which was accompanied by spraying flames that added a nice production touch, though the bomber plane was noticeably absent in this more futuristic-themed production. The video screens were very high resolution, making Dickinson’s antics highly visible even to the cheap seats in the rafters. “The Trooper” is an iconic Iron Maiden song with the classic galloping baseline and striking war soldier Eddie graphical backdrop energized the crowd as the second track of the encore set.
Perhaps fittingly, the show ended with “Wasted Years,” and the lyrics calling us all to “realize you’re living in the golden years.” While much of the crowd and men onstage could be classified as living in the twilight years of life, the show made a convincing case that you’re never too old to rock and roll. And perhaps most tellingly, if this is the last memory I have of seeing Iron Maiden live, it’s a good one to hold on to.
