IRON MAIDEN have begun the European leg of their “The Legacy of the Beast” tour, with a 16-songs set in Tallinn, Estonia. The concert in front of a 10,500-capacity crowd at Saku Suurhall saw the band open with “Aces High”, which hadn’t been performed since 2014, and continue with “Where Eagles Dare”, which was played for the first time in 13 years. The performance featured a large-scale World War II Spitfire fighter plane, which “flew” out over the stage and appeared to fire its guns during set-opener. Front-man Bruce Dickinson shot flame throwers during “Flight of Icarus” and staged a sword fight with “Trooper” style mascot Eddie during “Iron Maiden.”Other surprises during the set included the Blaze Bayley-era classics “The Clansman” and “Sign Of The Cross”, which received their first airings since 2003 and 2001, respectively, as well as three additional tracks that hadn’t been performed in years: “For The Greater Good Of God”, “The Wicker Man” and “Flight Of Icarus”.
This past March, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson said in an interview that there will be “one or two things in the “Legacy Of The Beast” set-list that people are gonna be really surprised by and there will be social media madness after the first show. On the Book of Souls tour there was quite a lot of chatting with the audience. I’m not planning that on this tour because we’ve got so much to do and there’s so much going on. The show and the music is gonna carry the whole bloody thing. … The drama should be in the transitions of the stage and the music.”
The concept for the “Legacy Of The Beast” tour was inspired by MAIDEN‘s mobile game and comic book of the same name and the stage set design features a number of different but interlocking “worlds” with a set-list covering a large selection of 1980s material with a handful of surprises from later albums to add diversity. IRON MAIDEN has shows booked across Europe through Aug. 10, when they’ll wrap it up at the O2 Arena in London. The band has yet to announced a North American leg, but they plan to announce dates in the near future.
The IRON MAIDEN‘s set-list for the Tallinn concert was as follows:
01. Aces High (first performance since July 2014)
02. Where Eagles Dare (first performance since September 2005)
03. 2 Minutes To Midnight
04. The Clansman (first performance since August 2003)
05. The Trooper
06. Revelations
07. For The Greater Good Of God (first performance since June 2007)
08. The Wicker Man (first performance since August 2011)
09. Sign Of The Cross (first performance since January 2001)
10. Flight Of Icarus (first performance since September 1986)
11. Fear Of The Dark
12. Iron Maiden
13. The Number Of The Beast
Encore:
14. The Evil That Men Do (first performance since July 2014)
15. Hallowed Be Thy Name
16. Run To The Hills (first performance since July 2014)
PICTURE GALLERY (All photographs by John McMurtrie)
