You have to feel a bit for Lzzy Hale and her band Halestorm this evening, warming up an Iron Maiden crowd is a notoriously tricky task, but 70,000 fans pretty all clad in a t-shirt showing Maiden mascot Eddie The Head in various guises in Maiden’s backyard of East London? Good luck. To their credit, Halestorm bring their hooky, melodic brand of hard rock to the already packed standing areas and are very well received. That is in no small part due to the incredible, powerful pipes of Lzzy, proving the theory that she is one of the best and most recognisable voices in rock today. The double headed set closer of I Get Off (dedicated to all the ladies) and Everest prepare the crowd perfectly for what is to come.
Iron Maiden @ London Stadium
And what is to come is a genuine treat. A huge, I mean IMAX-sized, screen gives us a whistle stop animated tour of the East End, including the Cart & Horses pub, where Maiden played their first gig and Leytonstone tube station, both getting massive cheers as these locales are only a short journey away from where we are in the London Stadium.
Iron Maiden then arrive and tear through Murders In The Rue Morgue and Killers from their early days. Killers signals the first appearance of 8 foot tall t-shirt star Eddie, wielding an axe and tormenting each band member in turn — this is the theatricality the audience are here for and they respond in kind.
Lead singer Bruce Dickinson then explains that this is a “homecoming” for the band, and particularly band leader and bass player Steve Harris as not only is he from just down the road he is also a die hard West Ham fan, always wearing a claret and blue wristband when playing. We are told that this is as close to a ‘greatest hits’ set as Maiden are ever going to deliver and the band proceed to run through their extensive 50 year career, the screen providing an awesome back drop, completely changing with each and every song, from an Egyptian pyramid for Powerslave, to a nuclear holocaust for 2 Minutes To Midnight, the visuals transport us.
Which brings me to the highlight of the first half — The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, not played regularly for nearly 20 years. Harris’ proggy 1984 interpretation of Coleridge’s epic poem and the band’s incendiary playing is accompanied by the story shown on the big screen — ships, an albatross, corpses and ghosts guide us “on and on across the sea” and we are taken along on a journey, the entire stadium rapt. It also says a lot for the confidence of this late stage Maiden, they are certainly not afraid to play a 13 minute long song over 40 years old. Exceptional.
Maiden then prove the point by sandwiching another long player Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son between the entry level classics Run To The Hills and The Trooper — there really is something for every fan on the setlist tonight.
It is worth noting here that all of the band are at least 66 years old and they spend two full hours running around the stage, I would love to know what is in their cardio routines, it must be brutal. But these are masters of their craft and true professionals — from Janick Gers spinning his guitar above his head frequently, to Bruce Dickinson running all over the back line WHILST SINGING and Dave Murray grinning like a Cheshire cat as he launches into another white hot guitar solo, it’s clear they are still living for nights like this — long may it continue.
The final run of songs is highlighted by Hallowed Be Thy Name, a poignant tale about a man’s thoughts whilst on death row waiting for the hangman’s noose — and Bruce begins the song in an actual cage, then, using some slight of hand and some stage magic, appears on the large screen, bring pursued by a spirit (of death? maybe), as digital Bruce climbs higher he edges towards the noose hanging at the top and is caught by the spirit and ‘dies’ on screen, falling down and disappearing. As the band reach the end of the instrumental part of the song, real Bruce reappears, having escaped from the noose — to much rejoicing and relief from the crowd of course! Simply one of the best pieces of stagecraft I’ve ever seen at a rock show — genuinely jaw dropping and proof of the fact that Maiden try to outdo themselves on each subsequent tour, the crowd are riotous whilst also still trying to process what they have just seen!
From here, all the greatest hits boxes are ticked as promised, a huge Eddie leers out from the screen during Iron Maiden and Eddie then jumps into a Spitfire for officially the best song about the Battle of Britain ever Aces High. The visuals here are amazing as we see Eddie dogfight with German planes, it’s uncanny how the whole crowd are pulled into this truly immersive show.
The ritual mass singalong of Fear Of The Dark is rapturously received, it always generates goosebumps when the crowd sing back all the guitar lines of the entire song. The set is wrapped up with guitarist Adrian Smith’s uplifting Wasted Years. In my book, it is the nearest Iron Maiden get to a proper, upbeat ‘pop song’, that talks about seizing the day and realising how good you have got it right now — an apt closer for a band and crowd that know how good a show they just seen and performed. Can you really say a band have never been better, 50 years into their career? I think the 70,000 people present here tonight might just say yes — and then run for their lives to the tube!
Iron Maiden @ London Stadium
Live review of Iron Maiden @ London Stadium on 28th June 2025 by Alex Kavanagh. Photography by Kalpesh Patel.
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