IRON MAIDEN
Planes! eddies! Madness! We fly to Stockholm to hang with Maiden on their legacy of The Beast tour. You don’t wanna miss this…
“ASpitfire, for christ’s sake.” adrian Smith shoots a bemused smirk at the ceiling as the reality of the words coming out of his mouth hit him, quite possibly for the very first time. He pauses a moment before looking back at Hammer and saying it again: “a Spitfire.”
today, we join Iron Maiden’s no-nonsense guitarist alongside two of his bandmates on a sunny Friday afternoon, locked in the bowels of Stockholm’s impressive, 40,000-capacity tele2 arena. Most weeks the stadium is used as the home ground of Swedish top flight football teams Hammarby and Djurgårdens. today, though, its purpose is just a little different. In just a short while, the tele2 will be playing host to what has been widely and loudly described as one of the single biggest shows in heavy metal history. Iron Maiden rarely do things by halves, but even by their standards, this is – pun very much intended – a different beast entirely.
as Killswitch engage kick off their support slot somewhere above us, adrian, foreverbeaming fellow axeman Dave Murray and bassist/Band General Steve Harris, are taking some time to reflect on the early stages of what is proving to be something of an historic tour for the metal legends. on the face of it, the ‘legacy of the Beast’ moniker seemed to suggest little more than another Greatest
Hits jaunt – a chance to return some standard Maiden classics to the set after two years plugging new material. except, that isn’t how it’s quite panned out.
“We’ve pushed our boundaries,” says Steve with a sly grin. “We’ve made things bigger, we’ve made things better. It’s a bit ambitious. anything could go wrong.
It could all go a bit Spinal Tap!”
“the show was even a surprise to me,” adds Dave. “there’s more going on in this set than we’ve had for a very long time. I had seen some photos in pre-production, but when you actually see it properly… holy shit. It’s amazing.”
By now, unless you’ve not heard of something called the Internet, or are simply a spoiler-dodging pro (if it’s the latter, stop reading), you’ll have already heard tales and seen select snippets from Maiden’s latest stage spectacular. For starters, there’s a brand new, big-ass eddie, made especially for the tour. there’s more pyro and fire than they’ve
“JESUS, THIS IS A HANDFUL”
ADRIAN REMEMBERS THE FIRST TIME HE SAW THE NEW STAGE SHOW
had in years. there are moments where the entire look of the set itself undergoes a dramatic makeover. there’s also an abundance of extra props and costume changes, pretty much for every song of the entire set – and that’s just for Bruce Dickinson (more on that later). oh, and then there’s that bloody plane. a lifesize Spitfire replica, spinning propellers and all, hovering over the opening part of the set as the band steam through Aces High. It really isn’t an
exaggeration to say that this is likely the biggest show Iron Maiden have ever done. Bigger than Book of Souls. Bigger than Powerslave. Bigger, even, than 2008’s legendary Somewhere Back In time.
“When I first saw the set I thought, ‘Jesus, this is a bit of a handful’, you know?” admits adrian, who remains typically perplexed by the whole thing. “It’s pretty incredible. But then, our music’s always been dramatic and crying out for production, right from the days of Phantom Of The Opera, Iron Maiden and all that. So as long as it doesn’t interfere with my amp, they can do what they like. although in the run-through I did get a bit too close to Bruce’s flame gun…”
Wait, there’s a flame gun? “Yeah, that’s right,” chuckles Dave, a man who seems to have never been in a bad mood in his entire life. “We have to keep on our toes a little bit. Bruce is playing with fire now, so you don’t want to get in his way. He also came up with some great ideas for his costumes, too, and other little moody things here and there. He’s having a blast.”
Indeed, the more that we find out about (and, eventually, see of) the show, the more it seems that the frontman’s knack for being a bit of a show-off is in full effect. While the guys don’t want to spoil Bruce’s full involvement before we see it for ourselves, they do all allude to the singer having filled his wardrobe with new oddities, apparently spending an inordinate amount of time in, as Steve puts it, “some weird shops”.
“He’s put so much into the show,” adds the bassist. “It’s fun, it’s atmospheric, it’s drama, it’s theatre and he loves it. It’s great to see him that excited.”
Being excited is one thing, but for a band who have so little to prove, it speaks of
Maiden’s ambition that they’d decide that now, in between album cycles, is the time to ramp up their show more than ever. With no new record
to plug, it’s a serious statement of intent: when Maiden come to town, you pay attention.
“It is a statement,” agrees Steve, matter-offactly. “We’ve had to spend more money for this, but when you want to make things bigger and better, it costs more. I suppose there could be something we try one day where we’re like, ‘oh my god, what have we done here?’, but you have to be ambitious. Plus, you can have all these ideas, but to get them to actually work is another thing.”
Is it safe to say that we can probably guess whose idea the Spitfire was, at least?
“obviously, Bruce was the one who chose the plane,” laughs Steve. “and that was fairly ambitious, especially being in the opening song! a lot of people would have just done that at the end. But again, it’s a statement. We’re coming out with that. and maybe we can’t really better it later on, but it’s an eye-opener.”
Spitfires, flamethrowers, set changes, costume changes and brand new eddies are reason enough to be excited about a new Maiden show, and yet, true to form, they still had some other surprises up their sleeves. When legacy of the Beast officially took off at the tour’s first show in tallinn, estonia, on May 26, Maiden also unveiled their new setlist, song-bysong (and prop by prop), on Instagram. Aces High kicking things off is never a bad shout – has a better set-opener ever been written? – but it was what followed that really got the Internet losing its shit. Put plainly: this is one of the most surprising, varied, rarities-filled sets the buggers have ever put together. You can usually expect at least one sparsely played cut to make a reappearance in any given Maiden tour, and dropping Where Eagles Dare for the first time since 2005 would be enough to tick that box.
But that’s just the start of it. The Wicker Man makes a welcome return after the better part of a decade on the bench. there’s also not one, but two prime cuts from the Blaze Bayley era: The X Factor epic Sign Of The Cross and Virtual
XI’s The Clansman. there’s a surprising dip into 2006’s vastly undervalued A Matter Of Life And Death, courtesy of For The Greater Good Of God. Want more? How about a song they haven’t played in more than 30 years? Hello, Flight Of Icarus. Sandwich all that between iron-clad Hall of Famers like 2 Minutes To Midnight, The Evil That Men Do, Hallowed Be Thy Name and
Run To The Hills and you have a veritable smorgasbord of heavy metal history.
“It’s a good set,” allows Steve. “Bruce chose most of it, actually. Normally it’s me and him that choose it together, but this time he pretty much chose it all. It’s an interesting set to play, and it’s important for us to go out there and feel fresh and not like we’re going through the motions. It’s a good balance of songs, and hopefully it’s interesting for the audience.”
Judging by the reactions so far, it’s probably safe to say that Maiden’s audience are very much into it.
“PEOPLE HAVE GOT TO PUSH THE BOUNDARIES”
STEVE SAYS BANDS NEED TO TAKE RISKS TO MAKE IT
“THIS IS THE BEST PRODUCTION WE’VE
EVER DONE”
DAVE HAS SEEN ’EM ALL, SO HE’D KNOW
“I think Bruce made some great choices,” agrees Dave. “It showcases different eras, and we were really able to explore a lot of dynamics in these songs that transfer over to the best production we’ve ever put out there. I just love being able to play Flight Of Icarus again. It’s short and sweet, and the piece of production that goes with that is pretty incredible.”
“God, I can’t remember the last time I’d played Flight Of Icarus,” adds an exasperated adrian. “But it’s great. It’s a good live song, so it’s nice to have that in there. and there’s Clansman, with the ‘Freedoooom!’ and all that. Sign Of The Cross, also…”
“and then there’s For The Greater Good
Of God, that’s a beautiful song to play,” chimes in Dave. “I love playing every single one of them. Some of them are challenging, and some of them you can just go for it, but I love them.”
It’s nice that Maiden are as excited to be playing these songs again as fans are to be hearing them. the fact that Bruce wanted
two Blaze-era tracks in the set – songs which clock up a hefty 20 minutes between them – is also a reminder that it’s still possible for ego to be left at the door when it’s in the name of putting on a kickass show.
“People go on about the ‘Blaze era’ and Bruce doing those songs, but if we do anything from the first two albums, Bruce isn’t on those either, and I don’t really see that there’s that much difference,” replies Steve, a little wearied by people treating the Blaze albums like an oddity in the band’s canon. “It’s all part of Iron Maiden, and he’s got a good attitude towards that. He’s never forcing my hand. anyway, these days, we get right to the end of each tour and Bruce is already talking about the set he wants to do on the next one! We’re like, ‘Bloody hell.’ You can’t knock that enthusiasm.”
With spirits in the fold at an all-time high, it’s probably an easy bet that a new album will be in Maiden’s sights somewhere down the line. that said, the 21st century has seen increasingly long periods between new records, with five long years passing between The Final Frontier and 2015’s The Book Of Souls. With the latter now approaching three years in the can, is it safe to say that we shouldn’t be waiting for album number 17(!) quite yet?
“Yeah, it’ll be a while,” admits Steve. “We’ve got this cycle going on. I’m pretty damn sure we will do another album, and then
all well and good, we’ll go out on tour to back that up. How long that will go on for, I don’t know. We’ve been talking about this kind of thing for the last 20 years, but as time goes on, it becomes more of a reality that one day we may not be able to tour any more. But I don’t want to think about that. You’ve got to enjoy the moment.”
then let’s talk about the moment: are there ideas coming together for the next album, at least?
“oh, I get ideas all the time. I couldn’t use them all in three lifetimes, it’s ridiculous. I’m really lucky that it’s never dried up.”
“there are different hats you put on,” adds Dave. “there’s the studio hat, the gig hat, and the puttinga-few-ideas-together hat. So there’s a lot of hats in this band. and a lot of heads to put them on, ha ha ha! But writing is always there, in the background.”
For adrian, being out on the road and in front of a live crowd can be one of the most inspirational experiences a songwriter can have, and he’s already finding that this tour is no exception.
“there’s this crackle of energy,” he smiles. “Because you’re close to the essence of it; you’re in the same building as the audience, so there’s this energy that you can just feed off of. You just pick it up. Quite often it’ll be just before, when I’m sitting in the tune-up room messing about. I’ll get my phone out and get a few ideas down. Being on the road definitely does inspire stuff. It’s great.”
With Maiden’s music getting more progressively ambitious with each passing album – The Book Of Souls boasting three songs that smashed through the 10-minute mark
– is there ever a temptation to just smash out 10 four-minute quickies and be done with it?
“No, I don’t think so,” shrugs adrian. “I can’t see us doing that.”
“Yeah, that would be an easy option,” chuckles Dave. “But we don’t like to take the easier way out!”
“Writing longer songs is not really intentional,” insists Steve. “I don’t know why that’s happening, to be honest! could I write a four- or five-minute song? Maybe that’s a challenge I need to set myself…”
challenges, it appears, are something Iron Maiden still thrive on. Whether it’s the scope of their music, the sheer scale of their tours or the grandeur of the shows themselves, they continue to press forward, finding new ways to push themselves onwards and upwards and carving out fresh cornerstones of a legacy that still, inexplicably, shows little sign of drying up. Spectacles like theirs are something of a rarity
“WE’RE MAKING A STATEMENT” STEVE ISN’T CONTENT TO LET MAIDEN GO THROUGH THE MOTIONS
in today’s metal scene, the likes of avenged, Slipknot and, most recently, Parkway Drive serving as the few examples of modern metal bands able to curate live shows truly fit to fill arenas. as the man who has led Maiden to where they are today, does Steve see a future for metal on the grand stage?
“Blimey, it’s taken us long enough to do a show like this one!” he exhales. “It’s not easy these days, especially for new bands. It’s harder than ever to make a crust out of this.
It’s different for us, because we’ve taken a long, long time to build up to this kind of level, but some bands will never even get to this level, or any level. they don’t get out of the pubs.”
So how does a metal band get out of the pub in 2018?
“People have just got to push the boundaries and try and edge it up,” Steve replies, simply. “I mean, we’ve never had songs that lend themselves to radio play. We’ve worked really hard for where we are.”
And with that, one half of Iron Maiden take their leave to rejoin their bandmates and get ready for tonight’s show. and oh, yes, what a show it is. even before the damn thing kicks off there are small, fun extra details going on: roadies dressed in army uniforms roaming the stage, making minor adjustments, interacting with fans and offering a small hint at how the stage itself is going to look (well, for the first part of the show at least).
Sure enough, after UFo’s Doctor Doctor blares through the arena and Winston churchill’s famous speech has finished booming over the speakers, the curtain drops, off go the first of today’s many fireworks and out comes that bloody plane, propellers and all, as Maiden launch into a rip-roaring Aces High and 40,000 Swedes proceed to lose the plot. Is Bruce Dickinson bounding onstage in a Biggles-esque pilot cap one of the most ludicrous things we’ve ever seen? Yes, yes it is. Is it brilliant? obviously. Don’t be stupid.
What follows really is something that needs to be seen to be believed, even by the most well-weathered Maiden fanatic.
Barely five minutes go by without something popping up worthy of an ‘oooh’ or an ‘aaaah’, and almost every single song of the set has something unique to accompany it. Flaming torches and stone gargoyles (The Number Of The Beast), a noose-wiedling frontman (Hallowed…), a light-up cross (Sign Of The Cross, obviously), a huge, winged statue and Bruce-powered flamethrowers (Icarus) and the new Big eddie, who is easily the most demonic, metal-as-fuck-looking one they’ve ever done. and that’s before you get to the fancy dress escapades of a certain singer. one minute a pilot, the next a swashbuckling swordsman, soon after that a sinister, lantern-waving Victorian dandy. this isn’t just the Greatest Maiden Show ever™ – it’s the Bruce Dickinson Special, and he’s loving every minute of it. even the set itself evolves, jumping from a war-torn battlefield to a stunning, stained glass chapel to the smoking pits of hell as the show goes on.
the returning songs, too, absolutely bang from start to finish. the ‘Freedooooom!’s in The Clansman are nothing less than spinetingling. Flight Of Icarus sounds humongous, too, and both For The Greater Good Of God and Sign Of The Cross carry real, emotional gravitas in the flesh, even if it’s obvious it’s taking a little more concentration than usual to nail them this early in the tour. By the time a rip-roaring Run To The Hills brings the set to a close,
Bruce galloping around the stage like a kid on a hobby horse, you really do wish you could do it all over again. this show is a love letter to Iron Maiden fans, hand-delivered by the band themselves. legacy of the Beast’s UK leg kicks off later this month; this is your official warning to do anything you can to get a ticket. You won’t regret it.
“I never predicted that I’d end up playing guitar under a Spitfire plane,” beams Dave Murray as the band come offstage, ready to do it all over again in a couple days’ time. We can fully believe that, David. Where can you go from this?!
“there’s always things to do,” cuts in Steve, unflappable as ever. “When you get to my age, there’s always going to be a bucket list. there are things that are personal, there’s things with the band. there’s countries we still haven’t played yet! there’s a lot we can still do. after two or three months off, I always start getting itchy feet…”
We can only imagine what the hell they’re going to come up with next.
“I’M DAMN SURE WE’LL DO ANOTHER ALBUM”
STEVE SAYS MAIDEN AIN’T DONE ON THAT FRONT YET
IRON MAIDEN’S UK TOUR KICKS OFF IN NEWCASTLE ON JULY 31. MOBILE GAME LEGACY OF THE BEAST IS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD NOW ON ANDROID AND IOS