On September 21^st and 22^nd, metal titans Iron Maiden played the Honda Center in Anaheim for two nights with Trivium. This is the group’s first time touring since 2019 and is a continuation of their Legacy of the Beast World Tour. This time around there’s a new album, Senjutsu, the group’s first release since 2015’s Book of Souls. Senjutsu is the band’s 17th release. This album was ranked #1 on 30 different top album lists. After several lineup changes over the years the classic lineup has been together again since 1999 with bassist Steve Harris, guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers, lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson, and drummer Nicko McBrain. This year is also the 40th anniversary of The Number of the Beast, the group’s first album with Dickinson and last album with original drummer Clive Burr.

Iron Maiden played a set of 15 songs spanning nearly two hours. Before the metal legends took the stage,”Transylvania” and UFO’s “Doctor Doctor ” played which has been their intro for a number of years. This is always a great way to get the crowd ready for an unforgettable night. Once the band took the stage, they would play the first three songs off their new album with “Senjutsu,” “Stratego,” and “Writing on the Wall.” During “Senjutsu” the latest Eddie came out and the stage was set to look like a Tera (Japanese Temple). The rest of the setlist came from some of their biggest albums like Power Slave, The Number of the Beast, Fear of the Dark, Piece of Mind, Brave New World, The X Factor, and their self-titled debut album. To simply describe an Iron Maiden show would be to call it a religious experience.

For each song the backdrop changed to coincide with the album it comes from. Following the new songs, the backdrops looked like a church with stained glass of different Eddies. “Sign of the Cross” saw a change in Dickinson’s outfit in which he was wearing a cloak and carrying a giant cross that lit up. There were also chandeliers that dropped down and would return again later in the set. Dickinson broke out the flame thrower “Flight of Icarus,” which had the giant Icarus above the stage once again, which eventually came to life before being taken down. Dickinson changed outfits once again for “Fear of the Dark,” this time wearing a plague doctor outfit and carrying a lantern. “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” which is usually in the encore, was the 11th song of the set and Dickinson kicked it off it behind jail bars.

Following “The Trooper” was “The Hangman” and Harris played an acoustic bass for part of it, which was on a stand. The last song of the first encore was “Run to Hills,” which features a new backdrop including both The Trooper and Senjutsu Eddies and of course Harris’s bass playing. “Aces High” was the last song of the set and out came the fighter plane suspended above the stage with Dickinson in an aviator outfit. The outro song was “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from the closing scene of Monty Python’s Life of Brian.

The tour concludes October 27th in Tampa, FL.

Setlist:

Senjutsu

Stratego

The Writing on the Wall

Revelations

Blood Brothers

Sign of the Cross

Flight of Icarus

Fear of the Dark

Hallowed Be Thy Name

The Number of the Beast

Iron Maiden

Encore:

The Trooper

The Clansman

Run to the Hills

Encore Two:

Aces High