Birmingham had the honour of welcoming Iron Maiden back to the UK for the first stop on their Run for Your Lives world tour that kicked off in Hungary last month, and has since been winding its way around mainland Europe. Consistently finding different ways to revisit their past, while at the same time also celebrating the present, this time around the set is devoted to the first nine albums and marks the fiftieth anniversary of the band. It’s always an event when Maiden play here, but today felt that little bit more special given Birmingham has a huge summer of rock and metal coming up, and it was no surprise that a good number of fans stopped by the impressive Black Sabbath artwork that is taking shape just a couple of minutes from the train station.

This tour is not just about new visuals, new props and a revamped set list of course, as there has been a notable change in personnel with Nicko stepping away from touring and Simon Dawson taking his place on the drum stool. And although no one can ever truly replace the charismatic Nicko, Simon was given a warm reception from the Maiden faithful and proved to be a very capable deputy. The ‘Idea of March’ served as the intro with the impressive animated video taking us back to the bands formative years and the streets around East Ham, including The Ruskin Arms, Steve Harris’ childhood home and 22 Acacia Avenue. And after exploding on to the stage with their usual relentless energy, the first twenty minutes or so were all about the Di’Anno years; ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’, ‘Wrathchild’, ‘Killers’ and the dramatic ‘Phantom of the Opera’. Eddie made his customary early appearance in the show, dressed out in his menacing Killers era and, after aiming a few swings in Janick’s direction, got grabbed in the balls by Bruce before he was sent packing.

In a move away from the use of physical backdrops, Maiden’s production is now centred around digital screens, allowing them to move seamlessly through the different eras. This was put to good use throughout, notably on ‘Powerslave’ that saw Bruce perched above the drum riser in front of the enormous sphinx backdrop. They may have clocked up half a century but all of the band were in spectacular form, with the epic ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’ highlighted by the subtle interplay between the three guitarists and Steve.  ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’ provided another huge moment in a show that was packed full of them, Bruce in commanding form and conducting the crowd with all of his usual passion. Eddie was back for ‘The Trooper’, the cue for much flag waving by Bruce and, judging by the euphoric reaction, is a song that neither band nor audience seem to grow tired of.

There have been a few grumbles online about the absence of anything from No Prayer for the Dying but, in reality, the set was perfectly paced throughout and it is difficult to see what they could possibly leave out. ‘Hallowed Be They Name’ and a raucous ‘Iron Maiden’ closed out the main set, the latter featuring Piece of Mind – era Eddie looming large on the screen and keeping a watchful eye on proceedings. The encore of ‘Aces High’, complete with the Battle of Britain raging on in the background, ‘Fear of the Dark’ and ‘Wasted Years’ was just about perfect and completed an energy sapping two hours. Fifty years and counting, Iron Maiden are still showing the rest how it should be done.

Setlist:-

Murders in the Rue Morgue
Wrathchild
Killers
Phantom of the Opera
The Number of the Beast
The Clairvoyant
Powerslave
2 Minutes to Midnight
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Run to the Hills
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
The Trooper
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden

Aces High
Fear of the Dark
Wasted Years