Iron Maiden – Westfalenhalle, Dortmund; July 25th, 2023
It’s funny how the stars align sometimes with everything pointing you to one event or one place and if you just listen you will be rewarded. Earlier this year I was talking to my friend Raggi about his Iron Maiden Tribute Band (which I have never seen live) and how demading it is to sing their songs. Then, In June, the woman next to me at Adam Lambert’s show told me I “had to go and see Maiden”. Shortly after, I realized they were playing in Dortmund so I decided to look for a ticket and got lucky. Yesterday was the day and the show was everything I had hoped for. What a fantastic band and what a great showman! I was thoroughly entertained.
When I arrived, the doors were just about to open and long lines stood in front of the Westfalenhallen. Having a seat, I hung back – no need to hurry. Once inside, I sat down and watched the hall fill up. There was quite a crowd on the floor.
When it was time for support The Raven Age, not everyone had arrived yet, but those who were there, gave them a warm welcome. They delivered a solid rock show with really good songs and were fun to watch. I enjoyed it a lot. Midway through their set V., who had sold me my ticket, arrived and he liked them too. The band played a good mix of faster and slightly slower songs and warmed us up alright. People were going along and when they asked us to light up our phones we all did. It was a great start for sure.
Setlist
Parasite
Nostradamus
Forgive & Forget
Tears of Stone
Seventh Heaven
Angel in Disgrace
Grave of the Fireflies
Serpents Tongue
Fleur de Lis
The break went by quickly and I watched as they changed the stage and the remaining seats filled up. Then, at 5 minutes to 9, the lights went out and ‘Doctor, Doctor’ started from tape. Everyone cheered and – in my section – everyone got out of their seats. I never sat down again. Already the audience was singing along and the band wasn’t even on stage yet. While ‘Blade Runner’ was playing from tape as well, the stage lights flashed and the anticipation was palpable. Then, a drumbeat kicked in and many clapped along to the rhythm, then sang along with the guitar as long as it started. What a great crowd!
Eddie, in samurai clothes (I think), was shown on the screens. The lights went on, the band burst on stage and Bruce started singing, twirling his mic stand and turning round and round. He ran over to our side of he stage, then the other, urging us on, then goofed around with the guitar and bass players. I immediately loved his enerygy and showmanship. It was all so much fun to watch. Not to mention the amazing voice. When he yelled “Scream for me Dortmund” we all did. 😀 ‘Caught somewhere in Time’ felt like the perfect first title, because the moment they stepped on stage, time stood still.
‘Stranger in a strange land’ was next with everyone clapping and me smiling from ear to ear. Why was it again I did not like Metal? I could not remember. When V. turned to me to ask how I liked it, I gave two thumbs up. We had great seats too, so I could watch everyone closely even without the screens. Except for Nicko that is – his drums were hidden in the stage setup. Towards the end of the song a super-human sized Eddie stepped out on stage in what I would call a cowboy outfit and just stood there for a bit, looking on, then showing off a gun before he left again. I loved everything about his already: the showmanship, the poses, the fun the band seemed to have. The sound was brilliant too and everyone in the audience was into it. 😀
Before ‘The Writing on the Wall’ Bruce threw out all the German phrases he knew and then said he wished that “all languages could be written in fire” so that when you spoke to other people, there would be a written translation in their language. What a poetic idea. <3 The song was just fantastic with scenes from he music video (I assume) on the big screens. ‘Days of Future Past’ was brilliant too and not only did I admire Bruce’s voice, but also Dave, Steve, Adrian and Janick as they played. Especially Janick was fun to watch at all times. I often saw him with his left leg high up on the stage side and wondered how he even did that – the man is flexible.
We learned that the only real time machine is – of course – a De Lorean and the answer to how many gigawatts it takes to make it travel back in time was written large on the screens for all of us to see. We did not have a De Lorean at hand, but Bruce assured us that we just needed our imagination to travel on ‘The Time Machine’ and travel we did. I could not get over how good everything sounded.
It was so much fun to watch them rocking and moving all over the stage. With the start of ‘The Prisoner’ everyone spoke along to the words in the beginning “I am not a number, I am a free man” and they sang every word too. Half the time I had no clue what was happening, because I really do not know Iron Maiden’s music, but it was so much fun to be there and immerse myself in the experience. It felt very welcoming too, even though I was pretty much the only one not wearing a band shirt. What a great, friendly crowd. 😀
Bruce spoke about how you can’t kill culture and tradition, can’t kill the soul of what makes a civilization and how the next song was about the attempt of destruction of a whole race of people – the Celts. ‘Death of the Celts’ started with Steve and Janick playing, before Bruce came out, urging us all to clap and started singing. Soon, the rest of the band joined in – what an epic song. Next he talked about releasing ‘Seventh son of a seventh son’ and stated it was so old that some of the people in the room that night were not alive when it was released. He made a quick poll to confirm and quite a few raised their hands. It was released in 1988 so yeah, I was definitely around. 😉 Sadly, I did not understand the references to what it is about, but that didn’t make it any less good.
The stage had a U shaped higher up part that Bruce used to walk on during ‘Heaven can wait’. Halfway through the song, Eddie came out, pointing a gun at him, so he said “He’s got a gun”, walked over to our side of the U and pulled off a cloth of some big laser cannon claiming that this was a gun and engaging in a fight with Eddie. Lot’s of sparks until Bruce won and Eddie left. 😀 A brilliant version of ‘Alexander the Great’ followed with Bruce standing on top of the U walk and banging the drums with a huge mallet. We got some amazing guitar playing too, but that’s true for all the songs. I had expected this to be good, but I had no idea how entertaining it would be.
‘Fear of the Dark’ was next. Finally a song I knew and could even sing the chorus to. 😉 From the start, everyone was singing, even the guitar melody. It was really beautiful. Along with Bruce, we sang, along with Janick and Steve, we jumped. I felt so very much alive. <3 They ended the main set with ‘Iron Maiden’ and I watched as Janick twirled his guitar all around his body. Everyone rocked so hard, Eddie came out as a Samurai, carrying around a sword and dueling with Dave. At the very end, flames shot from the U, they said goodbye and left the stage.
Loudly we demanded their return and they came back with ‘Hell on Earth’. Bruce prompted us all to wave in unison. It looked amazing. He even picked up a camera and filmed it. The song was absolutely brilliant and flames shooting from the U underlined the music. Hell yeah! Like it had started, it ended with everyone waving. ‘The Trooper’ was another big sing-along and included a great solo by Adrian. Everyone in this band is so good at their instruments. I fully understand that they have so many fans. It’s pure joy to watch them work. The grand finale was ‘Wasted Years’. Once again they gave their all and everyone sang along “So understand, don’t waste your time always searching for those wasted years. Face up, make your stand, realize you’re living in the golden years.” It was so, so good! “We will see you again! That I promise,” Bruce said before they left. Yes, I believe so too.
When they stopped playing and finally said goodbye, I could not believe it was over, feeling a little dazed. I thanked V. again for the ticket, thoroughly happy I had been able to see this show. It may have been my first one, it sure won’t have been the last. What a night! Thank you, Iron Maiden, you were fun-fucking-tastic!
Setlist
Tape: Doctor Doctor (UFO song)
Tape: Blade Runner (End Titles)(Vangelis song)
Caught Somewhere in Time
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Writing on the Wall
Days of Future Past
The Time Machine
The Prisoner
Death of the Celts
Can I Play With Madness
Heaven Can Wait
Alexander the Great
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden
Encore:
Hell on Earth
The Trooper
Wasted Years
Tape: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life (Monty Python song)