Report: Iron Maiden @ Royal Arena, Copenhagen

On the hot evening of June 5th the beast came to Denmark to claim the throne of the metal gods again. One of the biggest metal bands in the music history – Iron Maiden – came again to Copenhagen after a few years break to present their biggest hits in the Danish leg of  “The Legacy Of The Beast World Tour”. They were accompanied by Killswitch Engage, who played on the first half of the evening.

The show started at 10 minutes to 8pm (and not  at 2 minutes to midnight) in almost full Royal Arena. The opening act were presented by  Killswitch Engage. This band was full of energy, and did their best to warm up the crowd gathered fans who were already impatient for what would come next. It is no easy task being the opener for the Iron Maiden – these fans only want the main act! However, Killswitch Engage managed to have some success and gathered few cheers during their set, in spite of – as expected – most of the fans were not really familiar with their music, given that most of that crowd was more into classic heavy metal, and not really into metalcore. That was proven fact, when the most well received moment of the Killswith Engage’s set was the cover of Dio’s “Holy Diver”. Older fans were feeling more comfortable with the song they do know, and payed back to the band with loud applause. During a 45 minutes long set, the band did their best to entertain the public despite being a some-what arduous task.

The scenery preparations didn’t take as much as expected, given the scale of the show. Fans gathered in the arena – around 18000 people – and represented all possible age groups,  as well as different nationalities. There were flags from Latin America, Asia and several European countries. All of us were there waiting patiently for the same – for Iron Maiden to hit the stage.

Just after 9pm It was the time for the Irons! First we have heard an intro with the UFO’s song “Doctor Doctor”, followed by the Winston Churchill’s speech. This was the moment of calm before the thunders and storm! Iron Maiden soon rushed to the stage full of energy, as always, while playing the first notes of “Aces High”, with a huge Spitfire hanging about their heads. Bruce was kicking and jumping in a pilot hat and goggles, to match the scenery. So far, all was, as expected, on the highest possible level. Like we didn’t knew that the band can deliver one hell of a show. Following up, we stayed in the II world war theme with “Where Eagles Dare”. In here, Bruce Dickinson was running on the top of the stage wearing a white jacket like Clint Eastwood and Richard Burton, while heading to the Castle Adler, all with the big print of burning cable car in the background.

After, it was the time for the first huge hit song – the first chords of “2 Minutes to Midnight” were accompanied by the huge applause coming from the crowd. The band was accompanied by the whole arena in a sing-a-long. All the energy Steve Harris used running and jumping around during this song – not that other band members were staying behind – could possibly provide electricity for the small city. It was nice to see that band still enjoys playing the song, despite they have performed it a thousand times.

Next big moment was when Eddie appeared on the stage during “The Trooper”, crossing swords with Bruce Dickinson during instrumental parts – all  accompanied with the loud cheer of the fans. It was one of those moments where no one was sitting down.

“Flight of Icarus” was a great display of pyrotechnics. First the huge Icarus appeared from the back of the stage, then we have seen flamethrower show presented by Bruce to end with the flames exploding across the stage and small fireworks above the band. It was just perfect. This display of lights turned into complete dark. Yes, this was the time to start ‘Fear of the Dark’ – this time bands vocalist was wearing long black cape and a cylinder and carrying and oil lamp with the green searchlight adding more  drama to the scene.

The ending was getting close, so it was time for the beast to finally appear. “The Number of the Beast” featured huge balloon in the shape of the beast peaking from behind the stage – another cool feature to create the great spectacle. Just to close the main set the band pulled another big hit – ‘Iron Maiden’.

After few minutes of cheer band came back for an encore, “The Evil That Men Do”, was the followed by the band’s biggest hit – “Run to the Hills”. This was the perfect closure for this evening.

Comments

comments