Photo credit: MS photographic wiz Jacqueline Cheng. More pics (including lots of opening act Dream Theater) coming soon!

The setlist of Iron Maiden’s current U.S. tour has been the topic of much debate lately. At first I was bummed to hear that it would consist of mostly material from Brave New World and newer, the album on which Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith rejoined the band. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that it was actually a pretty cool thing for the band to. I LOVED Brave New World so it would be a treat to hear those songs live again after 10 (!) years, and though I couldn’t possibly ever tire of hearing Maiden’s classic songs live, I’d seen them performed on the Somewhere Back in Time World Tour less than two years. Maybe it was time for something different, and maybe it was time for everyone to stop whining and to let the band do their thing. They’ve earned it after all these years.

By the time I was standing at my seat in Madison Square Garden on Monday night I was 100% behind the idea of a Maiden set focusing on new material. And Iron Maiden did a fucking fantastic job with it, putting on a stellar, captivating show as always and giving us, the fans, something just as fun, albeit a bit different, than what we’re used to.

The tour Maiden did a few years back on which they played A Matter of Life and Death in its entirety was too much; I’ll give you that. It was overindulgent, and despite that the fact that Maiden’s new material is strong it isn’t that strong, and a full album performance was just overkill. But the way they mixed material from that album and the slightly older Dance of Death and Brave New World — with a sprinkling of classics — on this new tour was a great way to mix it up. I don’t remember listening to Dance of Death or A Matter of Life and Death all that much upon release, but as the band tore through those songs live I found myself knowing more than I’d thought. And those that I didn’t know I found myself liking enough to want to go back and listen to those albums again. So for Maiden, mission accomplished; they’ve definitely drummed up interest in their newer material.

It’s funny to think, but Brave New World is almost considered a classic Maiden album at this point. It’s universally loved, and the adoration was evident in the crowd. Of course the BNW songs didn’t elicit the audience action that the true classics did, but you could tell tons of folks knew the songs by their cheers and their fist pumps timed to key moments of the songs.

And what about from the band’s perspective? Bruce Dickinson gave a short between-song rant about how the fact that Iron Maiden still release new music is what enables them to tour the world and pack arenas despite a generally weak global concert market, and he’s 100% right. When he asked the crowd how many folks were seeing Maiden for the first time, an unbelievable number of people raised their hands and cheered; Bruce — and us — did an incredulous double-take and asked the crowd once more. It’s all because of the machinery that drives a new album; getting the band’s name in the press and releasing new songs to radio and creating music videos all get the band’s name in the public consciousness again where they can attract new fans. The proof is in the pudding. I was one of those fans too, once upon a time, who got into the new Maiden album then went back and discovered the rest. Since then, I’ve seen Maiden live 4 or 5 times.

(Side note: There’s another band taking the same exact approach. Despite this act being around for 25 years, when you go to their shows you see as many young faces as old. That band is opening act Dream Theater.)

Of course Bruce and co. must tire of playing the same old songs over and over, so thankfully they’ve got decent new material with which they can mix things up. What we’re witnessing on this Iron Maiden tour is a very special moment in the band’s history; they’ve got three solid albums behind them and another on the way, and we’re watching a confident band not yet past their prime continuing to chug along. I doubt we’ll ever get to hear some of those songs from Brave New World live ever again! But you’ve seen the same old classics before, and DON’T WORRY, you’ll see them all again. Enjoy this tour for what it was; this was a special tour indeed.

Which is to say nothing of their always amazing stage performance; how the fuck do they do it? There are few bands as entertaining to watch. Maiden are the kings. Bruce is astonishing. The best. The absolute best.

If this tour has yet to hit your city, make sure you don’t miss it. It’s worth the ticket price.

-VN