Iron Maiden Thrill with Old School Set at Vienna's Happel Stadium

Iron Maiden have never been as big as they are now since their founding in 1975. While they mostly played in spacious halls in the past, they are now filling football stadiums for their 50th anniversary celebration. There was never a huge media hype or one big, super-commercial album, singer Bruce Dickinson recently reflected in an interview. Perhaps not one album, but several records with more than enough hit material to keep the fans engaged. The era before Dickinson left the band around bassist and founder Steve Harris for several years in the 90s is particularly popular. Who would the Brits be if they didn't revive exactly those old times?

Classics from the Early Days

And so, after a long ten-minute introduction from the tape, it was (almost) back to the beginning of their career: After the brisk and long unheard live "Murders In The Rue Morgue," the microphone stand was already flying through the air, and the cheers were loud. At the latest after "Wrathchild" and "Killers" with its distinctive riff, which unfortunately threatened to sink into the somewhat muddy sound, it was clear: The fingers are warmed up for the numerous solos, and Dickinson's vocal cords are ready to propel him to great heights.

With "Phantom of the Opera" from the debut album of 1980, the stage was finally set for a journey to a time when concerts were not extensively filmed with cell phones. The representatives of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal asked their fans in advance to refrain from filming. However, this message didn't quite get around.

Elaborate Stage Show

Early in the set, the group served up a first mega-hit with "The Number of the Beast" - not only of the band but of the genre. Upon release, they were confronted with accusations of Satanism, which today can only be mildly smiled at. The show is far from a black mass. Even the zombie-like band mascot Eddie, who stalks across the stage with glowing red eyes during two numbers and menacingly positions himself behind the band members with an axe and later a sword, provides more amusement than fright.

Iron Maiden places great emphasis on entertainment. A huge video wall allowed the audience to immerse themselves in the respective song world with thematically appropriate visuals - whether it's Nosferatu scurrying across the screen during "The Number of the Beast," an Eddie pyramid during the mighty "Powerslave," or an epic aerial battle during "Aces High." During the fan favorite "Hallowed be thy Name," the gallows await behind Dickinson, who is locked in a cage, before he later becomes a ghost on the screen.

Reduced in Words, Strong in Music

It was less important for the band to use many words. Only the new drummer Simon Dawson, who replaced long-time drummer Nicko McBrain for health reasons, was introduced - and duly welcomed by the fans. A short joke that the fans had drunk all the beer, and Dickinson now had to drink water from his canteen ("Shit"), also made it in.

For that, the group had all the more time for their actual task and even included the epic 13-minute "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and the complex-playful ten-minute "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" in the set. But Iron Maiden wouldn't be Iron Maiden if they didn't also perform the classics "Fear of the Dark," where Dickinson crept across the stage with a lantern in front of a full moon, and "Run to the Hills." Fans sang along at the top of their lungs to both. Beautiful!

Newcomers as Opening Act

With Black Sabbath, pioneers of heavy metal bid farewell to the stage forever in early July. In contrast, after this evening, it's clear that Iron Maiden are far from finished.

And even if the time does come, metalheads need not despair, as there is strong new talent - for example, in the form of Avatar. The Swedes, led by the singer Johannes Eckerström, who is made up as a not very trustworthy clown, won over large parts of the audience as the opening band. The metal group fired up the crowd with the groove roller "Hail the Apocalypse" or the brand new, hard yet fast "In the Airwaves," extending a clear invitation for their Gasometer concert in March 2026.

(By Lukas Wodicka/APA)

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