This wasn’t just another Friday night in Dallas, Texas, when Iron Maiden played to a capacity crowd at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
Iron Maiden has built their popularity with a little help from their mascot “Eddie”, an incredible loyal fan base, and little to no radio airplay. Yes, the last part makes no sense but it’s true. How does a band manage to loom around for over three decades and still retain it’s ever increasing popularity?
When you have Bruce Dickinson, one of the best front men in the business, three screaming guitarists, Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, an instantly recognizable bass player in Steve Harris, and an incredible yet underrated drummer in Nicko McBrain and a larger than life, iconic mascot, you don’t need anything else.
The band went on stage shortly after 8:45 and played an amazing two-hour set. The set list consisted primary of songs from the Book of Souls album, sprinkled in were a few classics like “The Trooper,” “Powerslave,” “The Number of the Beast,” and “Wasted Years”
The ever-changing backgrounds added to the visual presentation provided by the theme of each song. Bruce took a few minutes between songs to talk about the purpose of Book of Souls and the Mayan demise.
A near capacity crowd at AAC did their best to contain themselves for what appeared to be the highest level of crowd participation I’ve seen in quite some time. As Dickinson chanted, “scream for me Dallas”, the crowd did just that.
As the evening was coming to an end, Eddie made his eagerly anticipated appearance. With one foul swoop, Dickinson reached out and grabbed his heart ran to the cauldron at the top of the staircase and provided his offering to the gods, similar to Mayan tradition. This completely illustrated the overall theme of the Book of Souls Tour.
Twenty five years and sixteen albums later, Bruce Dickinson and company are still bringing them in. How could you not love a band that made it this far and have yet to change their formula?
With a few stops remaining on their current Book of Souls Tour, you owe it to yourself and Metal in general to catch these guys at least once in your life; I promise you won’t be disappointed.
Review by James Villa
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IRON MAIDEN live at American Airlines Center in Dallas
Photo Credit: John Thornbrugh
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GHOST live at American Airlines Center in Dallas
Photo Credit: John Thornbrugh
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THE BOOK OF SOULS WORLD TOUR – 2017
A limited number of TROOPER VIP package upgrades are available for the UK, US and Canada shows. Visit troopervip.com for more info.
JULY
Sat 1 SAN BERNARDINO, CA, UNITED STATESGLEN HELEN AMPHITHEATERON SALE
with Ghost, Kamelot, Exodus
Mon 3 LAS VEGAS, NV, UNITED STATEST-MOBILE ARENAON SALE
with Ghost
Wed 5 OAKLAND, CA, UNITED STATESORACLE ARENAON SALE
with Ghost
Fri 7 SALT LAKE CITY, UT, UNITED STATESUSANA AMPHITHEATERON SALE
with Ghost
Sun 9 LINCOLN, NE, UNITED STATESPINNACLE BANK ARENAON SALE
with Ghost
Tue 11 KANSAS CITY, MO, UNITED STATESSPRINT CENTERON SALE
with Ghost
Wed 12 ST LOUIS, MO, UNITED STATESHOLLYWOOD CASINO AMPHITHEATERON SALE
with Ghost
Sat 15 TORONTO, CANADABUDWEISER STAGEON SALE
with Ghost
Sun 16 QUEBEC CITY, CANADAVIDEOTRON CENTERON SALE
with Ghost
Wed 19 MANSFIELD, MA, UNITED STATESXFINITY CENTERON SALE
with Ghost
Fri 21 BROOKLYN, NY, UNITED STATESBARCLAYS CENTERON SALE
with Ghost
Sat 22 BROOKLYN, NY, UNITED STATESBARCLAYS CENTERON SALE
with Ghost
