Iron Maiden "The Future Past" Tour
Yesterday I got to see Iron Maiden live again for the first time in what felt like forever. The last time I saw them was actually in 2018 at the beginning of their previous tour, "The Legacy of the Beast" which went on for a whopping 4 years.
I got the tickets not long after they went up for sale. I was stuck trying to decide where to see them as my usual goto of Newcastle wasn't on the tour. It was a decision between Leeds and Manchester but I eventually got tickets for the Leeds gig, 2 rows from the very back of the venue, but it didn't matter, I was in!
We ended up missing the support act which was a band called Lord of the Lost, which was the German entry for Eurovision 2023. They came last, although I actually enjoy their entry but I wasn't too bothered about seeing them live.
After grabbing some food from KFC around the corner from the venue, the first thing I did when we got there is buy a T-Shirt. Luckily I was still able to find one my size, unfortunately the same couldn't be said about the guy next to me! Then we were off to find our seats. I'd never been to the First Direct Arena in Leeds before so I was curious as to what the layout is like. I have to say, it was a much nicer experience than the Utilitia Arena in Newcastle, there was a bit more leg room and their was air con too! The whole thing was just a lot more comfortable.
The maiden set list was fantastic and was primarily made up of songs from their latest album "Senjutsu" and their 1986 album "Somewhere in Time". A lot of the songs I'd never heard live before and for me, there was definitely some standouts such as "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "Hell on Earth". The biggest treat though was Maiden finally played "Alexander the Great" live. Considering the song came out in 1986, it took 37 years before us fans were able to hear it up close and live!
Other standout songs for me include "Death of the Celts", "Fear of the Dark" and "The Writing on the Wall".
We ended up leaving slightly earlier (after "Hell on Earth", because I was not missing that one!) so we could get back across the city centre and back to the car, we made it out of Leeds without hitting any traffic at all!
Could this be the start of a trend for future Maiden tours? Perhaps the next tour will be a cross over between their next album and a previous album such as their 1988 album "Seventh son of a Seventh Son"? Will I finally get to hear the title track being played live?! 🤞
