At first indoor Charlotte show in decades, Iron Maiden shows why it remains a metal giant
Iron Maiden took a packed arena on a journey through time and space Wednesday as its Future Past tour touched down at Spectrum Center in its first Charlotte concert in five years.
It wasn’t simply a nostalgia trip, as some might interpret the tour’s moniker, given the band’s near 50-year history. As is tradition, Maiden crafted the show around a theme, choosing songs with historical figures (“Alexander the Great”) and events (“Death of the Celts”), zipping from a neon-lit futuristic Japanese cityscape to the ancient war-torn European countryside.
Charlotte is usually a summer tour stop for Maiden. Since the ’90s, the British metal legend has traditionally played PNC Music Pavilion (under its many names). There was something special about bringing the show indoors for the first time in decades with fans packed floor to ceiling, crowded shoulder to shoulder in the general admission section of the arena’s floor.
Following a unique opening set by Mongolian folk metal act the Hu (who incorporate traditional Mongolian instruments and throat singing with midtempo distorted hard rock), Maiden took the stage with a bang. With a literal explosion and puff of smoke, the six members appeared on stage already well ensconced in “Caught Somewhere in Time.”
At 66, vocalist Bruce Dickinson (the youngest band member) actually sounded incredible as his voice swelled and climbed, holding up throughout the show. While the sound was better overall indoors, Dickinson seemed stronger vocally, funnier and more engaging than I’ve seen him in the last decade.
He delightfully referenced “Back to the Future,” noting the inefficiency of Doc Brown’s plutonium-guzzling Delorean. With the dashboard of Iron Maiden’s own time machine displayed on the screen behind him, he asked the crowd how much power the Delorean needed to take flight. The crowd chorused, “1.21 gigawatts” before the band launched into “Time Machine.”
Clad in notable white trainers (as the Brits call them), skinny blonde guitarist Janick Gers, 67, proved the MVP when it came to entertaining stage antics. He was getting his steps in by marching in place, swinging and tossing his guitar in the air, pogoing with bassist Steve Harris and prancing in time.
Gers playfully zoomed through Eddie’s legs as the Samurai version of the band’s towering mascot chased him with his sword. Eddie made a few appearances throughout the show, even engaging in a “gun fight” with Dickinson during “Heaven Can Wait.”
The layout of the stage formed a horseshoe around the band with Dickinson sometimes stalking the walkway above, able to tower over Eddie at times. The only downside to this setup was that Nicko McBrain’s drum kit was tucked within the walls of the horseshoe, making it difficult to really see the 72-year-old drummer play from the sides of the stage.
For close to two hours Maiden played 15 songs: five from its latest album 2021’s “Senjutsu,” five from “Somewhere in Time,” and five from other albums including some of its biggest hits, “Can I Play with Madness,” with “The Trooper” and “Wasted Years” capping the show at the encore.
Of course, some fan favorites were sacrificed in favor of songs better suited to time hopping through history. “Run to the Hills,” “Two Minutes to Midnight” and “Number of the Beast” are just a few that were left off the setlist. That’s how it goes when your catalog is almost five decades deep.
Overall, the show was fantastic — a testament to not succumbing to age physically or musically. The songs from 2021 sit well next to the older material. While Maiden certainly has softer moments musically, it nearly always leads to something fast, electric and bombastic.
Of note is that McBrain suffered a stroke in January 2023. He was temporarily paralyzed on his right side from the shoulder down and required months of physical therapy. Although there were a couple stumbles during the set, he powered through, even tossing his drumsticks to the crowd from the edge of the stage at the end of the show.
One landed in the hands of a very young fan, still in the single digits, who held tight to it in the elevator on the way out. Could it be a generational passing of the torch representative of the night’s theme of moving through time? Perhaps.
If we had a time machine, we might see that young man performing on that same stage 20 years from now.
