For almost half a century, Iron Maiden have been singing about how they’re gonna getcha, no matter how far. Tonight, their fans have saved them the trouble of searching. 75,000 have descended upon London Stadium, grounds of bassist Steve Harris’ beloved West Ham and a stone’s throw from where he formed his heavy metal titans, to witness a homecoming for the ages.
’Arry and the boys have returned as part of their 50th-anniversary Run For Your Lives tour, which is seeing them pull out material from their first nine albums, 1980’s Iron Maiden to 1992’s Fear Of The Dark. As nostalgic as that means this evening’s setlist will be, it will be performed by a band refreshed. Simon Dawson joins them behind the kit, filling in for longtime drummer Nicko McBrain following his retirement from the stage last year, and the slideshow of massive posters they used to haul along has been replaced with a high-tech video backdrop.
