"You'd think there was a football match on!" grins Bruce Dickinson as he looks out over 50,000 giddy Iron Maiden fans having a thoroughly lovely time in the hazy evening sunshine. In just over three hours from now, England's men's team will have confirmed their place in a World Cup semi final, but here at Knebworth, there are far more pressing matters: celebrating 50 years of this country's most storied heavy metal band.
A year on from a historic homecoming gig at West Ham's London stadium, you'd be forgiven for assuming that Eddfest - Maiden's first ever curated, multi-day festival - is little more than a fist-pumping victory lap for a band that are well into the second year of their Run For Your Lives world tour. Nope. From the second you walk onto the festival grounds, you feel less like you're at Yet Another Iron Maiden Show and more like you've just stumbled into a fanatic Maiden fan club member's fever dream.
