WELCOME TO THE MAIDEN FAMILY

June 24, 2010

The excitement started boiling early as enthusiastic Maiden fans shouted lyrics to their favourite songs en route to General Motors Place Thursday night.

Flags, shirts and Iron Maiden branded artwork adorned everywhere you looked in the packed stadium. The excited energy translated to a very active floor crowd that started churning long before the band first appeared on stage.

In the metal-verse this is about as big as it gets. Veteran metal musicians in their own right, Dream Theater opened with a 50-minute set.

Finally the lights dimmed and smoke started to spill across the spaceship-esque stage, the floor painted like the surface of the moon, as the big screens took fans on a ride through the galaxy.

The crowd was in a frenzy when the group finally landed. Lead singer Bruce Dickinson leaping and running around with countless energy. A born performer, he worked the stage and the crowd until the final chords of "Running Free".

The sea of die-hard fans moshed along with every song, keeping a heavy metal rhythm and passing along an endless amount of crowd surfers.

The UK sextet's set list covered the long history of the group, starting the night with "The Wickerman", "Ghost of the Navigator" and "Wrathchild". Before testing the waters for their new material with "El Dorado" off their fourteenth studio album The Final Frontier, due to be released in August.

Touring to build anticipation for the latest effort, Dickinson played on the Vancouver crowd's national pride, telling them the band is confident Canada will make the The Final Frontier number one before America does.

The group, consisting of Dickinson, founding member Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers and Nicko McBrain, was full of zealous energy and the sound quality impressive.

Launching into "Dance of Death", produced a huge reaction from the sea of headbangers, out came the lighters and the first full singalong by the crowd, which was followed up by "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg".

A mainstay in metal, Iron Maiden has been influencing the genre since it first exploding in the early 1980s, gaining momentum and popularity since. The band didn't disappoint with their live show, their passion and enjoyment transferred to the stadium of Vancouver metalheads.

Interacting with the crowd, Dickinson asked how many people were at their first Iron Maiden show, to which the response was a loud cheer. "Welcome to the Maiden family", he replied, "There are music fans, there are metal fans and there are Maiden fans. So welcome."

Continuing their fierce set, the band played "Blood Brothers", "No More Lies", "Brand New World", and "Fear of the Dark".

An appearance by Maiden mascot Eddie came during the group's performance of "Iron Maiden", an early favourite from their 1980's album of the same name.

After a masterful live show is was glaringly obvious why the group remains one of the top draws and leading players in the world of heavy metal.