Live review: Iron Maiden and Killswitch Engage at Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney on Thursday, September 12 2024
By BRIAN GIFFIN
IT WAS eight years ago when metal juggernaut Iron Maiden last lumbered into Sydney town, on a visit that wasn’t particularly well reviewed. That didn’t seem to matter to the vast crowd flocking to Qudos this evening – after a cancelled tour in 2020, their fans apparently just wanted to see them again, despite some misgivings over the set-list (which we’ll get to soon) and rewarded their heroes with their most successful Australian tour ever.
Having already experienced this tour on the British leg in Birmingham last year, tonight’s event provided me a good contrast, and while the songs were the same it wasn’t like seeing the same show twice. Eddie came out during different tracks and there seemed to be more pyro than a Parkway Drive show at one point, helping to make things even more spectacular in lieu of their much more stripped-back stage design these days. It was also great to see so many younger people filling the room alongside the older crowd, post-2000 fans who were just happy to see Iron Maiden with little complaint they weren’t going to drag out hoary old things like “Run to the Hills” (not even their best song by any means) for the 10000th time. This band has long been dynamic with their tour set lists – this was my sixth Maiden show and I’ve only seen them do “Run to the Hills” twice, the last time in 2008 (I’ve since checked the set from the 2016 tour, and they didn’t play it then, either).
Other reviews of this tour seem to have completely skipped over openers Killswitch Engage, a band as influential to post-00s metal as Maiden was to everything after 1980. Their light show made it a bit hard to see them at times but being able to hear them was a different story; a full and heavy sound with a hefty guitar crunch that drowned out Jesse Leach a little here and there.
Unintimidated by the massive partisan crowd, they were revelling in the opportunity as they smashed through a solid and energetic 12-song set while Leach paid tribute to the headliners’ legacy and influence, and dedicated the crushing “The Signal Fire” to their crew. Leach’s cheeky suggestion about starting a mosh against venue rules stirred part of the crowd on the floor into a swirling pit (and, honestly, if Qudos thinks they’ll be able to stop a full-floor circle pit at Parkway Drive’s show next weekend, they’ve got another think coming) and further warmed up an already eager audience by closing with Dio’s immortal “Holy Diver”. They may not have been everyone’s “ideal” opener, but Killswitch Engage owned it, and so they should.
When Iron Maiden hits the stage, it’s to a roar almost as loud as they are. They came on with an explosion of energy but something’s amiss. “Somewhere in Time” is all over the place, ironically not in time at all for a little bit as Bruce Dickinson seems to miss a vocal cue and then struggles to catch up while the band barrels through. If it was a technical issue, it seemed to be rectified by “Stranger in a Strange Land”, during which Eddie makes his first appearance as a zombiefied gun-slinger, looming over Adrian Smith and Dave Murray. Again, as it was in Birmingham, it’s Smith who appears to dominate in the band’s triple guitar attack while Janick Gers dances, windmills and high-kicks in his own zone on stage left. Trainspotters in the crowd will notice Nicko McBrain pulling back on some of the fills and trickier parts but it doesn’t detract in the slightest, his performance as tireless as the rest of Maiden as they cruise the stage.
Steve Harris takes aim at the crowd in his time-honoured pose, the guitar team weave melodies, runs and solos with effortless fluidity. Dickinson runs amok. A huge moving backdrop provides the only dressing, a far cry from the over-the-top props of yore but again, the band don’t need them. It’s a set heavily populated with Senjutsu songs and rarely aired-tracks like “The Prisoner”, the only concession to The Number of the Beast, and “Alexander the Great”, a longtime fan favourite being played on this tour for the first time and with far more exuberance than the turgid Somewhere in Time version. The newer songs sparkle in the live scenario: “Days of Future Past” gallops through in a blaze but “Death of the Celts” seems to drag a little until the glorious three-way solo trade-off that elevates it into its second half.
Dickinson’s inter-song ripostes are his usual mix of shrewd observation and weird, off-the-wall tales – this time a strange story about a rubber boat and Sydney Harbour that prefaces “Can I Play with Madness?”. Eddie returns for a machine-gun battle with Dickinson during the instrumental break in “Heaven Can Wait” (this happened during “Iron Maiden” in the UK, so this was a nice surprise), ending in an explosion; “Fear of the Dark”, typically, gets the entire stadium in singalong mode. The encore opens with “Hell On Earth”, flame shooters crisscrossing the stage for most of its 10 minute length and then a huge roar erupts as the backdrop reveals “The Trooper”, one of perhaps only two songs this band will never fail to play. Maybe there’s a third, and it’s “Wasted Years”, closing the show with a further appearance from Eddie (another difference from the Birmingham show) as Senjutsu’s shogun warrior while Iron Maiden bring the house down around him. The crowd eats it up, little caring about the lack of hill running and beast numbers.
This was a monumental performance from heavy metal’s defining act. Long may they rule.
PIC: BOB LUPTON/Facebook
