Photos and Live Review By Marilyn Bell

Marking the Iron Maiden frontman’s first extensive solo North American tour in almost 30 years, the stop in Anaheim was a prime example of good things coming to those who wait. Aside from the lucky few who were at his solo show at the Whisky a Go Go last year, it had been far too long.  

 

It can be hard for a solo performance to compare, especially when the band is as legendary as Iron Maiden, but Dickinson showed he’s a legend in his own right. The set included only one Iron Maiden song, the live debut of “Flash of the Blade” from 1984’s Powerslave.  After 40 years, social media sent the message that the song needed to be performed live. Another live debut was “Shadow of the Gods” from the tour’s namesake album. The setlist was equal parts of last year’s The Mandrake Project, 1997’s Accident of Birth, and this year’s revamped More Balls to Picasso. 

 

Gone may be the days of the huge arena productions with larger-than-life Eddies on the stage, but in this new digital age, Dickinson has adapted and proved he’s still at the top of his game. A huge digital screen served as a full backdrop for the stage. The execution of the images was perfection, complementing, but never overpowering the stage show. Aside from tour graphics on the screen and Dickinson’s clothing, the band let the performance do all the talking. In keeping with Dickinson’s arena rock past, the show was complete with a drum solo and a jam of The Edgar Winter Band’s “Frankenstein.” In addition to his top-notch vocals, Dickinson also played percussion and a theremin. Humorously, the backdrop displayed a message identifying the theremin, and it was a perfect example of just how all-around fun the show was.

 

Being 67 years old and a survivor of tongue cancer has not slowed Dickinson down. He still sounds like metal vocal royalty, and he still puts on a physical show for nearly 100 minutes. At the end, Dickinson joked that things would be better by the show at The Wiltern (in October) because they’d know the songs by then. It would be tough to get much better than this.