Iron Maiden's Legacy of the Beast tour is the pinnacle of heavy-metal escapism. Our review of Saturday's Brooklyn show
, the tour is, as Dickinson explained early in the night, pure fan service, a retrospective set with no songs newer than 2006 and most dating from the 44-year-old band’s 1980s heyday. Focusing on the past for this run has allowed the band to stretch out, touching on deep cuts like “Flight of Icarus,” which prior to Legacy of the Beast’s kickoff last year hadn’t been played live since 1986.
The Barclays Center stage transformed constantly, from a military bunker concealed by leaves and camouflage to a stained-glass-framed cathedral with chandeliers overhead, a spooky graveyard complete with rolling mist, and finally, during “The Number of the Beast,” what looked like the entrance to hell itself, with a sinister mouth flanking the band and, later, a big, blow-up Eddie-as-Satan head.
On Saturday, he brandished a sword during the set’s first, war-themed chapter , held up an oversize illuminated crucifix during “Sign of the Cross” , explored the stage wearing a silver plague-doctor mask and carrying a lantern during “Fear of the Dark,” and fled mini explosions on an elevated platform in the final moments of show-closer “Run to the Hills.
During one mic break, the singer expressed mock-amazement that so many people had turned out for a Maiden show in 2019: “Heavy metal? Still alive in the 21st Century?! Someone alert the media.” He paused, and then revised his statement. “Actually, fuck the media. … We don’t need the media; all we need is.
If the action on the stage and the enthusiasm in the crowd were the fire, the songs were the spark. With each passing year, Maiden’s music seems to stand further apart from the prevailing currents of heavy metal, which has trended toward the frantic rush of death and black metal, or a doomy post-Black Sabbath churn.
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