ShareIron Maiden performing their Run For Your Lives Tour at The Utilita Arena Birmingham on Saturday 21st June 2025.
Images and Review by Kevin Cooper
Iron Maiden, a national treasure with their own beer, stamps and merchandise that was sold in Asda as part of their Father’s Day range, have been rocking out for a solid fifty years, and they marked this iconic milestone with a rip roaring concert at the Utilita Arena in Birmingham on Saturday night, on their Run For Your Lives Tour.
After the smashing fun of the Future Past Tour which leaned heavily into their 1986 sci-fi album, Somewhere In Time and their most recent studio album 2021’s Senjutsu, this latest tour is all guns and blazing nostalgia, promising songs exclusively from the band’s first decade and a bit more besides.
In the past the band have presented the crowd with gun toting cyborgs, inflatable spitfires and a real life dog fight happening over the crowd’s head’s, so there was a lot to live up to on this tour, and they really impressed with a giant sized screen that dominated the backline and dwarfed the band, which saw bassist Steve Harris, guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, drummer Simon Dawson (who has replaced Nicko McBrain who has retired from touring) and of course the legendary front man, Bruce Dickinson, who was constantly on the move, either darting from one side of the stage to the other whilst singing his heart out and dominating the room.
Opening with Murders In The Rue Morgue, a song that they have not sung live since The Ed Hunter Tour back in 1999 which was swiftly followed by Wrathchild which has not been played for almost a decade.
Promising a greatest hit set list, they delivered songs that were most loved as opposed to the best selling, as the crowd soaked up their most iconic moments. There was no sign of Can I Play With Madness? Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter or Holy Smoke. Instead they showcased Phantom Of The Opera which is 45 years old, and it still possesses one of the most evocative and memorable opening riffs in metal history. It is beautifully rendered and presented in an avalanche of kinetic energy. The three guitar attack of Smith, Gers, and Murray gave the sound real depth and texture.
Before a very enthusiastic crowd this concert was no longer just a mere concert, it was a musical extravaganza of Broadway proportions. Even Eddie has had an upgrade to a giant wandering version of the band’s habitual mascot during Killers and The Trooper respectively. He menaces the band with his axe and forces Gers and Murray to fend him off with their guitars. The Trooper variant of Eddie even starts to play a guitar on his sabre.
The Number Of The Beast was given an early appearance flanked by nosferatu-style black and white horror footage. There was a dusting off of The Clairvoyant before the backdrop was transformed into a stunningly rendered take on their iconic Powerslave set, which saw burning fires and flames bursting to life at the top of the rear walkway.
There was 2 Minutes To Midnight and a fan favourite epic Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, when a breathtakingly beautiful tale of a doomed ship at sea was displayed on the massive screen and was the centre piece in a whole set of centre piece epics. Visually, it was nothing less than spectacular.
The night was filled with their legendary tracks such as Run To The Hills and Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son which had the crowd belting out the lyrics. As Hallowed Be Thy Name echoed around the Arena, Dickinson suddenly appeared on the screen, swiftly ascending a staircase towards a noose after being stuck in a cage. His performance and showmanship was top notch. He was constantly on the move and with his soaring vocals he was truly a master of his craft and a joy to watch.
Finishing the main set with Iron Maiden, the crowd were inpatient for the encore, which saw the iconic Churchill’s speech accompanied by videos of spitfires, lasers and search lights which led straight to Aces High. Fear Of The Dark was followed by an anthemic Wasted Years which brought the crowd home courtesy of another banger of a digital set. It seemed that Iron Maiden had pulled off a rare trick, celebrating the past by stepping into a bold new future.
The members of the band are all eligible for their bus passes but they have never been stronger, never been better and have never ever put on a show of this magnitude before. For old school fans it was pure heavy metal heaven. For younger acolytes of which there were plenty, it had been a chance to witness some songs they may well have resigned themselves to never seeing live. What a real treat and a concert to remember.
