The 'Future Past Tour' was somewhat of a continuation of the last tour in support of the 2021 album Senjutsu, but with the added twist of their seminal 1986 opus Somewhere In Time. So when the PA system started blaring the classic UFO track "Doctor, Doctor", the packed house came to life as they knew what was coming. Following "Blade Runner (End Titles)", drummer Nicko McBrain appeared behind his kit giving a fist pump to the crowd as the first strains of "Caught Somewhere In Time" began. As the intro finished and the meat of the song began the band appeared on stage with a flash of pyro and we were off and running. The band was all energy and you certainly could not tell that they had spent the past month and a half ravaging stages across America. Dickinson, sporting some futuristic looking goggles, was as full of energy as I have seen him, seemingly feeding off the crowd's energy, as did his bandmates, bassist Steve Harris, guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers and of course McBrain though he couldn't be easily seen behind his massive kit though he was certainly heard.

MAIDEN went straight from the opener into another tune from that album in "Stranger In A Strange Land", featuring the evening's first appearance of their mascot Eddie in his Somewhere In Time garb, then jumping forward to Senjutsu for a pair in "The Writing On The Wall" and "Days Of Future Past", probably my favorite from that album. In all, of the 15 numbers performed during this night, a full 10 were pulled from those 2 albums, so we got gems like "Alexander The Great" and "Heaven Can Wait" (featuring a gun battle between a returning Eddie and Dickinson) as well as "Death Of The Celts" and "The Time Machine", which Bruce introduced by way of comparisons to the Back To The Future movies.

Now, with a tour focusing so much on just those 2 albums you know that something had to give with regards to the setlist and in this case "Run To The Hills", "Number of The Beast" and "Hallowed Be Thy Name" were the causalities, but you know what, they weren't really missed because the band made up for it in what they did play. We got "Can I Play With Madness?" and of course "Fear Of The Dark" and "Iron Maiden". And in a trend that I have seen several bands do now over the past year or so, they included a new release song in the encores, in this case "Hell On Earth", which came with enough pyro to make it feel like, well, hell on earth. And while that song might have been one I had overlooked initially on the Senjutsu record, I certainly have a newfound appreciation for it now that I've seen it live. The show was finished off with set staple "The Trooper" and "Wasted Years". As the band took their final bows Dickinson stated "See you in a couple of years" before adding "if not sooner". We can only hope.

And if this tour wasn't really your cup of tea in terms of setlist then just wait as IRON MAIDEN has already announced the 'Run For Your Lives' Tour for 2025-26 with the focus this time being on the debut album up through Fear Of The Dark. Even 40+ years in IRON MAIDEN still finds way to keep it real and keep it fresh.

Up The Irons!

Setlist:

• "Doctor Doctor" (UFO) PA
• "Blade Runner (End Titles)" (VANGELIS) PA
• "Caught Somewhere In Time"
• "Stranger In a Strange Land"
• "The Writing on The Wall"
• "Days of Future Past"
• "The Time Machine"
• "The Prisoner"
• "Death of The Celts"
• "Can I Play With Madness"
• "Heaven Can Wait"
• "Alexander The Great"
• "Fear of The Dark"
• "Iron Maiden"