Iron Maiden Rocks the Air Canada Centre

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Back in November, when I first bought tickets to this show I was already looking forward to the event and wrote a lengthy article about the tour, how it relates to the re-release of their classic Live After Death concert on DVD and a quick history of the band's decade spanning career.

Since that time, fans have been watching for sightings of the customized Boeing 757 'Ed Force One', decked out in Maiden's colours. The jet is piloted by none other than lead singer Bruce Dickinson and carries the entire band, crew and stage gear around the world at a rate that defies the logistics of any other touring group. Blogger Jerrold on blogto.com posted some brilliant photos, of the plane as seen on in Toronto, which were taken by aerial photographer Tom Podolec.

Last night, after much anticipation, I finally witnessed the firepower of a fully adrenalized barrage of galloping rock, lovingly played note for note, by England's premiere metal act. There were flaming pyrotechnics accentuating the thunderous flourishes, theatrical costume changes to inspire the imagination and an incredible backdrop that took us back to the Egyptian motif of the legendary Powerslave Tour.

Like the infamous Live After Death album, Iron Maiden opened up the show with Churchill's famous WWII speech to kick off the set with a killer trio of 'Aces High', 'Two Minutes to Midnight' and 'Revelations'. At this point the crowd was churning with excitement, but frontman Bruce Dickinson, taunted that "we're just getting started!"

They didn't dissappoint either, the following songs were no less than 'The Trooper', 'Wasted Years', 'Number of the Beast' and 'Can I Play with Madness'

Dickinson later joked with the crowd that their music would never be heard on a Karaoke machine. Indeed they have sold millions of albums and packed venues around the world consistently for years, with almost no airplay on commercial radio.

He also used the opportunity to announce more concert dates in Western Canada, later this summer, when they resume the second leg of the world tour. Like the recently announced US concert dates, the band will be playing in cities that they have not visited for many years. Even Winnipeg is on the list of stops, this year, a fact which Bruce played up, to the amusement of the big city crowd in Toronto. Originally being from Winnipeg myself, I was laughing out loud at the great cheer that the city, notorious for its cold winters, got when its name was mentioned.

For a band that travels as often across time zones as they do, Iron Maiden's energy on stage never lagged for an instant as they blasted through the songs, complete with theatrics and searing guitar solos by the 'Three Amigos' Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers.

From my point of view, in the middle of the crowded floor, bouncing around to the music and singing along with friends and strangers alike, the set list was a brilliant selection of personal favourites. It was obvious from the mix of the crowd that there are many new fans as well as the older crowd, some of whom could be spotted wearing the original Powerslave concert t-shirts.

A highlight of the show for me was the mystical voyage aboard the ship of the mariner, through the doldrums of hell, complete with light show magic, dry ice fog and a backdrop that made you feel like you were on some ancient vessel from the age of sale. The epic song, penned by bassist Steve Harris, is based on the 'Rime of the Ancient Mariner' an 18th century poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, in which the old mariner binds a wedding guest to listen, fixated to his tale of the horrific vengeance of the albatross that he kills, and the redemption that he finally receives when he accepts the beauty of nature into his heart.

Of course this could only be followed up by the deep rumbling 'Muahahaha' of Powerslave, complete with the sudden appearance of Dickinson in a flash of light, wearing his original feathered Egyptian mask.

Another great moment came later when a crowd of fans emerged from backstage to join in the European football inspired 'Whoa ooo oooah, whoa ooo oooah" chant of 'Heaven Can Wait' that had the entire arena throbbing with voices. The crowd participation continued with the rousing 'Run To the Hills' and 'Fear of the Dark', which although it was the lone 90's era song, it has become a staple of every Maiden concert and couldn't be left out.

As always, when the band finished the main set with the mandatory 'Iron Maiden' song. While founder Steve Harris took the centre stage, one leg up on the monitor singing off mic in his trademark style, the fans were treated to the appearance of the giant 'Cyborg Eddie' who stalked onto the stage as if summoned by the crowd's cheering and the evocative music.

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After a short break, Iron Maiden answered the chanting crowd, by returning to the stage to finish the show with a triumphant encore, of 'Moonchild', the 'Clairvoyant' and 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' The last sight that we saw was larger-than-life drummer Nicko McBrain, tossing drum skins into the crowd like Frisbees, with pretty good distance I might add.

The 'Somewhere Back in Time' world tour nicely compliments the 2005 'Early Days' tour that concentrated on music from the first four albums. But this is not a band that is content to rest on their laurels of years gone by. Since the 1999 reunion of guitarist Adrian Smith and singer Bruce Dickinson with their former band mates, the six piece group has already put out three albums that have not only done very well in the charts, but have proven that they can be both exciting and relevant alongside contemporary music.