IRON MAIDEN + HALESTORM @ London Stadium 28th June 2025
When the Heavy Rock behemoth that is Iron Maiden rolls into the London Stadium, you know that you are going to be in for something extremely special, and this was the case on a scorching Saturday evening at the end of June. If the weather wasn’t hot enough to start with, the temperature rose a further few degrees when the band, accompanied by their pyro effects, hit the stage.
This was always going to be a spectacle. With the band returning to their East End roots, playing at the home of their beloved West Ham United, there could not be a better stage or environment for this show. This was a show that may well go down in history as one of their best.
It’s fifty years since the band first got together, so tonight was a celebration of those years.
As the Intro tape rolls playing the instrumental The Ides of March from the bands’ Killers album, the expectant and sold-out stadium audience are on tenterhooks as this sees an animated backdrop highlighting some of the key sites and places that were important to the band in their foundling years, The Ruskin Arms, Signs for Upton Park, Bridge House, The Cart and Horses and Acacia Avenue are all there. Anyone familiar with Maiden history will be aware of the importance of these places; from this introduction, the band enters with the familiar picked guitar intro to “Murders In The Rue Morgue.” As the killer chords kick in, the evening takes off, and the audience is in for the ride of their lives. Following Murders, they tear straight into two other songs from the Killers album, Wrathchild and the title song Killers are all aired, and some of these have not been played for many years.
This is also the first appearance of ‘Eddie’ on stage, menacingly towering over the band, blood-dripping axe in hand. Following this with Phantom Of The Opera from the first self-titled album is a masterpiece and the perfect tribute to the original band singer, Paul Di’Anno, who passed away in 2024.
If that wasn’t enough, particularly for the older die-hard fans so, they are greeted with the familiar apocalyptical introductive words from the Book of Revelation, ‘Woe to you o’er earth and sea……’ and Number of the Beast is received to great raptures, pyro bursts and a number of mini mosh and circle pits around the stadium and the seated areas to their feet.
With a backdrop of Eddie crouched over a crystal ball, the same image being used on one of the new t-shirts, The Clairvoyant was introduced. With the three guitars all blazing away so, ‘the three amigos’, Messrs Murray, Gers and Smith took the level up another notch, their guitar work prominent and to the fore, carefully crafted and perfectly performed.
Powerslave saw Bruce don a mask and feather headdress as the band continued to work their way through their back catalogue. The familiar cry of “Scream For Me London” echoes around the stadium as if the audience weren’t yelling and screaming enough with the fervour of the night.
Two Minutes to Midnight, which at the moment seems quite prophetic in view of the political instability throughout the world, yet tonight that was all forgotten as the adoring hordes threw themselves into the mass melee, singing and punching the air to every song. There is something about a Maiden show that borders on a near-religious experience, so adoring and appreciative are the fans.
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is also well-received. This mega piece is draped in atmosphere. Bruce, in a further clothes change, quotes the familiar poetic line ‘Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink’ before the band play one of their more progressively detailed songs based on the poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. A Maiden show isn’t just a good time; it’s also a class in literature and history, which brings us to the storming Run To The Hills, a song based on the slaughter of North American Indians by the U.S. Cavalry.
This sees Bruce energetically running from side to side on the immense stage and conducting the adoring masses, Dave Murray throwing his guitar around, somehow not hitting a bandmate, and the master bassist and overlord, Steve Harris, crouched low over his bass, casting enquiring glances over the audience as the familiar bass lines drive the song forward and the 70,000 throng find their voices.
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son is another immense composition which shows that the band aren’t just three-minute rock song specialists. They like to tell a tale, and they’ll tell it in their own time. The peaks and crescendos of this piece see Bruce stretched to the max, yet he can still hit the high notes and hold onto them in perpetuum.
As we come towards the end of the main set, we see the levels of anticipation continue to rise, and no doubt, some exhaustion is showing in the steaming crowd. The Trooper sees Bruce attired in the familiar redcoat army jacket, Union flag in hand, as a similarly attired Eddie rejoins the throng, cutlass swinging. Once again, the three-pronged guitar attack drives the familiar theme, and the audience goes wild again. Iron Maiden are nothing if not theatrical to the last, and that theatricality continues as Bruce, now hidden behind a cage, bemoans the luck of a man condemned to death, the backdrops highlighting the storyline with wonderful animation as Hallowed Be Thy Name continues to raise the energy levels, the familiar choruses and melodies cast out to the deserving masses.
There is only one way to finish the set, and everyone is awaiting the step back to the beginning, with the title track from the self-titled first album, Iron Maiden, an animated Eddie rising and glowering over the back of the stage, overlooking the heaving mass of victims before him.
After a couple of minutes break, the band return for the encores suitably refreshed they return to the boiling cauldron that is the London Stadium as, in the glowering night, the sounds of Second World War aeroplane engines, explosions and machine gun fire fill the night, and then the familiar Winston Churchill’s ‘We will fight on the beaches’ speech echoes out. Then an animated Eddie, as a Second World War air ace, flying a Spitfire, streaks across the backdrop as the band rip into Aces High; Bruce bedecked in a flying jacket, goggles and Second World War flying helmet, and Steve Harris machine-gunning the audience with his bass guitar.
Fear of the Dark sees a mass sing-along as Bruce, bedecked in Victorian night watchman garb complete with gas lamp, conducts the buoyant crowd as the song gently begins before erupting into its nightmarish storyline, and the full rumbling force of the band take control once again.
Finally, Wasted Years is played as the last encore, and it sees many of the masses begin to drift from the stadium and make their long and weary ways home.
Yet what a night this was. In the eyes of their long-adoring fans, the boys can do no wrong, and so this was the case. The buzz at the end is that of exhilaration and joy. Thankfully, Maiden have made it clear they have no intention of calling it a day yet, so roll on the next time.
Set List
- Murders in the Rue Morgue
- Wrathchild
- Killers
- Phantom of the Opera
- The Number of the Beast
- The Clairvoyant
- Powerslave
- 2 Minutes to Midnight
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- Run to the Hills
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
- The Trooper
- Hallowed Be Thy Name
- Iron Maiden
Encore:
Churchill’s Speech Introduction:
- Aces High
- Fear of the Dark
- Wasted Years
As support to Iron Maiden, the band fronted by Metal Maiden Lzzy Hale took to the stage to deliver a more than appropriate warm-up slot, a set that showcased a large selection of new songs from their forthcoming album Everest and a few old favourites to keep the die-hards happy.
It was a bold step playing so much relatively unknown material. With four and a bit new songs out of a set of nine songs it could be questionable if this was the right environment to try them out, but if you are going to take chances then there probably is no better place than in front of the Maiden hordes, and certainly the reaction in the London City Stadium was generally one of approval.
Certainly, the newer material is more interesting and likely to need a few more listens by yours truly; however, all of the trademark Halestorm is in there.
From the start, Fallen Star showed that frontwoman Lzzy Hale still more than ever has the energy and aggression to deliver. From the moment she stepped on stage, she was in the audience’s faces, wearing a cape and thigh-high boots, she was every bit the consummate rock chick. Her voice is immense, and she has a vocal delivery that many of her male counterparts can only wish for.
With two old favourites from ‘The Strange Case Of…. ‘Album following, namely I Miss The Misery and Love Bites (So Do I), she rapidly had an expanding audience eating out of her hand. The venom of her delivery is immense; she spits out the lyrics with a throaty snarl that is quite awe-inspiring.
WATCH OUT! is another new song that follows in a similar vein. With the line ‘That Bitch Is Out For Blood’ this trilogy of angsty songs work so well together.
Things take a lighter turn for the next song, with Lzzy taking to the keyboards to deliver the first single from the new album and a tune verging on a rock ballad, Darkness Always Wins. This is a song that contains a great guitar hook and pounding chorus that has the potential to become a classic in time.
Next up is a mini-medley, with Lzzy, goblet in hand, kicking off Familiar Taste of Poison, that rolls into another new song, Rain Your Blood On Me. Interestingly, these two songs work well together and show the obvious ability that not only Lzzy has in writing a great song, but also the rest of the band, as they take the pieces musically into stronger areas. Whatever happens, it is clear that the song-writing talent is expanding and the ability to create a great tune is developing with every album. Could Everest be their make-or-break album? We’ll have to wait and see.
To give the band a brief break in the sweltering heat, they leave the stage to Lzzy’s younger brother, Arejay, who tears into a driving drum solo. Whether these are to your taste, and let’s be honest, they can be quite variable, this held up reasonably well. Arejay didn’t overdevelop the solo, and though we got the usual cheesy large drumsticks, it enabled the band to recharge their batteries, before Lzzy returned, decrying to the ladies or rather Maidens in the stadium are you a Freak Like Me.
Closing off with I Get Off from the self-titled first album, the set closed down. Forty-five minutes of high-octane and energetic rock and roll. Just what the doctor ordered.
WORDS: ADRIAN STONLEY PHOTOS: ROBERT SUTTON
Set List
- Fallen Star [Everest]
- I Miss the Misery [The Strange Case Of…]
- Love Bites (So Do I) [The Strange Case Of…]
- WATCH OUT! [Everest]
- Darkness Always Wins [Everest]
- Familiar Taste of Poison / Rain Your Blood on Me Medley [Halestorm/Everest]
- Drum Solo
- Freak Like Me [T[he Strange Case Of…]
- I Get Off [Halestorm]
- Everest [Everest]
