I have been thinking a lot about "bucket list bands", bands I would most want to see once in my lifetime. For a long time, Iron Maiden was absolutely at the top of that list. So, when it was announced that Iron Maiden would be playing in Lincoln, Nebraska, I absolutely had to go. And honestly, they were every bit as good as I had them built up in my mind.
But before we get to the Iron Maiden performance, I have to talk about the seats. The venue was Pinnacle Bank Arena, a large structure built in the last few years and already attracting a number of large-market shows. My wife and I have previously seen Motley Crue and Def Leppard headline shows there. My father works for the company that built the arena and the company has luxury suite seats. My dad got my wife and me tickets in the luxury suite. We had free drinks and snacks, and very nice seats to enjoy the concert. It was definitely a great night.
Opening the show was Ghost, who are embroiled in a bit of a legal controversy these days. Singer Papa Emeritus has replaced all of the previous Nameless Ghouls with new Nameless Ghouls. The difference is actually seemless. We saw the band last year headlining at a smaller venue and they were just as good as they were back then. It was obviously a shorter set, but most of the expected songs were played. While not quite as dynamic as they were when they headlined their own show, Ghost still put on an impressive performance.
After a short set change, an animated sequence started up featuring Eddie in the rainforests of South America. This was the Book of Souls tour, spotlighting the band's most recent double album, which was their best album since the Brave New World reunion. Songs from the new album featured heavily, which was to be expected. The band started things off with "If Eternity Should Fail". The latest album has a theme revolving around the Mayan civilization and much of the stage design (and the Eddie design) reflected this theme. The stage was set up to resemble Mayan ruins and even Nicko McBrain's drum set was shiny and gold (my wife thought it was pretty). Bruce Dickinson at one point danced around the stage with a monkey mask on and even presented guitarist Adrian Smith with a banana, which seemed to surprise him.
Iron Maiden balanced the new songs with a bunch of old favorites. Unfortunately due to some sort of legal dispute, "Hallowed be Thy Name" was not played. They did play "Powerslave", "The Trooper", "Fear of the Dark", and other fan favorites. Musically, the band sounded amazing. It is extremely hard to believe that the members of this band are in their late 50's (especially with as much running around as they did). They sounded extremely powerful, and Dickinson's voice was still amazing after all this time. The band closed things off with "The Number of the Beast", "Blood Brothers", and "Wasted Years".
Between the music and the stage show, I can honestly say that this was one of my favorite concerts I have ever attended.
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