Iron Maiden Live in Belfast: Belsonic, 13th June 2022

Iron Maiden return to Belfast four years after their last show at the SSE Arena and two years after Covid postponed their original date for the Belsonic festival. Since then they’ve released a new album, ‘Senjuitsu’ and re-worked their set list for the current tour to incorporate the new material into what is essentially part two of ‘The Legacy of The Beast Tour’.

Opening the show with ‘Senjutsu, ‘Stratego’ and ‘The Writing on the Wall’ there’s a glimpse of what might have been had the band been able to tour the ‘Senjuitsu’ album properly. The elaborate stage set is decked out as an ancient oriental temple and it is very impressive, even in daylight when most of the lighting effects are nullified and long daylight hours in the Northern hemisphere. An early appearance by a walk on Eddie, dressed as a samurai warrior, is an early highlight, which delights the crowd.

New material out of the way, stage re-dressed into the familiar gothic cathedral set of the legacy tour, the band launch into the fan favourites. ‘Blood Brothers’ gets played for the first time since 2017, ‘Flight of Icarus’ replete with Dickinson adorned with flame thrower gets a warm reception as do Blaze Bayley era songs ‘Sign of The Cross’ and ‘The Clansman’.

Being off the road has not done the band any harm. The music is tight and they do genuinely seem to be happy to be out playing together again.

Drummer Nicko McBrain, who recently turned seventy, is on sharp form as his energetic playing drives the band along and Bruce Dickinson who’s less than a month shy of his sixty fourth birthday is as physical as ever as he makes the stage his playground.

Concert staples, ‘The Trooper’ (featuring a second walk on Eddie), ‘Fear of The Dark’ and ‘Hallowed be Thy Name’ get a strong reaction and the hits continue with ‘The Number of the Beast’, a raucous ‘Run to The Hills’ and, complete with an inflatable demonic Eddie rising behind the drum kit, ‘Iron Maiden’. Closing the encores with a spitfire soaring above the stage, ‘Aces High’ sends the Belfast audience home happy.

As Iron Maiden tours go, this one is hard to beat. The set list covers a forty plus year career with a mix of Prog metal and hits. Two walk on Eddies (which I believe is the first for a Maiden tour), pyrotechnics galore and glorious theatrics.

Slick, professional and extremely entertaining, with just a dash of Spinal Tap thrown in. With luck next year we’ll see the band back playing the whole of the ‘Senjuitsu’ album. An excellent first night for the Belsonic Festival.

Review by Gerry McNally

Photography by Tremaine Gregg