Iron Maiden

Graspop Metal Meeting - 2008

Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen

When Doctor Doctor started playing over the p.a. system, we all knew what was coming next.
"Maiden, maiden, maiden", the crowd shouted, and there were a lot of us. A Graspop record we were later told by Mr. Dickinson. So many that the police had had to shut the gates so as not to let anyone else inside.

Iron Maiden took a trip down memory lane with us, visiting songs of albums past. They had promised us several times before that they would continue the 'three album' concept started three years ago at Graspop. This would mean that we would be treated to songs from Piece Of Mind, Powerslave and Somewhere In Time, but sadly they didn't stick to this. They did, however, stick to only playing old songs, the newest being from the 1992 release, Fear Of The Dark.
The décor was held in a very Powerslave inspired style, with the Eddie pyramid in the middle and lots of Egyptian symbols. There were also incorporated details of several other album covers though.
A minus with the décor were the two 'arms', in lack of a better word, which looked cool in a way, but also effectively blocking the view for everyone who wasn't standing pretty much straight in front of the stage. Apart from that, however, it was all absolutely excellent. Maiden had their now familiar way of changing the backdrop between songs, with specific themes for classics like The Trooper. Every now and then they would have a backdrop showing a bit of corridor from the pyramid though, so that we got the feeling of moving deeper and deeper into the depths of the crypt, finally ending in the tomb with a gigantic golden Eddie-shaped sarcophagus in the back. This split in two in the song Iron Maiden, and out came a big Eddie mummy, excellently made.
The show stopped at exactly 2 minutes to midnight, and we all walked back to our tents listening to the now classic Monty Python outro.

There were also many more goodies I could write about from the show, but I don't want to give everything away here, in case someone wants to go see it for themselves. And trust me, it is well worth seeing.

Setlist:

Aces High
2 Minutes To Midnight
Revelations
The Trooper
Wasted Years
The Number Of The Beast
Can I Play With Madness
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner
Powerslave
Heaven Can Wait
Run To The Hills
Fear Of The Dark
Iron Maiden
Moonchild
The Clairvoyant
Hallowed Be Thy Name

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