Iron Maiden were back in Copenhagen and they had brought a fantastic setlist and stage setup with them. They had also brought a quality support band in Halestorm. What could possibly go wrong? Well, sometimes incompetent sound technicians can sabotage an otherwise great gig. Tonight was one of those evenings.
With better sound I would have rated this gig higher. As it sounded, I can't go higher than I did. It was still a fine evening and I really enjoyed watching the show and the music. It just makes me sad to think that it could have been better if it had actually sounded great.
SUPPORT: HALESTORM (19:30 - 20:15 = 45 minutes)
Their first songs only seemed to go through the back gear and not through the PA speakers. It sounded shrill and without any depth when standing on the left facing towards the stage. I tried moving more towards the center and it helped a little but not much. After several songs the PA seemed to kick in. It sounded better but still with a shrill sound. When moving away from the stage the usual arena mud sound got added to the mix. I began to worry about the skills of the sound technicians. Would they be able to fuck up the main gig too?
Halestorm is very much Lzzy Hale. She can certainly sing, but with the lousy sound quality offered, it sounded anything but great. She made up for it by wearing a body stocking and long boots. Sexy is fine, but I would have preferred much better sound instead/too.
Halestorm wasn't the usual annoying support band nobody wants to hear. The arena was pretty crowded during Halestorm's performance, which only makes it even more ridiculous that the sound technicians apparently were deaf.
IRON MAIDEN (20:57 - 23:03 = 126 minutes)
After the support act and a break, I made my way towards the front of the Arena, where you can actually see the stage with your own eyes. Not super close, but close enough. There were a lot of Maiden fanatics present, and I got surrounded by annoying Swedes who wouldn't shut the fuck up. Building that bridge/tunnel to Sweden was a terrible idea for a lot of reasons.
The sound quality had been shit during the support act and it was still shit when Iron Maiden entered the stage. It is fucking annoying when the sound technicians don't know how to do their job. It still sounded shrill and especially the vocals were really annoying to listen to. Luckily the crowd knew most of the songs and when the audience sang along it made the sound less annoying. The sound quality improved during the gig, but it never got acceptable. Duran Duran managed to play with great sound on Friday, and it is a total fail that Maiden can't do the same thing 3 days later. I was near the front for the first hour and further back for the rest of the gig. The sound was shit everywhere on the floor.
The stage setup had a screen on each side to make it possible for people far away to see the musicians. The backdrop of the stage was one big screen. It featured some of the best use of images and video I have ever seen at a concert. Video and live performance from the band melted together as some sort of theater play. It really looked amazing. It also worked really well from a distance as I witnessed later when I moved backwards from the stage.
The stage was in several levels. Most of the band stayed at the bottom level, but singer Bruce Dickinson often moved higher up and became part of the big-screen video show. There were also a lot of FIRE FIRE FIRE that brought back memories from a few trips to Wacken Open Air festival. Fire is always cool on stage.
Monster Eddie joined the show in the videos and also several times on stage. Axe-killer Eddie entered the stage during "Killers" and Eddie was also present during "The Trooper". The new drummer, Simon Dawson, was "hidden away" far in the back of the stage behind a plexiglass screen. He seemed rather anonymous to me, but his drumming was okay and I guess that is what matters. The fans seemed to like him and gave him a warm welcome.
There are still 3 guitarists in the band. I have no clue why Janick Gers is still part of the band? Dave and Adrian could easily handle the guitar parts alone. Steve is the usual incredible maniac on his bass. Bruce is a Duracell bunny sprinting around the stage: left, right, front, back, up, down. During "The Trooper" Bruce also carried a Danish flag on stage, the oldest trick in the show book.
I really like the setlist on the current Maiden tour. It has a lot of awesome songs from the early Maiden albums. This somehow also worried me a bit. I prefer the first 2 Maiden albums with Paul Di'Anno on vocals, and I have never really liked Bruce Dickinson's versions of those early songs. I shouldn't have worried that much though. Bruce did fine in Copenhagen. It was fucking cool to hear "Killers" and "Phantom of the Opera" live.
"Powerslave" and "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" were really great and with super impressive use of the backdrop video screen. Bruce did a very funny intro to "Rime..." about drinking albatross piss among other interesting stuff.
I wish they had dropped "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son". It is a shit song and after the long instrumental part of "Rime..." we really didn't need another song with a long instrumental section. The entire gig would have improved without this shit song in the setlist.
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" featured a phenomenally cool use of backdrop images combined with Bruce locked in a cage waiting to get hanged.
"Iron Maiden" doesn't really work well for Bruce. It is one of those songs that Di'Anno did so much better. It just doesn't have the right punch and edge to it when Bruce does it.
The best song of the encore was "Aces High" complete with "Churchill's Speech". Brilliant video backdrop with lots of Spitfires and ME-109s.
Last song "Wasted Years" seemed to suggest that fast space travel looks like an asshole. Interesting view from a spaceship's cockpit. Maiden were anything but assholes tonight. They played a great gig, only too fucking bad that the sound technicians were fucking deaf.
Iron Maiden don't really look like the old men most of them are and it doesn't look like they are about to retire any day soon. Good for them and good for us!
Rating: 
Band: Iron Maiden
Venue: Royal Arena, Copenhagen, DK
Concert Date: 2025-06-09
Support Band: Halestorm
Setlist:
- The Ides of March [Tape]
- 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 [Tape]
- Aces High
- Fear of the Dark
- Wasted Years
Ticket Price (DKK): 640
Ticket Provider: Ticketmaster
Content Type: Concert Review
Language: 
Updated: 2025-06-10 02:02
Created: 2024-09-19 19:42
Links:
Royal Arena
Facebook Event
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