Glasgow SECC Review
Maiden appeal to a certain type of male mentality, which on the outside may appear disturbing (violence, war and a kind of Satanism-lite) but in its home environment is more comical and good-natured than particularly threatening or sinister.With an audience of aged disciples and new converts, the choice to concentrate on their most recent album, A Matter of Life and Death, is either a brave or pig-headed one. It is epic (at nearly 80 minutes for 10 tracks), played in sequence and at times verging on progressive rock.
In part hideously overblown, it is also, in flashes, memorable and even contemporary – think Muse meets Queens of the Stone Age.
By the time their mascot Eddie appears (in a tank) for a handful of greatest hits (Fear of the Dark, Evil That Men Do and Two Minutes to Midnight) the truncated nod to their back catalogue is explained by Dickinson, who promises another tour next year.
With another 5000 T-shirts sold, Iron Maiden remain the masters of commercial hard rock.