Iron Maiden - 28th May 2008 - Sleep Train Ampitheater Concord CA
Support: Lauren Harris

It seems that Iron Maiden will never stop, the band’s momentum over the past three decades has never even begun to slow. When they emerged on stage at the Sleep Train Amphitheater in California, every seat in the house had been sold. Maiden has been performing for quite some time but it seems a new generation has discovered the band, the crowd members ranged in age from 5 to 65, and the band members are loving it. “They always ask us why we haven’t stopped, lead singer Bruce Dickinson said at the beginning of his set, why should we, we’re selling out more shows than we ever have.”

The night got started off by Lauren Harris, daughter of the legendary Steve Harris, bassist and founder of Iron Maiden. Harris has a hard rock sound and even though she played unknown songs, her debut album had not yet been released, the audience was into her set from the first note played.
Speaking to Harris before the show about the beginning of her career she said “I never really thought I would totally be doing this because I was really shy as a kid. For me I think that it was the opportunity to do it rather than me choosing to, it kind of fell into place. As far as the debut album Harris said “I’m really nervous about it. It’s my first big thing, and I hope people like it.” Her self proclaimed shyness was not apparent on stage as she looked completely comfortable in front of the sold out crowd. Her music was solid and the songs sound ready for radio play. All in all Harris turned in a good set and may be a young artist to watch.

It was finally time for the head liner and Iron Maiden emerged onto an elaborate stage. Complete with fire, smoke , and their famous mascot Eddie in the background, Maiden put on a memorable show. The legendary heavy metal band played most of the songs the audience had come to hear. The set included “Aces High,” “Run To The Hills,” and “The Trooper.” Davidson has a great voice for the metal genre and along with all his costume changes, there were three, he was very entertaining.

The band are obviously in the entertainment business, but they also are very good at what they do. They don’t let the on stage antics distract from the music. All members of the band are extremely talented and Maiden sounds like a band that has been playing together for the better part of thirty years. They saved the hit “Iron Maiden,” for the end of the set and came back for an encore. They promised new material forthcoming. Maiden will definitely be back for another tour. It looks like the band will be selling out arenas for many more years to come.


Review by Tyler Sobie


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