 | Written by Alex Stojanovic IRON MAIDEN w/ THE RAVEN AGE @ Budweiser Stage Toronto, ON, Canada August 9, 2019 Presented by Live Nation |
Click here for our interview with George Harris and Matt James of The Raven Age
The weekend of August 9th to 11th was one of the busiest weekends Toronto has had this summer. The Blue Jays were playing at the Rogers Centre, the annual Taste Of The Danforth festival took place in Little Greece, and on top of that, one of the biggest tours of both the summer and the entire year came to the Budweiser Stage for two sold out nights on August 9th and 10th, and that was Iron Maiden's Legacy Of The Beast tour. Starting off in Europe last summer, people in North America were begging Maiden to bring this tour to our shores, and the wish was granted. Not only that, but South America is getting the tour as well.
There's a theme with every Maiden tour that happens, and there's honestly no other band that gets a bigger reaction to their setlist when they do a new tour than they do. When they release a new album, they play a good chunk of new material, and the next tour sees them delve into their history and play more classic material. There's people that love the theme, but then there's other people that prefer them to just stick to the old material. Maiden have always taken great pride in doing what pleases them, and I love that about them. I'm certainly more immersed in the older stuff, but they also have great material from the last five studio albums from Brave New World to Book Of Souls. I would have to say that this tour had one of the best setlists they've ever had, where they play wealthy chunk of classic material, including songs they haven't played in several years, and they threw in a couple of songs from the 2000s, and even a couple of Blaze Bayley era songs, which no one was expecting.
Getting down to the show itself, the show started off with The Raven Age kicking off the festivities. I've mentioned numerous times how I think The Raven Age are one of the best bands of the last five years. I first got a taste of their music when I saw them open for Maiden on the Book Of Souls tour in 2016. I later got a chance to hear their debut album Darkness Will Rise, and they earned a new fan with me. Their new album Conspiracy shows them taking their songwriting skills to greater heights, and when they were announced as special guests for the Legacy Of The Beast, I was really looking forward to seeing them again. Even though it was the band's second time in North America, it was a first time for new guitarist Tony Maue and new frontman Matt James. Their nine song set consisted of seven songs from Conspiracy, and only two from Darkness Will Rise. Some of the songs they played included "Betrayal Of The Mind", "Fleur De Lis", "Promised Land", "Grave Of The Fireflies" and "Angel In Disgrace". The Book Of Souls tour earned them a whole slew of new fans in the process, and the Legacy Of The Beast tour is certainly doing the same. That means it should be time for North American headline tour sometime soon.
It was now time for Maiden to hit the stage. To keep up the tradition, UFO's "Doctor Doctor" played on the P.A. to let the audience know that it was showtime. As the last notes of the song played and the lights went out, the iconic "Churchill's Speech" intro track and video played, leading into the starting song, which was "Aces High". To me, that is the ultimate opener for a Maiden show. As I mentioned above, this tour featured songs that they haven't played in over a decade, with one in particular not being played since the 80s. Some of those surprises included classics like "Where Eagles Dare", "The Clansman", "Sign Of The Cross" and "Flight Of Icarus". The last time the latter was played before this tour was in 1986. It's definitely about time that they brought it back, don't you think? The Blaze Bayley era songs are also getting an incredible reaction. In addition, the band also pleased the fans who love the music they made in the 2000s, by including "The Wicker Man", and a song from my favourite 2000s Maiden album: A Matter Of Life & Death, which was "For The Greater Good Of God". On top of that, the band continued to deliver songs that have become setlist staples like "Fear Of The Dark", "The Trooper", "2 Minutes To Midnight", "Number Of The Beast", "Iron Maiden", "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and of course "Run To The Hills".
It was during "The Trooper" that Eddie made his appearance on stage with a sword and engaged in a sword fight with Bruce Dickinson. Bruce then picks up a pole with the Canadian flag on it, and shooting a firework at Eddie to make it look like he shot him in a battle. During his welcome speech, Bruce expressed disappointment (in a fun way) about the amphitheatre being named after an American beer brand: Budweiser, even though it's a Canadian venue. It got a huge laugh and cheer out of the audience. The man never fails at putting smiles on any mass of people. Not only that, but the man just turned 61, and is still a demon on stage. All I can say is that this is without a doubt the metal tour of the year, and if it's hitting your city, you need to buy a ticket to the show because you will be kicking yourself if you don't.
There's a theme with every Maiden tour that happens, and there's honestly no other band that gets a bigger reaction to their setlist when they do a new tour than they do. When they release a new album, they play a good chunk of new material, and the next tour sees them delve into their history and play more classic material. There's people that love the theme, but then there's other people that prefer them to just stick to the old material. Maiden have always taken great pride in doing what pleases them, and I love that about them. I'm certainly more immersed in the older stuff, but they also have great material from the last five studio albums from Brave New World to Book Of Souls. I would have to say that this tour had one of the best setlists they've ever had, where they play wealthy chunk of classic material, including songs they haven't played in several years, and they threw in a couple of songs from the 2000s, and even a couple of Blaze Bayley era songs, which no one was expecting.
Getting down to the show itself, the show started off with The Raven Age kicking off the festivities. I've mentioned numerous times how I think The Raven Age are one of the best bands of the last five years. I first got a taste of their music when I saw them open for Maiden on the Book Of Souls tour in 2016. I later got a chance to hear their debut album Darkness Will Rise, and they earned a new fan with me. Their new album Conspiracy shows them taking their songwriting skills to greater heights, and when they were announced as special guests for the Legacy Of The Beast, I was really looking forward to seeing them again. Even though it was the band's second time in North America, it was a first time for new guitarist Tony Maue and new frontman Matt James. Their nine song set consisted of seven songs from Conspiracy, and only two from Darkness Will Rise. Some of the songs they played included "Betrayal Of The Mind", "Fleur De Lis", "Promised Land", "Grave Of The Fireflies" and "Angel In Disgrace". The Book Of Souls tour earned them a whole slew of new fans in the process, and the Legacy Of The Beast tour is certainly doing the same. That means it should be time for North American headline tour sometime soon.
It was now time for Maiden to hit the stage. To keep up the tradition, UFO's "Doctor Doctor" played on the P.A. to let the audience know that it was showtime. As the last notes of the song played and the lights went out, the iconic "Churchill's Speech" intro track and video played, leading into the starting song, which was "Aces High". To me, that is the ultimate opener for a Maiden show. As I mentioned above, this tour featured songs that they haven't played in over a decade, with one in particular not being played since the 80s. Some of those surprises included classics like "Where Eagles Dare", "The Clansman", "Sign Of The Cross" and "Flight Of Icarus". The last time the latter was played before this tour was in 1986. It's definitely about time that they brought it back, don't you think? The Blaze Bayley era songs are also getting an incredible reaction. In addition, the band also pleased the fans who love the music they made in the 2000s, by including "The Wicker Man", and a song from my favourite 2000s Maiden album: A Matter Of Life & Death, which was "For The Greater Good Of God". On top of that, the band continued to deliver songs that have become setlist staples like "Fear Of The Dark", "The Trooper", "2 Minutes To Midnight", "Number Of The Beast", "Iron Maiden", "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and of course "Run To The Hills".
It was during "The Trooper" that Eddie made his appearance on stage with a sword and engaged in a sword fight with Bruce Dickinson. Bruce then picks up a pole with the Canadian flag on it, and shooting a firework at Eddie to make it look like he shot him in a battle. During his welcome speech, Bruce expressed disappointment (in a fun way) about the amphitheatre being named after an American beer brand: Budweiser, even though it's a Canadian venue. It got a huge laugh and cheer out of the audience. The man never fails at putting smiles on any mass of people. Not only that, but the man just turned 61, and is still a demon on stage. All I can say is that this is without a doubt the metal tour of the year, and if it's hitting your city, you need to buy a ticket to the show because you will be kicking yourself if you don't.
| IRON MAIDEN Bruce Dickinson - Vocals Dave Murray - Guitars Adrian Smith - Guitars Janick Gers - Guitars Steve Harris - Bass Nicko McBrain - Drums Label: BMG Records Website: www.ironmaiden.com | THE RAVEN AGE Matt James - Vocals George Harris - Guitars Tony Maue - Guitars Matt Cox - Bass & backing vocals Jai Patel - Drums Label: Corvid Records Website: www.theravenage.org www.facebook.com/TheRavenAge |
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