“Scream for me!” Bruce Dickinson yelled. The lead vocalist of the British heavy metal band, Iron Maiden, brought the energy on stage along with the rest of the band. They played an almost 2-hour long set Tuesday night, at the XCEL Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Iron Maiden, the British heavy metal titans, brought the Future Past tour here in Minnesota. The whole premise of this tour was that the band would play songs from the album, “Somewhere in Time”(1986) and songs from their latest album “Senjutsu”(2021). Accordingly, the set mostly included songs from these records. The band ended up playing 5 songs from both of these records. The set was an absolute gift for the true Maiden fans, as the band busted out deep cuts from the records. The biggest surprise of the night was the band playing the fan-favorite track, “Alexander the Great.” Along with these tracks, the band played hits like the songs “The Trooper,” “Fear of the Dark,” and “Wasted Years”.

Even with their old age, Iron Maiden proved that they could still put on a performance that would rival bands that are half their age. While pushing into their 70s, guitarists Dave Murray, Adrain Smith, and Janick Gers, were all jumping around the stage. One of the highlights of the show was when the band’s mascot Eddie came out. During the Track, “Hell on Earth,” samurai Eddie comes out and goes up to the guitarist, Janick Gers, and pretends to attack – but Janick slips through his legs. Later, Eddie pretended to get him and cut his throat with his sword.

Bruce Dickinson, the long-running vocalist and 1 of three vocalists of the band, at the age of 66 was still hitting every note and had that operatic raspy style of singing that he is known for. My favorite moment was when Bruce gave a speech before the track,“The Time Machine,” about former Iron Maiden vocalist Paul Di’Anno, who passed away the day before the show. Bruce stated that he wanted everyone to close their eyes and say, “Thanks, boss.” This was followed by a moment of silence and a monumental cheer. Steve Harris, the bassist and only founding member left of Iron Maiden, and arguably the coolest, proved once again that age is just a number. During every track the band performed, he was jumping around and actively keeping the audience engaged. One thing I found interesting was that during the intros of the tracks, “Death of the Celts” and “Hell on Earth,” he was found playing the acoustic guitar- this was interesting since he’s their bassist.

The whole show was ridden with surprises and songs that every true Maiden fan would enjoy and scream their lungs out to. Arguably the most visually pleasing part was during “Hell on Earth,” when the band had pyro shooting out almost every time the beat would switch up or Adrian Smith would do a face-melting solo. Overall, the British heavy-metal titans played a set that is hard to forget and would leave every fan with a smile on their face.

The full 15-song set:

1. Caught Somewhere in Time
   (Intro played from tape)
2. Stranger in a Strange Land
3. The Writing on the Wall
4. Days of Future Past
5. The Time Machine
   (Dedicated to Paul Di’Anno)
6. The Prisoner
7. Death of the Celts
8. Can I Play With Madness
9. Heaven Can Wait
10. Alexander the Great
11. Fear of the Dark
12. Iron Maiden
    Encore:
13. Hell on Earth
14. The Trooper
15. Wasted Years