Rocking out stadiums across Europe, English heavy metal band Iron Maiden concluded their The Return of the Gods Festival in Milan in blazing epic fashion as part of their The Future Past Tour 2023. The open-air concert was attended by thousands, with many flying in all the way from North America and Asia.
The band then dished out a bunch of their classics from their ‘80s albums such as The Trooper, The Number of the Beast and Hallowed Be Thy Name. Along with that, the band also played a number of tracks from their newer albums such as Brave New World and Dance Of Death as well as from their latest album Senjutsu.
Taking to Instagram, Iron Maiden thanked their fans at Milan, writing, “Thank you Milan!” Just sometime before that, the band announced their concert in cool fashion featuring a computer-animated video featuring their mascot Eddie in a futuristic ‘Blade Runner’ type bar, cutting to the album cover of The Future Past Tour 2023. The band captioned: “Scream for me Milan! #IronMaiden #TheFuturePastTour #Milan”
However, while the show concluded in great fashion full of flair and the attitude of heavy metal, fans were a bit disappointed due to the gig’s poor organisation and the bad audio quality. Nonetheless, the concert went off incredibly well, leaving fans thrilled and overall satisfied. The band was also joined on stage by other big metal bands such as Stratovarius, Epica, Blind Channel and The Raven Age.
Iron Maiden was formed in 1975 in London and have since then become icons, having released over 17 studio albums, 13, live albums as well as performed over 2,500 live shows across the world, including in India over three times with great success in Bengaluru and Mumbai. Despite never garnering much mainstream attention, the band has sold 150 million records worldwide making them one of the best-selling bands of all time.
In addition, the band are one of the most important and influential groups of all time, having inspired numerous other big bands such as Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Pantera, Dream Theater, Avenged Sevenfold, Foo Fighters, Nirvana and even big names in rap and pop, such as Ice-T and Lady Gaga.
They have also received various awards and honours which include the Grammy Awards, Ivor Novella Awards, Kerrang Awards, Metal Hammer Awards, Juno Awards, and were honoured by Royal Mail UK with dedicated postal stamps and cards in 2023.