Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Location: Kalemegdan / Belgrade / Serbia
Concert date: 17.06.2014
Attendance: 20,000
Ticket price: €42.75 (fan pit)
In April 1988, Iron Maiden set off on what was, up to then, one of their biggest tours, the Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour, on which they presented the then-new peak of their discography, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. The colossal tour, which ran for more than half a year and saw the band undeniably at the height of its powers, wrapped up after 98 shows, and its testament became the live recording Maiden England, which the band recorded in Birmingham in November 1988. Two years ago, Iron Maiden decided to revive this important chapter of their history with the Maiden England World Tour 2012-2014. They got the tour wheels turning in the US in June 2012, and the finish line is just around the corner: the heavy metal giants will play the final show of the tour on July 5 at Sonisphere festival in Knebworth. At one of the last dates, Iron Maiden stopped once again in Belgrade, in the idyllic setting of the Kalemegdan fortress, which actually sits right in the center of the city yet is isolated from it, offering plenty of quiet nooks. One of them lies beneath the walls at the confluence of the Sava and the Danube, but this time it was anything but quiet. It was damn loud, as the crowds were already pouring in toward the stage.
At half past seven, the Swedish villains Ghost led the gathered congregation into an orgy of satanic heavy metal. To the sounds of an evil symphonic intro, all five Nameless Ghouls marched onto the stage, followed by the head of the Ghost church and star of the show, Papa Emeritus II, who instantly reaped roaring applause and whistles of approval. Ghost kicked things off by hurling us into year one, the year of the Antichrist’s birth, Year Zero, wrapping Kalemegdan in the thick, ominous atmosphere of retro heavy metal (or rock) laced with devilish, occult themes. It’s backed up by the stage presence of the instrumental ghosts, and even more by the papal audience of Papa Emeritus II, who steals every last bit of attention with a sweetly deceptive voice and theatrical gestures. He endeared himself to the Serbian crowd even more with numerous addresses in Serbian. Sadly, the vocals were mixed pretty poorly and the blasphemous lyrics didn’t come across as well as they usually do, but the instrumental five proved themselves, especially the guitarists with simple but powerful riffs and the drummer, who coaxed a really huge sound out of a minimal kit. Ghost got a pretty warm response, which for an Iron Maiden support act is more the exception than the rule, and it’s truly fascinating to see that the Swedes have managed to popularize Satan, Lucifer and evil so much that young and old sing along to lines like »Lucifer/We Are Here/For Your Praise/Evil One« and the like. Ghost bade farewell to Kalemegdan, which was slowly sinking into darkness, with the hit from the album Infestissumam, Monstrance Clock. Papa Emeritus II for Pope!
While the stage was being set up for Device, Pilatus entertained the crowd with acrobatics among the clouds, and as day turned into night, the Kalemegdan walls were lit up, which added a truly stunning backdrop to the show. The crowd went nuts when the classic herald of the show, the UFO anthem Doctor Doctor, rang out of the speakers, and the last brakes gave way at the line »Seven deadly sins/Seven ways to win/Seven holy paths to hell/And your trip begins«, as our hour-and-a-half journey kicked off with a spectacular intro, the unforgettable Seventh Son classic Moonchild. Iron Maiden have long since got us used to (and spoiled us with) nothing but top-notch shows, and the Belgrade one was no exception. The band tore into a furious set from the first note, packed with heavy metal acrobatics and crowned with phenomenal energy from every single person on stage. That’s the trait that lifted Maiden among the greats, where they remain to this day, even though the band members are getting well on toward the autumn of their lives. And even at their respectable age, Bruce, Steve, Adrian, Dave, Nicko and Janick leave people half their age in the dust with their left hand tied behind their backs. The flawless show was interrupted only by a slightly botched harmonized intro to Can I Play With Madness, but otherwise there’s simply no room for mistakes in a Maiden live set, even though something is always going on on that stage: not just boyish romping, but constant backdrop changes, a stunning light show, pyro blasts and, of course, Eddie! The immortal mascot shows up in no fewer than three incarnations this time. During Run to the Hills he dances with Janick as General Custer, during the most epic part of the show, the ten-minute, goosebump-raising, orgasm-inducing Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, Eddie the scribe rises up behind Nicko, and to close the main set during Iron Maiden, the most imposing Eddie of all appears, the one from the cover of the Seventh Son album.
Compared to the first leg of the tour, the band shook up the setlist a little this time. Instead of Afraid To Shoot Strangers we got the stunning Revelations, they closed the show with Sanctuary instead of Running Free, and sadly, for some unknown reason, the excellent The Clairvoyant got dropped. Still, Iron Maiden raced from hit to hit in top form, both instrumentally and vocally. Bruce is the one who proved that the years do him no harm at all, since he’s still capable of an incredible vocal performance, with both his velvety mid-range and his high »air raid« siren screams. Only on Aces High (understandably) can he no longer reach the extremely high notes, so they’re tuned lower, which doesn’t bother anyone. Wasting any words on the instrumental five is pointless, as the interplay of their instruments is perfect to the core, which shows best in the best moments of the show, the unforgettable epic Phantom of the Opera, and even more in the timeless moments of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, where the instrumental passages, the weave of guitar harmonies and Bruce’s flawless vocal delivery (with a little Danzig-style tuft of hair, hehe) sent goosebumps racing all over my body. Once again the goodbye came too soon, this time with an extended Sanctuary, and for the send-off the still-obligatory Pythonesque Always Look On the Bright Side of Life. Whistling it on the way back to the car, full of the impressions of a great gig, even with a five-hour drive ahead of you and then another eight hours of grind at work, it really is easier to look on the bright side of life.
Setlist
GHOST:
1. Year Zero
2. Con Clavi Con Dio
3. Prime Mover
4. Stand By Him
5. If You Have Ghosts
6. Ritual
7. Monstrance Clock
IRON MAIDEN:
1. Moonchild
2. Can I Play With Madness
3. The Prisoner
4. 2 Minutes To Midnight
5. Revelations
6. The Trooper
7. The Number of the Beast
8. Phantom of the Opera
9. Run to the Hills
10. Wasted Years
11. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
12. Fear of the Dark
13. Iron Maiden
— encore —
14. Aces High
15. The Evil That Man Do
16. Sanctuary
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