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By Clinton Jones

Sports Editor


Jozi mad for Iron Maiden

The British metal band ended the SA leg of their Book of Souls world tour with mind-blowing music at the Carnival City festival lawns.


A legacy. Those are the words used by Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson to describe the classic songs – scattered in between songs from their new album – that have catapulted them to the top of their genre for more than four decades.

The British metal band ended the South African leg of their Book of Souls world tour, brought to the country by Big Concerts, with a spectacular display of lighting, pyrotechnics and mind-blowing music at the Carnival City festival lawns on Saturday night.

The sellout crowd was treated to what can only be described as one of the best live shows in music today. Beginning with a video of ancient Mayan ruins, we saw the band’s private Boeing, Ed Force One, crash-landed in vines.

It was offered a giant helping hand in the form of Eddie, the ever recognisable band mascot, who literally push-starts Ed Force One which soars into the sky.

From then on, it was two hours of nonstop magic as the band defied their age and rocked the screaming fans. There was no shortage of special effects as Eddie, in his Mayan guise from The Book of Souls album cover, appeared at two points during the show: as a walking puppet during The Book of Souls and as an inflatable head during Iron Maiden.

In addition, an inflatable goat/devil appeared during The Number of the Beast. One of the highlights of the evening was a powerful performance of one their biggest hits, Fear of the Dark, where Dickinson got the crowd fired up with his trademark yell, “scream for me Joooobuuuurg”.

There aren’t many metal bands who can keep a grip on a crowd that size and Saturday night brought fresh evidence that Iron Maiden won’t let go just yet.

 

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