A massed crowd dressed in denim and leather. Striking tattoo's aplenty. A buzz in the air and a tangible sense of excitement and expectation. A full to capacity and sold out Newcastle Arena. All this can only mean a major league rock band is in town and they don’t come much bigger that tonight's act Iron Maiden.

I’ve been lucky enough to have seen the “mighty Maiden” on many occasions and have fond and still vivid memories of the “Somewhere In Time” and “Seventh Son” tours. Down the years the band have become deservedly bigger and as a result the days of seeing them in the relatively cosy confines of Newcastle City Hall or Whitley Bay ice Rink are over. Nowadays “Maiden” play arena venues. Maiden’s last tour was behind the “Dance Of Death” album and it was a spectacular affair. It was an album which allowed Maiden to stretch out a bit and become more theatrical. For those of us that saw that show one got the feeling that Maiden were on a roll both on a song writing and performance level. Fast forward to the present and Maiden have a new album to tour behind with “A Matter Of Life And Death". It is without doubt one of Maidens finest hours and contains music almost tailor made for the live environment.

Tonight's show was a bit of a family affair as added to the bill was Lauren Harris (daughter of Steve Harris Iron Maidens bassist). She opened the show in style. Straightaway both myself and my trusty rock “compadre” Gary “The Beaver" remarked at what a great sound the band had. The vocals were clear and punchy and we actually could hear what was being sung. A big and deserved thumbs up for the soundman. It's been two days since the show and I can still hear the chorus to “Steal Your Fire". Laurens songs are strong and extremely catchy." Come On Over” was a power chord riff extravaganza and had a swagger reminiscent of The Cult at their rocking best. The band was top drawer and special mention must go to the guitarist who was outstanding. He was a heady mixture of John Sykes, Van Halen, Neal Schon and Zak Wylde.He really was that good. Lauren ended her set with a cover of UFO’s “Natural Thing". The band shone and really put their stamp on this classic. As the set came to and end it was noticeable and very telling that the auditorium was considerably fuller than when Lauren had took the stage. It was a short but very sweet set and most definitely mission accomplished. A lot of the audience were possibly too young to remember Pat Benetar, Lita Ford and Doro but this reviewer couldn’t help but make some comparisons. It's been along time since melodic hard rock had a rock goddess flying the flag so maybe the time is right for this kind of act. If Lauren has more songs that are the quality of tonight's showing then I am sure we are going to hear a lot more from her in the future. I for one hope so.

Next up was Trivium. Anybody who hasn’t heard this band in some shape or form in the last six months has to have been living in a cave in outer Siberia. There isn’t a week goes past without the band appearing on the cover of some rock magazine or guitar journal. Roadrunner Records has been putting a lot of work into getting this band out there. My pal “Hefty” tipped me off about this band a few years back and told me they would be massive .It would appear that he got this statement right in fact I would go as far as saying this band will be one of the metal worlds most biggest and most influential bands very soon. It was noticeable that the audience had a lot of punters amongst them who had come for Trivium if the amount of Trivium t-shirts was any indication. From the moment they hit the stage the sound was again excellent with great separation of instruments. A good section of the crowd went nuts and fists pumped in time to the music and one could see many of the younger elements of the audience singing along. The first thing that strikes you about this band is the musicianship. It’s top level stuff. For a young band one can tell, they have honed their craft to a very sharp edge. Matt Heafy and Corey Beaulieu are without doubt the new twin guitar attack on the block. They compliment each other perfectly and when each takes an individual solo they definitely make you sit up and listen. The tracks “Detonate"," Like Light To The Flies"," To The Rats” and “Anthem We Are The Fire” were delivered with precision and power.". Gary “The Beaver” summed them up perfectly when he said they are the natural evolution from where it all started with the likes of “Anthrax” and “Metallica”. They have borrowed heavily from those who have gone before them but have somehow managed to make their own sound from it all. One got the feeling that they have grasped this massive opportunity that Maiden have given them with such a prestigious support slot and they were determined to give their all. They have the benefit of youth on their side and have a very big future ahead of them. They came and conquered and eventually without a doubt will add plunder to the list. My only criticism of their set is not about the music or the performance but in Heafy’s encouragement of the crowd to get their “mosh circles” going. From where I was sitting one could see elements of the crowd just using it as a free for all to thump the living daylights out of the more vulnerable members of the audience. Moshing is not for the faint hearted but when done properly one still shows respect for ones fellow metal head. I could see elements of fear on some of the younger members of the crowd and if someone had fallen it would have ended in someone getting hurt. It's possible that some members of the audience may remember this gig for the wrong reasons. It's telling that when Maiden took the stage Bruce Dickinson took the time after the first song to address the crowd who seemed to be still acting a bit on the reckless side. As he said “it’s always the little person who gets hurt". His comments got a huge applause. The voice of reason had spoken.

And so to the main event. The rock gods that are “Iron Maiden". As the sound of Holsts “War” from the planet suite blasted form the speakers everyone was heads up. Steve Cummings our web-site metal guru had seen the band in Stockholm just a few weeks earlier and had let me know that the band were doing something different for this tour so I had an inkling of what was coming. The band charged in to the opening track from the new album “Different World” then stormed in to “These Colours Don’t run” and then blazed into “Brighter Than A Thousand Suns". Have you guessed the pattern yet? Yes folks the band had taken the dramatic and brave decision to play the new album in sequence completely live. I wasn’t sure about this approach at first but as the show progressed this tactic gave the feel of added depth to proceedings. I think it also gave the band added fire and they seemed fresh and full of youthful enthusiasm. Adrian Smith gave us some of his best soloing for years on “Brighter Than A thousand Sons” and Dave Murray slithered and slurred through his solo’s in his unique fashion.

For members of the audience who have seen Iron maiden before the whole show felt like seeing Maiden for the first time again. For the younger members of the audience seeing Maiden for the first time one could sense a little bit of disappointment as the show wore on, as they weren't getting the greatest hits. All this was addressed as when the band had finished performing the album we were treated to a storming version of “Fear Of The Dark". The younger members seemed to wake up as the band launched into "Iron Maiden”. Janik danced around like a puppet on a string and was a man possessed. On all Maiden tours the band have always had something visual up their sleeve in the form of their mascot “Eddie". On the “Dance Of Death” tour he rose above the stage as the grim reaper and this year the band went one step further.

As smoke bellowed from behind the stage a huge tank turret rose above the back line and its gun swung around and above the band to point at the crowd. Impressive stuff .The icing on the cake was when “Eddie” rose from the gun turret complete with binoculars and gazed at the crowd through his glowing red eyes. The crowd loved it. Next up was a galloping version of “Two Minutes To Midnight” followed by “The Evil That Men Do". Bruce Dickinson took time to tell the crowd that next year a field will become forever a piece of Maiden. It would seem that something big is being planned and that more details will be announced soon. Be sure that HRH will keep you all informed as to what is in the pipeline. Whatever form the event takes one can be sure it will be spectacular. Finally the show closed with a rousing “Hallowed Be Thy Name” complete with a walking “Eddie” army officer who strutted the stage and as usual Janik Gers had fun interacting with him.

This Iron Maiden show will rank as one of their best. Rather than blast through the hits they gave us something different and there in lies Maidens secret. They are very much “the people’s band". They always give their all and put on entertaining shows. With such an enormous back catalogue it would be easy for them to keep going out and doing sets of all the hits. The playing of the new album in its entirety shows Maiden are still a very valid and forward thinking band. They don’t sit on their laurels. Musically they are possibly more inspired and creative now than they were twenty years ago and they will surely create music for many years to come. Getting in touch with reality for a moment we should realise that physically the band are shall we say getting fairly “mature” and there will come a time when live Maiden shows become a distant memory. We can't hold back the hands of time and this just seems to make the current shows that extra bit special. Iron Maiden are still on this shows performance on top of their game and this reviewer will be ready and willing for the next batch of Maiden gigs. Tonight Maiden shone “Brighter Than A Thousand Suns”.

Al Hey & Steve Cummings