Veltins Arena, Gelsenkirchen, Germany11th July 2025
Iron Maiden - “Run For Your Lives World Tour” 2025 - Support: Avatar
The press announcement for this tour said following: “Featuring a setlist from their career-defining early decades and the promise of their biggest show ever!” Well, if the band could keep the promise, we were keen to find out last Friday in Gelsenkirchen where MAIDEN played in front of more than 53,000 fans.
Avatar
Support on that evening came in the form of Swedish Avant-Garde Metallers AVATAR, who brought their signature mix of theatricality and heavy groove to Gelsenkirchen. Their entrance alone was a spectacle: frontman Johannes Eckerström was wheeled onto the stage inside a large red package, from which he emerged holding a single red balloon - only to immediately pop it with a mischievous grin. It was a fittingly bizarre start to their set, which was as much dark cabaret as it was Metal.
Eckerström charmed the crowd not just with his sinister stage presence but also with cheeky banter. “Mein Deutsch ist nicht so gut, aber besser als euer Englisch,” he quipped, to laughter and applause. Musically, AVATAR delivered a tight and energetic performance, with a setlist that spanned recent fan favourites and older hits. Tracks like ‘Dance Devil Dance’ and ‘The Dirt I’m Buried In’ showcased their knack for combining infectious riffs with theatrical flair, while ‘Bloody Angel’ and ‘Smells Like a Freakshow’ highlighted the band’s darker, more brooding side. They closed with the bombastic ‘Hail the Apocalypse’, leaving the stage in a blaze of noise and approval.
While not everyone in the MAIDEN crowd was sold on AVATAR’s eccentric style, their performance certainly left an impression - a surreal, almost carnival-like prelude to the main event.
Setlist
01. Dance Devil Dance
02. Let It Burn
03. In the Airwaves
04. Bloody Angel
05. The Dirt I’m Buried In
06. Captain Goat
07. Smells Like a Freakshow
08. Hail the Apocalypse
Iron Maiden
50 years after the band’s founding in 1975, IRON MAIDEN kicked off their “Run For Your Lives World Tour” on May 27 with two nights in Budapest, followed by 27 stadium, festival, and arena shows across Europe. The tour marks the 50th anniversary of the band, founded by Steve Harris at the end of 1975, and to celebrate, MAIDEN fans are promised a very special setlist spanning the nine studio albums from ‘Iron Maiden’ to ‘Fear of the Dark’, along with their most spectacular and elaborate show ever!
Lead singer Bruce Dickinson emphasized prior to the tour: “Next year is a very special one for IRON MAIDEN, and we’re going to give our fans a once-in-a-lifetime live experience. This is a tour that will put a smile on your face and make you want to shout. If you’ve seen us before, get ready to take that experience to a whole new level. If you’ve never seen us: what the hell are you waiting for? This is your chance to find out what you’ve been missing! IRON MAIDEN will definitely get you!”
Manager Rod Smallwood added: “50 years of Maiden, and I’ve been there for 46 of them! With well over 100 million albums sold, nearly 2,500 shows in 64 countries (and counting), and countless millions of fans, we still love every second and see every tour as a new challenge to bring something new and exciting to our fans. For this special tour, we’re pulling out all the stops! We’ll be playing classics and fan favourites from the first nine albums, from ‘Iron Maiden’ to ‘Fear of the Dark’, many of which we haven’t played in years - and many we probably won’t play again in the future. We’ve been working hard for months to create an even more spectacular and elaborate new show that will bring these songs to life like never before. It’s going to be an epic couple of years for IRON MAIDEN and, of course, for Eddie, and we’re excited about what we have in store for you all during our entire 50th anniversary year. I promise you’re all going to be very happy!”
Music & Performance
IRON MAIDEN in Gelsenkirchen could be headlines with “A night of nostalgia and theatrical Metal power”. On 11 July, IRON MAIDEN brought their monumental “Run For Your Lives World Tour” to Gelsenkirchen’s Veltins-Arena, marking not only a stop on their latest trek but also a grand celebration of the band’s 50th anniversary. What could have been a mere retrospective turned into an elaborate spectacle - a masterclass in Heavy Metal showmanship spanning their first nine studio albums, from the self-titled debut to ‘Fear of the Dark’.
The evening kicked off with UFO’s ‘Doctor Doctor’ echoing through the stadium when the crowd already went mad with waving flags, shouting and singing… setting the stage for the band’s arrival following the intro ‘The Ides of March’. Then, without wasting a moment, MAIDEN tore straight into ‘Murders in the Rue Morgue’, ‘Wrathchild’, and ‘Killers’ - a triple salvo from the early Di’Anno years, performed with energy that belied the band’s decades-long tenure.
Bruce Dickinson, always the consummate showman running across the stage barely standing still, was in lively form despite a couple of minor lyrical and vocal stumbles. He compensated with multiple costume changes and ceaseless movement across the stage. The third track ‘Killers’ also marked the dramatic entrance of Walking Eddie - the towering mascot that never fails to whip the crowd into a frenzy.
The setlist was a gift to long-time fans, though not without its critics. While numbers like ‘Phantom of the Opera’, ‘The Number of the Beast’, and ‘The Trooper’ sent waves of excitement rippling through the stadium, longer epics such as ‘Powerslave’, ‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, and ‘Seventh Son of a Seventh Son’ divided opinion. For some, these theatrical pieces - particularly ‘Rime…’, complete with an atmospheric stage show - ventured too far into operatic territory. As one fan put it, “I’m not here for an opera, I’m here for Metal.” Still, there’s no denying the precision and ambition with which these songs were delivered.
The show’s production was, as promised, their most elaborate yet. A dynamic and ever-changing stage set, abundant pyrotechnics, and immersive visuals transported the crowd through MAIDEN’s mythic and historical worlds. Despite this, some attendees - especially those seated higher up in the stands - noted that the sound left much to be desired, describing it as hollow and echo-laden. Comparisons to AC/DC’s recent Düsseldorf show were inevitable, with some fans feeling that MAIDEN’s sonic delivery didn’t quite reach those heights.
New drummer Simon Dawson, stepping in for the recovering Nicko McBrain, was a revelation for many. His tight, powerful drumming added fresh drive to the classics, with some even suggesting his performance was “tighter” than Nicko’s - high praise given McBrain’s legendary status. The concert’s final stretch was undeniably electrifying. ‘Aces High’, ‘Fear of the Dark’, and ‘Wasted Years’ had the entire “Turnhalle” - as Schalke locals fondly call the stadium - singing and roaring along, creating genuine goosebump moments.
Beyond the stadium, the festivities extended into Gelsenkirchen’s city centre, where the Eddie’s Dive Bar fan fest was a resounding success. Unlike similar previous events, this gathering was packed with metalheads from across Germany and beyond, proving MAIDEN’s enduring pull.
At £50 a shirt and €6.20 a beer, the evening wasn’t cheap, but for many, it was worth every penny. While the crowd’s enthusiasm may not have matched the fervour of a Rock in Rio, and the absence of a local support act was noted, the night still served as a fitting chapter in the band’s half-century legacy. For some, it was even a personal farewell to MAIDEN - and what a send-off it was.
In the end, while not every song hit the mark for every fan, IRON MAIDEN once again demonstrated why, 50 years on, they remain at the very pinnacle of Heavy Metal.
Setlist
00. Pre-Intro: Doctor Doctor
00. Intro: The Ides of March
01. Murders in the Rue Morgue
02. Wrathchild
03. Killers
04. Phantom of the Opera
05. The Number of the Beast
06. The Clairvoyant
07. Powerslave
08. 2 Minutes to Midnight
09. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
10. Run to the Hills
11. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
12. The Trooper
13. Hallowed Be Thy Name
14. Iron Maiden
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Tape: Churchill’s Speech
15. Aces High
16. Fear of the Dark
17. Wasted Years
Outro: Always Look on the Bright Side of Life
All pictures by Daniela Vorndran (http://www.vorndranphotography.com / http://www.facebook.com/blackcatnet)
