Saturday night in downtown Athens with the people outside gathered in the surrounding bars and we are heading down to Temple to see Iron Beast or otherwise known as the best tribute band to Iron Maiden. The first thing we see when we arrive at Temple is the huge queue that has formed as the show was sold out. However, we all got in on time and the schedule was followed with military precision. We went up to the balcony and at exactly 20:35 (as announced earlier on social media) the signal was given with the first notes of “Doctor Doctor” blasting out of the speakers and the crowd screaming rhythmically. The rather familiar and expected…Churchill’s speech follows up as the relevant video from the projector plays and… “Aces High” amidst general pandemonium.
It’s obvious that the guys are (again) in demonic form and the addition of Johnny Morris to the band has given an incredible boost and the necessary…Adrian Smith air that was missing from the band. The impressive backdrops with the artwork of “Powerslave” which was duly honoured for its 40th anniversary, the stands from the “Legacy of the Beast Tour” left and right of the stage and the changing images on the video wall created a fantastic atmosphere while the presence of…Eddie as a mummy, killer and I don’t know what else gave extra points to the show. Hell, they even featured a huge inflatable dinosaur in “Quest For Fire” and an even bigger Eddie inflated in “Iron Maiden” and stayed there until the end of the show.
But all this would mean nothing without the band itself. Flawless, incredibly rehearsed in every detail and with every member having studied everything concerning the stage presence of the…real Iron Maiden. As you can understand, in a 200 (!) minute show consisting of 32 (!) tracks, the highlights were too many. Personally, I won’t forget the incredible crowd manifestations on “Fear of the Dark” and “Be Quick or Be Dead”, the thrilling performance of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Stranger in a Strange Land”, the mayhem on “Déjà vu” and “The Clansman” and the tribute to Paul Di’Anno on “Killers”.
Many congratulations to the guys because they have put in countless hours of rehearsal, money for the props and an effort that must be rewarded in every performance by the attendance and support of the crowd. One thing is for sure, this Temple show raised the bar not for the rest of the Maiden tribute bands but for all other tribute bands in general.
PS: Not even Iron Beast played anything from my beloved “No Prayer…”. Oh well…
Sakis Nikas
