Over 30,000 fans were treated to the best of Iron Maiden in Bangalore on Saturday night, as the world famous heavy metal troupe touched base with India for the first time ever. The five-member British band pumped out a nearly two-hour-long live set comprising its most popular tracks, leaving fans panting for more.

Kicking off with three tracks from their latest album A matter of life death, Iron Maiden put the crowd in high gear with Wrathchild from the 1981 album Killers, followed by classic maiden tracks The trooper, Run to the hills, Hallowed be thy name and Fear of the dark.

The band’s skeletal mascot Eddie adorned the stage through paintings until midway through the show he made his first live appearance by popping up from an army tanker.

Like front man and vocalist Bruce Dickinson had promised before the show, there was a lot of sweating, yelling and head banging. Dickinson’s trademark “come on, scream for me” frequently rent the air above the guitar threesome of Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers, the bass guitar of Steve Harris and the tireless drum work of Nicko McBrain.

The run-up to the show was marked by unprecedented frenzy in Bangalore, despite a sizable feast of rock and roll in recent times. The Saturday night concert brought fans in droves from across the country. Hundreds of young and old who have plugged into Iron Maiden’s exhilarating sound and their dark but introspective lyrics at different points of time over the past 25 years gathered to head bang live to the music.

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