Iron Maiden’s show has always been between the sublime and the ridiculous, with its pantomime characteristics. When done well (e.g., World Slavery Tour), it is outstanding; other times it can be cringeworthy (some of the walk on Eddies in the late 90s were frankly embarrassing). Either way, it is still somewhat charming to see pensioners playing a gig with a giant zombie behind whilst keeping straight faces.
Some other ridiculous/embarrassing things that come to mind are the following:
- Eddie’s fights with Bruce. The sword fight on the Legacy of the Beast tour was silly, the fight on the Future Past tour and associated banter is even worse.
- Eddie’s rude gestures to the audience. What’s the point?
- The scantily clad ladies that were on stage during The Number of the Beast on the first few shows of the Early Days tour. What were they trying to show with that? We can also mention the lady on stage during 22 Acacia Avenue on Beast Over Hammersmith. Very sexist, if you ask me, although Maiden are - thankfully - not as bad as most of their contemporaries.
- Some of the band’s stage outfits, with Bruce being the worst offender. In terms of ridiculousness, it might be difficult to top his “Let’s pretend I am a Spitfire pilot whilst wearing a frilly shirt from a 19th century aristocratic toff” for Aces High in 2022. At least in 2018/19 the song was opening the show and Bruce was not wearing that shirt.
- Most of Bruce’s recent rants. Moronic beyond belief.
If we were to discuss their recorded output, some B-sides are particularly cringeworthy (Black Bart Blues, Nodding Donkey Blues) and the least we say about the Listen with Nicko series, the better.
