Recent content by UpTheIrons

If that approach were taken, I can already see the attack ads during the campaign - 'Vote Starmer, get unpatriotic Corbyn + his Islamist mates'. This strategy was quite effectively deployed in 2015 by the Tories with an ad depicting then Labour leader Ed Miliband in the pocket of the then SNP...

If this party actually takes off and contests seats at the next election (which is not guaranteed because this particular faction of the left is incredibly prone to infighting) it will be nothing more than a gift to Reform. The Labour Party have largely monopolised the left-wing vote for years...

Strange how news that shouldn't really be surprising can still come as such a shock. That final performance is all the more poignant in light of this, it wouldn't surprise me if the thought of being able to say one last goodbye was that was all that was keeping him going through his health...

I've had the livestream of the concert on in the background most of the day, very enjoyable stuff for the most part but seeing a lot of Maiden's contemporaries performing really makes me think the people who are critical of Bruce's vocals nowadays would have some much softer targets with some of...

Nowadays he would have to be the 'before' picture rather than the 'after' :p

I was very confused by this image that Bruce's wife posted with the Auschwitz gates and the lettering above changed to read 'it depends on the context' - so alarmed at the potential implications actually that I had to try to find out what the 'context' was in this case. It turns out that this is...

It might not be as iconic, but the London Stadium is a hell of a lot easier to get to and from, so I'm thankful they are playing there rather than Wembley. Plus the fact that it's the West Ham home ground probably lends it more significance with regards to the Maiden legacy.

I have seen a phrase going around the last few days along the lines of: 'Whoever you vote for, you get John McCain's foreign policy', sadly it seems to be broadly true.

To be fair, the middle section of If Eternity Should Fail (all of the song actually) is pretty simple to play on guitar, in fact it was the first Iron Maiden song I learned to play in full when I had not been playing for very long at all.

Up until 2008 the festival was held in the ground on the inside of the circuit (as was the original Monsters of Rock), after that it was moved to a big field next door.

The hallowed ground of Donington Park! (Not the actual hallowed ground though because the site moved in 2008!)

The 'festival maths' seem to work out, and this set is definitely festival friendly.

Skimming through the thread and its absolutely mental to me that people are complaining about a band playing the hits on a 50th anniversary tour. The fact that Killers, Phantom, Rime and 7th Son are in is more than enough to get me hyped.

Ok so I'm not going to delve into watching any videos but my Maiden blackout lasted approximately 3 hours after waking up today, as my Youtube homepage systematically suggested that I watch every single deep cut track immediately. Having said that, what a setlist, I can't wait!

Now begins my attempt to not get spoiled before the London date, as for once I want to go in blind to a show. I have muted/unfollowed the band and the news outlets likely to cover the setlist and will avoid the forum until then, but I fear the Youtube algorithm will wind up spoiling some things...