The Future Past Tour | June 2025
📍 London Stadium | Attendance: 75,000
📝 A Riff Report Exclusive
🎸 SCREAM FOR ME LONDON!
London Stadium. 75,000 souls. One band to rule them all. IRON BLOODY MAIDEN. 🤘 From the second the Troopers started marching toward the gates, you could feel the rumble underfoot – not from the Tube, butt, but from decades of metal history ready to unleash absolute chaos.
The Future Past Tour isn’t just a greatest hits tour. It’s a two-finger salute to time itself – bridging the bombast of Somewhere in Time with the lore-soaked madness of Senjutsu. Time travel and samurai? Only Maiden could make it work. And on this night, they were at the top of their game – louder, faster, and somehow even more Maiden than ever before. 🔥
🏟️ THE BUILD-UP: LONDON TURNED METAL
From the moment you stepped out at Stratford, you knew you were in Maiden territory. Flags waving. Eddie shirts from every era. Pint cans in hand and chants of “MAIDEN! MAIDEN!” echoing down the Olympic Park. It felt like a holy pilgrimage – Wembley who?
Support came from Lord of the Lost and Airbourne, both bringing full throttle energy. Airbourne, in particular, turned it up to 11 with flying beer cans and bonkers riffs – proper Aussie chaos. But let’s be honest, this crowd had one thing on their mind: the Irons. ⚔️
🕰️ SETLIST FROM THE FUTURE AND PAST
Opening with “Caught Somewhere in Time” was a masterstroke. That synthy guitar intro sent chills. It’s been decades since they dusted it off live – and boy, was it worth the wait.
Here’s the monster setlist:
- Caught Somewhere in Time
- Stranger in a Strange Land
- The Writing on the Wall
- Days of Future Past
- The Time Machine
- Death of the Celts
- Can I Play with Madness
- Heaven Can Wait
- Alexander the Great (YESS MUN!)
- Fear of the Dark
- Iron Maiden
Encore:
12. Hell on Earth
13. The Trooper
14. Wasted Years
“Alexander the Great” live was like seeing Bigfoot riding Nessie while sipping a cuppa. Long rumoured. Long denied. But finally here. And the crowd LOST IT. 🤯
🎤 BRUCE: THE TIME-TRAVELLING RINGMASTER
Bruce Dickinson is 65 and still running across the stage like he’s chasing a bus in Cardiff. Whether donning a samurai cloak or wielding a musket for “The Trooper,” the man is a showman. His voice? Still powerful enough to strip paint.
Between songs, Bruce was in top form. “Scream for me LON-DON STAAAAA-DIUM!” he bellowed like a metal war god. He even joked about traffic in Stratford, saying “It took less time to write Senjutsu than it did to get here.”
🎸 THE BAND: LEGENDS UNLEASHED
Adrian, Dave, and Janick – the triple guitar threat. Absolute wizards, switching solos mid-air like it’s no big deal. Janick’s stage antics (including sword swinging and high-kicks) were as ridiculous as ever – and we loved every second. 🎸
Nicko behind the kit was a beast. His fills during “Hell on Earth” hit like thunderclaps. And Steve Harris? The galloping god of bass, always front and centre, foot up on the monitor, leading the charge like a metal general. 🐎
Every note, every riff, every light cue – tight as a snare drum. This isn’t a band playing at being legends. They are legends. And they know it.
🧠 VISUALS: LASERS, EDDIE, AND A SAMURAI DYSTOPIA
This tour’s production is mind-blowing. A cyborg cityscape straight out of Blade Runner fused with feudal Japan. Giant gears, glowing neon panels, and – of course – EDDIE in multiple monstrous forms. 👹
We had:
- Cyborg Eddie fencing Bruce
- Samurai Eddie rising behind the drum kit
- Pyro blasts during “The Trooper” that nearly melted eyebrows in Zone 2
- Giant backdrops changing with each song like a Netflix binge of metal history
Lasers sliced through the night during “Stranger in a Strange Land,” while “Wasted Years” brought out vintage tour footage and emotional vibes that had grown men sobbing into their Trooper Ale. 💀🍺
🤘 CROWD VIBES: 75,000 STRONG AND LOUDER THAN HELL
London Stadium has never felt so alive. From the barrier to the nosebleeds, it was wall-to-wall passion. You had:
- Lifelong fans in patched battle jackets
- Teens discovering Maiden for the first time
- People in full samurai armour
- A bloke crowd-surfing in a cardboard spaceship (only in the UK, mun…)
During “Fear of the Dark,” the entire stadium became a sea of phone lights and fists. It was spiritual. It was electric. It was MAIDEN. 👊
The mosh pits? Lively but respectful. The singalongs? Deafening. The atmosphere? Tidy as hell.
💬 QUOTES FROM THE CROWD
🎤 “Mate, I can die happy now. Alexander the Great LIVE?! I was tamping for years they never played it!” – Darren, 52, Bridgend
🎤 “Bruce is still fitter than me and I’m 27. This is ridiculous!” – Chloe, Hackney
🎤 “The best Maiden show I’ve seen and I was at Donington ’88.” – Mark, with a tear in his eye
🎤 “I came from Argentina for this. Worth every penny and every mile.” – Rodrigo, Buenos Aires
🏴 WELSH CORNER: MAIDEN FANS REPRESENT!
We spotted plenty of Welsh flags in the crowd (c’mon Cymru!). One Eddie had a daffodil in his helmet. The South Walian contingent was out in force, with the chant of “Bruce-y, Bruce-y give us a roar!” echoing into the East London night.
Also: shout-out to the lads who turned up in Steelhouse Fest shirts. Tidy rep for the Valleys! 🏔️🔥
🧠 THE FUTURE PAST: A BRILLIANT CONCEPT TOUR
This was more than a show. It was a masterclass in legacy. By fusing Somewhere in Time and Senjutsu, Maiden gave us something unexpected – not just the hits, but deep cuts, storytelling epics, and genuine moments.
Most legacy bands would play it safe. Maiden went full throttle into obscure and complex material – and made it sing. That takes guts. That takes confidence. That takes MAIDEN.
🧼 THE NITPICKS (JUST TO BE FAIR)
Alright, alright – no show is perfect. Here’s the good, the bad, and the cheeky:
The Good:
- Crystal-clear sound mix
- Crowd energy 10/10
- Setlist for the die-hards
The Slightly Meh:
- £8 pints. Robbery.
- “The Writing on the Wall” felt a bit mid in a live setting
- Merch queue was longer than the Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The Ugly:
- One bloke started a fight over someone blocking his view. Security yeeted him out like Bruce ejecting Eddie from a jet. ✈️
🎯 FINAL VERDICT
RATING: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 / 5
Maiden’s Future Past show at London Stadium was a celebration of time, legacy, and absolute power. A reminder that metal never dies, and neither does passion when you’ve got 75,000 people screaming every lyric like it’s gospel.
Bruce still commands like a general. The band are still tighter than your jeans after Christmas. The fans? The heartbeat of heavy metal.
This wasn’t just a gig. This was an event.
So if you were there, you know. And if you missed it… well butt, you missed one of the greatest metal nights this country’s ever seen. 👑⚔️
✍️ Written for The Riff Report – powered by riffs, sarcasm, and way too many energy drinks 🥤
📸 Got photos from the show? Send them in for our mega Maiden gallery!
🎤 Scream for me comment section – we want your reviews, your memories, and your setlist wishlist for next time!
Diolch, Maiden. Diolch, metal. Up the Irons forever. 🤘
