Iron Maiden : Nottingham Arena, 4th December 2003

After a worthy headlining slot at Download this year, Iron Maiden were back once again doing their own headlining tour, bringing their majestic, herculian stage show to just about everywhere.

For the opening part of the show, there was ceremonial chanting and the classic punching thin air ritual as Bruce and his boys [surely Steve Harris' boys? - ed] belted out 'Wildest Dreams'. Whilst their classic arena friendly hits like 'Can I play with madness' and 'The Trooper' turned the arena into one giant sea of frenzied headbangers.

During 'Paschendale' Bruce dresses up in a soldiers uniform and along with explosions and fantastic lighting turns the stage into a trench to re-enact this mighty war epic.

In no time at all, Maiden had reeled of their hits like 'Number of the beast', 'Lord of the Flies' and 'Fear of the Dark', they saved the best for the ending:- 'Run to the Hills' with a gigantic Eddie roaming the stage and stalking the band members.

This was one of those shows that is memorable for all the right reasons, finally Iron Maiden are back to show the world why they are the kings of heavy metal.