Iron Maiden at the Kia Forum – Live Review

Iron Maiden, The Kia Forum, Inglewood, CA., October 8, 2024

It was the night after bassist Steve Harris presented a rare appearance of his British Lion creation at the world-famous Whisky A Go Go on the Sunset Strip. Heavy metal fans of all ages made their way towards Inglewood to see Harris’s other band – the legendary Iron Maiden at the massive Kia Forum. It was time for The Future Past Tour, and Iron Maiden would present a rapturous concert encompassing an absolutely brilliant career in music. Forming in 1975, it is nearly 50 years on, and Iron Maiden can still sell out the Kia Forum with the greatest of ease and present the hard rocking metal event of a lifetime.

Opening the night was The Hu, a Mongolian folk metal band who presented an adventurous performance. When nomadic artistry meets imaginative metal reveries, The Hu will be there – and what a stunning presentation this band unveils. From exotic instrumentations to haunting yet superbly intensive vocals and beyond, The Hu completely captured the attention of the early arrivals. There is no doubt that The Hu would garner a massive number of new fans while on the road supporting one of the most famous and beloved metal bands of all time.

Iron Maiden took over the stage, opening with stunning renditions of Caught Somewhere in Time and Stranger in a Strange Land, both culled from their 1986 Somewhere in Time magnum opus. Then it was time to travel to modern day, with Iron Maiden unleashing The Writing on the Wall, Days of Future Past, and The Time Machine from their 2021 Senjutsu masterwork. The audience remained transfixed during this trio of newer songs. Then it was all the way to 1982 for a tremendously rousing performance of The Prisoner from The Number of The Beast.

And the Iron Maiden favorites kept on arriving, and this would include appearances from the infamous Iron Maiden mascot known as Eddie, who would do battle with vocalist Bruce Dickinson during Heaven Can Wait and then would return later in full on samurai gear.  Always a pleasure to see Eddie on a trail of havoc and destruction at the Iron Maiden extravaganzas!

The Future Past World Tour presents Iron Maiden at the very height of their creative madness, featuring intriguing performances from the entire brigade. Bruce Dickinson was amazing on his recent The Mandrake Project solo endeavor all across the world – and with Iron Maiden, the much-revered singer continues to deliver towering vocals with a thrilling sense of urgency. And what a staggering three guitar assault Iron Maiden delivers via the gigantic talents of Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers. And supplying the devastating low end with a ferocious amount of skilled precision is Steve Harris on bass and Nicko McBrain on drums.

For a very well-deserved encore, Iron Maiden presented three monumental fan favorites – Hell On Earth, The Trooper, and Wasted Years – leaving the sold-out Kia Forum attendees enraptured with the sounds of classic heavy metal amped up into the stratosphere. A ton of music and memories were experienced on this historic night! Do not miss Iron Maiden the next time they arrive to devastate your town with their astounding live performances!

And on a closing note: what an honor it was to see British Lion at the Whisky club show followed by Iron Maiden within the vast and hallowed walls of the Kia Forum. Kudos to Steve Harris for rocking us all in the City of Angeles with two consecutive nights of intensive auditory brilliance!

(Review by Ken Morton – Photos by Jack Lue)

See more Iron Maiden photos by Jack Lue from the Kia Forum here!

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