Iron Maiden Continue Fifty Year Celebrations at Sold-out Manchester Co-Op Live Arena [Photos]

Anyone who expects heavy metal royalty Iron Maiden to grow old gracefully as they head out on their fiftieth anniversary tour, is in for a rude awakening. Here at the Co-Op Live Arena in Manchester, we bore witness to a band who very obviously have plenty of gas left in their collective tanks.

In the run up to the tour, there have been grumblings about the set list picked by the band from some corners of their hardcore fanbase. Thankfully that small percentage of fans stayed at home tonight as there were no complaints from this sold-out arena where at least 99.9% of the attendees were adorned in some form of Iron Maiden merchandise.

As the pre-cursor for the set, the now familiar “Doctor Doctor” rang out around the arena and set the front rows into a headbanging, flag-waving frenzy. This had all the signs for being a spectacular night. An impressive digital backdrop played out key moments in the career of the band before the sextet raced out of the wings and into “Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “Wrathchild”.

All five of the six band members made use of every inch of the stage. Look right and guitarist Janick Gers has his leg perched on a speaker stack. Look left and Steve Harris and Dave Murray are side-by-side pulling all the metal poses with Adrian Smith and new drummer Simon Dawson leaving the theatrics to their bandmates.

Which just leaves frontman Bruce Dickinson who, as usual, was the perfect host for the evening joking with fans that, “while we’re here to celebrate fifty years make the most of it as we probably won’t be around for another fifty…”

As for highlights of the set, well, for all the moaning, how can you complain about a night that includes “Number of the Beast,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Two Minutes to Midnight,” and “Aces High” amongst the plethora of Iron Maiden classics of which there are plenty. Yes, pick any Iron Maiden fan and they could argue the case for their favourite song not being played but, with a catalogue as weighty as the one Iron Maiden carry around with them, sadly that’s always going to be the case.

Of course no Iron Maiden show would be complete without the appearance of their iconic mascot Eddie and, while his antics always adds a comical element to the show, it’s hard to imagine an Iron Maiden show without the sight of him lumbering about the stage.

So, this tour is a celebration of fifty years of Iron Maiden. While there is truth in what their frontman joked earlier, tonight the heavy metal titans showed another sold-out crowd that there is still plenty of miles left in this legendary heavy metal outfit with this tour planned to run into 2026. Up the Irons!

Our photographer Graham Finney Photography was at the show and you can check out the photo gallery here:

Iron Maiden @ Co-Op Live (Manchester, UK) on June 22, 2025

30 photos