Iron Maiden at Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, July 29 2012. Graeme Foote photo

Iron Maiden in Vancouver, July 29 2012

– photos by Graeme Foote

Iron Maiden came through Vancouver again on their Maiden England World Tour.

The British heavy metal band formed in 1975 by songwriter/bassist Steve Harris. Since then Iron Maiden has released 36 albums, including the classic The Number of the Beast (1982) as well as 10 live albums, four EPs and seven compilations. The band is considered one of the pioneers of the British heavy metal new wave scene. Their Wikipedia entry estimates Iron Maiden has sold over 85 million albums.

For its current tour, Iron Maiden is closely replicating its 1988 Seventh Son of a Seventh Son concert tour, which was semi-immortalized on VHS.

However, you don’t need to be a fan to enjoy these photos by Graeme Foote. The Vancouver photographer got some great shots of lead singer/commercial airline pilot Bruce Dickinson fronting the heavy metal juggernaut, as well as a couple of cool crowd shots. The current Iron Maiden lineup includes guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers and drummer Nicko McBrain.

And of course, what Maiden concert would be complete without the band’s cadaverous mascot, Eddie? Apparently, the current tour features an animatronic version of the infamous character.

Graeme has also shot Rammstein, Social Distortion, Steel Panther and one of our favourite galleries, for the Burlington Ontario psychobilly act The Creepshow for The Snipe.

You can read the Vancouver Sun‘s Francois Marchand‘s Iron Maiden Pacific Coliseum concert review on his Awesome Sound blog. Writes Marchand, “Maiden gave a classic metal show revamped and amped up to 11, Dickinson rarely pausing to catch his breath as he ran from one side of the stage to the other.”

Iron Maiden fun fact: Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is a concept album based on a series of novels by science fiction author Orson Scott Card (Ender’s Game).

More Iron Maiden in Vancouver concert photos: