Iron Maiden opened at Hersheypark Stadium with “Murders in the Rue Morgue.” For anyone particularly attached to Killers, the September 15, 2026 stop on Run For Your Lives got down to business immediately. The tour’s celebration of Maiden’s first 50 years had room for the songs everybody expected, but it also rewarded knowing the records beyond their singles.
Megadeth made getting there for the opening act an easy decision. “Hangar 18” and “Tornado of Souls” alone are a considerable draw for anyone with an interest in guitar playing. Their appeal goes well beyond speed: the leads have melodies worth following, and the riffs are distinctive enough to survive all that activity around them. Pairing that tightly wound writing with Maiden’s more expansive approach gave the bill two very different kinds of excess.
Dave Mustaine’s farewell plans gave the Megadeth set some added weight. Their final studio album arrived in January, and Hershey got “Tipping Point” and “I Don’t Care” alongside the older songs. They still have new material to play during this goodbye. “Holy Wars… The Punishment Due” was the closer, with all of its abrupt turns and tightly packed riffs.
The early Maiden material deserved the attention it got. “Killers” has an unsettled quality that makes it an especially good companion to the more elaborate songs that followed. With Bruce Dickinson singing material first recorded by Paul Di’Anno, the show reached back into a version of the band that predates so much of its familiar imagery. “Phantom of the Opera” made the connection particularly well. The complicated arrangements and appetite for a long instrumental passage were already there on the debut.
“Rime of the Ancient Mariner” and “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” allowed plenty of time for that side of Maiden. There is a lot to like about a stadium show willing to make space for both. The quieter passages, the changes of pace and the wait for the full band to come back in are essential to those songs. Trimming away that patience would lose much of what makes them interesting. Both were worth the space they occupied in Hershey.
Behind the familiar material was a significant change. Simon Dawson was on drums following Nicko McBrain’s retirement from touring at the end of 2024. Revisiting this music with someone new in that position is a substantial adjustment, particularly when McBrain’s playing is so closely associated with the records being celebrated.
“Infinite Dreams” was another welcome choice. Its return in Athens in May ended an absence stretching back to 1988, as Louder reported. For someone who had waited through several tours to hear it, that was a reason to pay attention beyond the anniversary billing. And there was still “The Trooper,” whose galloping rhythm and guitar harmonies explain a great deal about the appeal of Maiden without requiring a long introduction.
The last word went to “Wasted Years.” Its bright guitar figure and chorus about appreciating the present gave the ending a different feeling from the darker stories elsewhere in the show. After an evening devoted to the early records, Maiden closed with a song about the danger of spending too much time looking back.
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