I generally consider myself to be a man of taste, but the frosted side of me can't help but indulge in my childhood love of early British heavy metal. So when an opportunity to catch Iron Maiden for the second time this tour fell into my lap (!), I sprung like a lion to its prey and snapped up a last minute ticket for last night's sold-out show. I was not disappointed.

Granted, the set ran almost identically to the show I caught in March at the Izod Center (or whatever you call the Continental Airlines Arena these days). However, there were still a few surprises. First things first, though...It needs to be said: the sheer force of this band, over 25 years since their inception, is impressive. For a band well past their salad days, they still played as if this show were their last, energetic until the very end. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson (who has been piloting the band around from gig to gig in their personal jet) ran to and fro the stage, leapt over monitors, waved the British flag, and otherwise belted out each of the band's classic tunes without missing a single beat. Meanwhile the rest of the six-piece band hammed it up, displaying both technical proficiency and oozing stage presence.

The setlist was mostly perfect, drawing heavily from their earliest and most powerful era. The newest tune was the title track from 1992's 'Fear of the Dark.' Honestly, my only gripe with the set was a lack of 'Flight of Icarus' (a song I fell in love with a few years back via Punk Metal Karaoke), but I'll forgive this misstep in light of hearing dozens of Maiden classics, including 'The Trooper,' 'Wasted Years,' 'Two Minutes to Midnight,' and naturally, 'The Number of the Beast.'

 For those who think that metal is nothing but carefully calculated perfection, last night's gig also featured a delightful mishap as the stage sound completely cut during the last chorus of 'Powerslave' (stick that in your pipe and smoke it, Alanis). Where most bands would treat such a mishap as a disaster, Iron Maiden shrugged it off well and brought a soccer ball on stage to kick around while the techs sorted out the trouble. Though it took fifteen minutes to fix, the band resumed almost immediately as if nothing had ever happened.

Have I mentioned the set design yet? Anyone who's familiar with the band's aesthetic and the general history of heavy metal music knows that Iron Maiden has always been notorious for their elaborate stage design, pyrotechnics, and wizardry. For the most part, the general stage design, like the setlist, drew heavily from the band's previous tours, a bit of nostalgia for those who had seen them then and an exciting and classic throwback for new/young fans. Backdrops switched between tracks, eyes on statues lit up appropriately, fog filled the stage during a meandering moment in 'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' and flames and sparks flew left and right. It was awesome, for lack of better words. The sold-out crowd ate every minute of it right up, but especially threw their hands in the air and screamed their lungs out during both appearances of the band's mascot, Eddie. The first time, the once headless mascot appeared above the band in mummified form, while the second encore appearance featured a futuristic mechanical version, complete with a rather intimidating helmet and gun. Cool.

Though I might have stood out like a sore thumb amidst the droves of Iron Maiden devotees, clad primarily in jeans and tattered Maiden t-shirts (a strange exception to the general concert attire rule), I was still swept up in the evening's excitement, and encourage anyone with a shred of love for this music to catch this band immediately and check your irony at the door.