The moment “Hallowed Be Thy Name” started, I knew we were headed somewhere. That song builds slowly and lands you at a peak by the final note. At another point in the set, Janick Gers slipped and went down mid-riff, back up before the thought could even register.
Estádio da Luz — officially Estádio do Sport Lisboa e Benfica, home of Benfica — carries its football heritage into every corner, monuments and old team photos lining the walk in. Getting there was simple: the metro drops you close, and from there it’s a walk in the stadium’s direction — visible from a fair distance — though buses can get you there too.
Getting a ground ticket took more patience than expected — the official site showed standing sold out for days, until one finally opened up at around 85 euros, a fraction of what the same tier costs back in India these days. I grabbed it immediately.
Anthrax opened, already getting the crowd moving, and by 6pm the floor was packed. I’d seen this tour before — same setlist, same stage, same drill — and none of that mattered the second “Doctor Doctor” started playing over the PA. That specific feeling doesn’t fade with familiarity; if anything, knowing what’s coming makes the anticipation worse.
The set ran through the anthems — “Wrathchild,” “The Number of the Beast,” “2 Minutes to Midnight,” “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” “Phantom of the Opera” — building toward the peak stretch: “Run to the Hills,” “The Trooper,” then “Fear of the Dark” and “Hallowed Be Thy Name,” closing on “Wasted Years.” Non-stop singing, screaming, jumping, start to finish.
A friend handed me his Iron Maiden cassette years ago, calling it too loud for his house to play. I took it home and played it the first chance I got — the narration on “The Number of the Beast” into that riff and Bruce’s vocals hit like nothing I’d heard before. It’s been a constant ever since; move to any new city with a rock scene, and “The Trooper” is already waiting there.
Lisbon’s crowd sings differently than London’s — more reserved outwardly, but no less locked into the music. Walking out with everyone else, one thought stuck:
I could watch this band a hundred more times and it would still feel like the first.
Setlist — Estádio da Luz, July 7
Intro (tape): “Doctor Doctor” (UFO) → “The Ides of March”
- Murders in the Rue Morgue
- Wrathchild
- Killers
- Phantom of the Opera
- The Number of the Beast
- Infinite Dreams
- Powerslave
- 2 Minutes to Midnight
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner
- Run to the Hills
- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
- The Trooper
- Hallowed Be Thy Name
- Iron Maiden
Encore (intro tape: Churchill’s Speech):
- Aces High
- Fear of the Dark
- Wasted Years
Outro (tape): “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” (Monty Python)