The band were in town for the first time in 15 years as part of their mega Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, which will take them to five continents, playing to an estimated half-a-million people in 45 days.

The show was a collection of favorites from the band's 80s era, drawing heavily from the same set that made up the concert video Live After Death, which was re-released last week on DVD.

Fans, a mix of the young and old, were treated to Maiden standards like The Number Of The Beast and The Trooper, along with cuts the band hadn't played for many years, including Rime Of The Ancient Mariner and Powerslave.

From the opening sounds of Winston Churchill's "fight them on the beaches" speech, to the final strums of closer Hallowed Be Thy Name, the mood was electric.

I have never been among such an eager bunch of concert goers.

Each time vocalist, and pilot for the tour, Bruce Dickinson screeched his famous "scream for me Sydney" the audience obeyed with gusto.

Even when he didn't beckon, they offered a collective wall of sound to equal the band, something that at times, seemed to knock the singer for six.

Clocking in at around the two-hour mark, the Maiden experience well and truly delivered.

Let's hope Dickinson's pledge to return in the near future become a reality.

Up the Irons!

Saturday, February 9

Acer Arena, Sydney

Set list (to best of memory)

Aces High

2 Minutes To Midnight

Revelations

The Trooper

Wasted Years

Can I Play With Madness

Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

Powerslave

The Number Of The Beast

Heaven Can Wait

Run To The Hills

Fear Of The Dark

Iron Maiden

Moonchild

The Clairvoyant

Hallowed Be Thy Name