Iron Maiden’s Paris Spectacle Survives a Night of Darkness
- Randall Wilburn
- Jun 23
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 24
with Evergrey | La Défense Arena, Nanterre, France | June 22, 2026
This show was intended to preserve Iron Maiden at full power for posterity. The band had chosen La Défense Arena — Europe’s largest indoor venue — for a professionally filmed concert on the continuing Run For Your Lives World Tour, a production celebrating 50 years of the group founded by bassist and composer Steve Harris. Instead, the evening became memorable for something nobody could have scripted: a city-wide electrical blackout that stopped the performance mid-song and ultimately forced the band to drop a three-song encore.
None of that erased what came before it — or after. For most of the evening, Iron Maiden delivered an ambitious, historically rich set built around the first decade of their recordings, with production, imagery, and stage design that reached well beyond the typical greatest-hits package. Yet the blackout transformed the show from a carefully controlled career document into a genuine, unrepeatable moment between a French crowd and the band they’d traveled from across Europe to see.
Return to Paris
Iron Maiden had already played two sold-out nights at the same venue in July 2025, drawing crowds of approximately 75,000 across both dates. The June 22 show was different: a lone date, specifically chosen for filming. “We chose a covered stadium to enjoy the best of the production and a fantastic audience, as Paris has always been for us,” the band wrote on social media ahead of the show.
To create a cleaner visual and a less distracted general-admission floor, phones in the pit were placed in locked Yondr pouches. Fans retained their devices but kept them sealed in a restricted area — a policy that encouraged noticeably old-school behavior: rather than thousands of illuminated screens lighting up whenever Eddie appeared, the crowd directed its attention at the stage. It was an appropriate environment for a set with serious concentrative intent.
Evergrey Opens the Night
Swedish progressive-metal act Evergrey, confirmed as the official support act, took the stage at 7:25 PM. The band’s darker, more atmospheric approach presented the familiar challenge: an act whose sound is not easily reduced to accessible radio or festival-friendly shorthand, performing in a room built for the headliner. Nevertheless, Evergrey’s melodic weight and structural ambition gave the evening a serious tone from the outset.
The Show Before the Dark
Iron Maiden burst onto the stage at 8:50 PM to euphoric cheers, animated screens sweeping from the streets of London to Paris — and the iconic Eiffel Tower. The set opened, as at the July 2025 shows, with “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” an immediate signal that this was not a greatest-hits exercise. The choice established purpose and chronological intent: a setlist anchored in the 1980–1992 Paul Di’Anno and early Bruce Dickinson catalog.
“ Wrathchild” and “Killers” followed before a giant Eddie — axe in hand — strode onto the stage to full audience delirium. The band pushed on with “Phantom of the Opera,” one of the set’s compositional peaks, its Steve Harris-penned passages still capable of holding a room of 40,000. “The Number of the Beast,” bolstered by pyrotechnic effects, shifted into mass-participation territory, spoken-word intro and chorus alike answered by a crowd that had committed the responses from years of previous shows.
The set then moved into rarer ground. “Infinite Dreams” — not performed by the band since 1988 before this tour, and also played at Hellfest three days earlier — arrived as a genuine surprise. “Powerslave,” with its Egyptian-themed backdrop, launched the set toward its larger centerpiece ambitions. And then, mid-way through “2 Minutes to Midnight,” the venue went dark.
The Blackout
Less than an hour into Iron Maiden’s set, a general power outage plunged La Défense Arena into total darkness mid-song. Whistles rose as fans stared in disbelief. After roughly ten minutes, the venue’s service lighting came on, but the stage remained in complete blackout — no sound, no lights, no video. A voice over the PA announced that a blackout was affecting the surrounding neighborhood and the cause was unknown. Some attendees speculated it was connected to the ongoing heat wave and the demands placed on the city’s electrical grid. A portion of the crowd left the venue, uncertain whether the show would continue.
Those who stayed had to wait approximately an hour before the concert resumed. When Bruce Dickinson returned to the stage, he faced the difficult task of telling the audience (in French) that the show would need to conclude by 11:30 PM due to the venue’s curfew (lots of "boo's"). Dickinson was visibly frustrated, and made no secret of his preference for the Bercy venue — the older Paris hall Iron Maiden had used for many years before the move to La Défense Arena.
The Resumption
Iron Maiden pressed on with trademark determination. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” — the 13-minute Powerslave epic — anchored the post-outage set, its slow-building atmospheric passages giving way to a dual-guitar climax. Then “Run to the Hills”: the crowd sang the chorus in full unison as Dickinson darted from one side of the stage to the other, and Steve Harris pointed his bass at the crowd while Janick Gers tumbled through his characteristic footwork near the amps.
“Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” followed, before “The Trooper” returned Eddie to the stage — this time wearing the famous red tunic of the British Army. Dickinson raised the English flag, then the French flag, to a crowd that responded with undiminished enthusiasm despite everything. “Hallowed Be Thy Name” brought the main set to a close: Dickinson appeared in a cage, condemned, while the twin-guitar climax built to the song’s cathartic peak. The band closed with the title track, “Iron Maiden,” Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers, Bruce Dickinson, and drummer Simon Dawson taking their final bow.
The three planned encore tracks — “Aces High,” “Fear of the Dark,” and “Wasted Years” — were not played. The curfew made them impossible.
What Was Being Served: Eddie’s Dive Bar and Venue Concessions
In the days surrounding the concert, Iron Maiden operated a themed pop-up called Eddie’s Dive Bar near La Défense Arena on June 20, 21, and 22. The bar served Trooper Progressive Lager Beer — the official Iron Maiden lager for the European part of the tour brewed by Crew Republic in Germany— alongside Darkest Red, a bottled red wine released under the Iron Maiden label. The menu also included pizza and small bites, and limited-edition merchandise was available on-site.
Inside the arena itself, the standard venue concession stands offered a range of hot and cold food and drinks. Kombacher beer was served at the general stand, but there was something interesting in the back wall: a Trooper Progressive lager self serve machine. A user only had to put a cup in the machine and it filled it with a Trooper beer, once paid for. There was also servers with kegs on their backs walking the floor serving Trooper beer. Custmers had the option to buy an assortment of Iron Maiden collector cups with the beer.
No liquor was being served due to the excessive heat. VIP ticket holders had access to an elevated beverage selection throughout the evening, including wines, cocktails, and non-alcoholic options. During the one-hour power outage, a visible portion of the audience made use of the concession areas to rehydrate while waiting for the show to resume — one of the more surreal images of an already unusual night.
Full Setlist — June 22, 2026
Doctor Doctor (UFO) — tape intro
The Ides of March — tape intro
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Wrathchild
Killers
Phantom of the Opera
The Number of the Beast
Infinite Dreams
Powerslave
2 Minutes to Midnight — interrupted by power outage
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Run to the Hills
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
The Trooper
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden
Encores not played (curfew): Aces High / Fear of the Dark / Wasted Years
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