Iron Maiden brings a thrilling metal legacy to Nashville

Is a metal show really a metal show if the frontman doesn't blaze across the stage with a flamethrower? 

It's not an Iron Maiden show, that's for sure. 

Flamethrowers, fireworks and a relentless dose of theatrical metal invaded Bridgestone Arena as the storied British metal band returned Monday night to Music City — the third Iron Maiden tour stop at the downtown Nashville venue this decade. 

Coined "The Legacy of the Beast," Maiden's latest tour doesn't support a onslaught of new material from the group, but celebrates the headbanging sound and iconography the band's been globally exporting for nearly four decades. 

And, yes, this export still thrills. 

"Obviously, tonight, it's a bit of a celebration of everything that's been going on for a few years," said frontman Bruce Dickinson. "We are getting on a bit. By my calculation, if the United States started in 1776, we're (expletive) older than that."

For the greater show: Dickinson served as the night's wholly energetic host, wailing the band's layered lyrics of archaic battles and inevitable death sentences. The two-hour show served as a journey through Iron Maiden history; a heavy metal declaration where no amount of fire or rumble felt off-limits.  

The band entered to 1984's blistering "Aces High," Dickinson, age 61, and company feverishly skirting the stage underneath a lifelike airplane that swayed from side-to-side. From there, the six-piece outfit descended into the best of its fist-pumping canon: Bellowing chants of "freedom" with "The Clansman," a thrashing tribute to World World II cinema with "Where Eagles Dare" and the nuclear epic "2 Minutes to Midnight." 

The set pieces and stage backdrop changed with nearly each of Maiden's 16 songs, visually pushing the story of each song to the forefront.

Illustrated stained glass windows back the band during "Revelations;" The band's  enormous mascot — Eddie — duels Dickinson by sword during "The Trooper;" a moving Icarus statue appears between flamethrower blasts during "Flight of Icarus." 

Fire erupted from the multiple levels of the stage as Dickinson sang "They'll be coming to bring the eternal flame" in "Sign of the Cross" — a detail that could be overshadowed in the massive, 10-minute entry which culminated with an indoor fireworks show. 

Theatrics aside, it's a ripping metal show. Each of the band's three guitar players, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers, got their due as the punch from bassist and founding member Steve Harris and reliance of drummer Nicko McBrain held down each song.  

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Run for the encore: The show reached a crescendo with signature song "The Number of the Beast," where flames spilled from torches as Dickinson reminded the ecstatic audience of an "evil face that twists my mind and brings me to despair." 

Maiden closed the initial set by unleashing a stage-sized inflatable Eddie head for "Iron Maiden" — giving the night's dadly metal onlookers a chance to fervently Up The Irons before the night's host departed. 

The band reprised a three-song encore, "The Evil That Men Do, "Hallowed Be Thy Name" and "Run To The Hills" — offering a final taste of heavy metal storytelling before insisting onlookers return to a world that's less elaborate ...  and sometimes far more frightening. 

Iron Maiden Nashville setlist 

• Aces High
• Where Eagles Dare
• 2 Minutes To Midnight
• The Clansman
• The Trooper
• Revelations
• For The Greater Good of God
• The Wicker Man
• Sign of the Cross
• Flight of Icarus
• Fear Of The Dark
• The Number of the Beast
• Iron Maiden
• Encore:
• The Evil That Men Do
• Hallowed Be Thy Name
• Run To The Hills