An hour-long power outage disrupted Iron Maiden‘s performance in Paris on Monday night, as per UCR. The La Défense Arena performance was being filmed for Maiden‘s next Run For Your Lives Tour movie. In order to ensure the “optimal viewing experience” for the movie, audiences were informed before to the performance that phones would not be allowed during the concert. The band and its crew, however, were unprepared for a significant blackout. Ironically, given that the song was included on the album “Powerslave”, Iron Maiden’s 1984 single “2 Minutes to Midnight” was playing at the time of the occurrence. Backup generators took over, so fans weren’t left in the dark for very long. But they just supplied enough electricity for the lights in the house.
It also took a long time to resolve the problem, which was apparently a part of a wider power outage that affected the area around the arena. At first, spectators made the most of it by applauding and clapping to encourage the band to return to the stage. But as time passed, annoyances increased. There is now a heat wave in Paris, and it is said that the arena’s air conditioning was turned off for a long period. By the time Iron Maiden reappeared, about an hour after the first power outage, a large number of fans had left, according to one of the band’s European fan organisations. After making a comeback with “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” Maiden performed hits including “Run to the Hills” and “The Trooper.“
However, the band was forced to violate the local curfew due to the delay. Authorities therefore forbade the metal legends from making a comeback for an encore. Attendees of the Paris event vented their concerns on social media. Others called the event a “wasted concert” and “absolutely disappointing.” While some fans questioned whether Maiden would now record a different performance for their concert film, many others enquired about refunds. Nevertheless, some fans were able to see the bright side of the power outage. Laurent Lolo, an attendee, said on Iron Maiden’s Facebook page that the band appeared “even more motivated” upon their return, calling the entire experience “surreal.”
We came all the way from Romania for this show. We spent a lot of money on f—ing Paris (which is expensive as we all know) just to be at this concert. We were waiting for this for so long. F— this. It’s obviously not Maiden’s fault but oh is the frustration high!
Another fan questioned the band’s decisions once the event resumed, obviously dissatisfied that typical Maiden encore songs like “Aces High” and “Fear of the Dark” were not played. He wrote, “Sorry, you CAN do better.” “Skip other songs if time is of the essence.”
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