Fear of the Dark: Iron Maiden concert derailed after Paris power outage
An Iron Maiden concert in Paris was derailed and forced to end early after the city experienced a widespread power outage.
The band are currently in the midst of their Run For Your Lives Tour, celebrating 50 years since they first formed in 1976, and were performing in the French capital’s La Défense Arena on June 22nd.
However, according to Blabbermouth, a city-wide power outage plunged the 40,000-capacity arena into total darkness around eight songs into the show, leaving concert-goers confused as to what was going on.
While the main venue lights came back on after approximately ten minutes, the stage remained in darkness and took a further hour until the band were able to return and continue the set.
However, as so much time had passed and the venue has a strict curfew of 11.30pm, frontman Bruce Dickinson was forced to tell the expectant crowd that Iron Maiden would be made to cut their set short.
This meant that Paris fans were not able to hear the standard encore of the show, which ordinarily consists of ‘Aces High’, ‘Wasted Years’, and the ironic ‘Fear of the Dark’, given the context of the situation.
Although the matter could not be helped, what made things worse was that the show was being filmed for the Run For Your Lives tour movie, with those plans presumably being redrawn now.
The planned filming meant that fans in the general standing and general admission areas were being prohibited from using their phones through the use of lockable Yondr pouches.
However, hopefully with no further power outages on the road, Iron Maiden are set to continue the tour by next playing at Denmark’s metal festival, Copenhell, on June 24th.
Thereafter, they are set for a few more shows across Europe in the coming weeks, before returning to the UK for a special gig at Knebworth on July 11th.
Never Miss A Beat
The Far Out Music Newsletter
All the latest music news from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.