Iron Maiden returned to Costa Rica on Thursday night for the first time in 10 years. The band brought its 50th-anniversary Run For Your Lives world tour to a packed Estadio Nacional in La Sabana, San José. Thousands of fans from several generations filled the field and the stands. The show was built entirely from the British band’s first nine studio albums. It was Iron Maiden’s fourth visit, after concerts in 2008, 2009 and 2016.
Some fans began lining up outside the stadium on Saturday, Oct. 3, five days before the show, to get a spot near the stage. British metal band The Raven Age opened the night. The group is led by guitarist George Harris, son of Iron Maiden founder and bassist Steve Harris.
At 7:40 p.m., UFO’s “Doctor Doctor” played over the stadium sound system, the band’s long-standing signal that the show is about to begin. Moments later, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, Janick Gers and drummer Simon Dawson walked onstage. Dawson replaced longtime drummer Nicko McBrain, who retired from touring at the end of 2024.
The band opened with three songs from its earliest years: “Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “Wrathchild” and “Killers.” Dickinson spent much of the night running from one side of the stage to the other. Each of his calls of “Scream for me, Costa Rica” drew a roar from the crowd. Partway through the set, Dickinson thanked the audience and said it had been a decade since the band last played for Costa Rican fans. “Phantom of the Opera” and “The Number of the Beast” came next, and flames shot up across the stage during the second song.
Before the next song, Dickinson told the crowd the band had never played it in Costa Rica and had stopped playing it anywhere roughly 35 years ago. He then dedicated “Infinite Dreams” to the audience and wished that all their dreams would be infinite. The set continued with “Powerslave,” “2 Minutes to Midnight” and the long epic “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” with heavy lighting, fire and pyrotechnics throughout.
The biggest reaction of the night came when Eddie, the band’s mascot, appeared onstage as a towering figure with glowing eyes and an axe. Many people in the crowd were wearing his face on their T-shirts. “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and “Iron Maiden” closed the main set. On this tour, the band has followed them with an encore of “Aces High,” “Fear of the Dark” and “Wasted Years.”
Iron Maiden first played Costa Rica in February 2008 at Estadio Ricardo Saprissa. The Tico Times at the time put that crowd at more than 25,000 fans from across Central America. Later visits took the band to Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto in Alajuela and, in 2016, back to the Saprissa on The Book of Souls tour.
Run For Your Lives now heads south through Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. The band has said many of the songs in this anniversary set are unlikely to return on future tours, so for most of the crowd in La Sabana, Thursday may have been the last time they hear them live.
