MUSIC PREVIEW: Maiden tour named for video game
The legendary Iron Maiden are in town Friday as part of the North American portion of their “Legacy Of the Beast” Tour, which shares the name of a mobile game the group released in 2016. The turn-based RPG game features Iron Maiden’s infamous mascot Eddie; players collect combatants and fight infernal foes.
The band’s last full-length, The Book Of Souls, recorded in Paris, was released in 2015. It met with generally positive reviews, though certainly didn’t seem to capture the magic of earlier releases. At this point in the band’s trajectory, it’s hard to imagine that something would stand up to, say, 1982’s The Number Of the Beast, or 1985’s Live After Death – which included one of their other famous singles, Run To the Hills. Their 2000 release Brave New World spawned another well-known track, The Wicker Man, which has perhaps the widest reach across the globe of all the band’s songs.
Opening once again – as they have several times in the past – will be The Raven Age, featuring George Harris, son of Maiden bassist Steve Harris. Rogers Place, 7:30 pm, $86 and up, BUY
Thursday 29
Reignwolf – While its founder Jordan Cook grew up in Saskatoon to make his name as a blues teen, it wasn’t until he moved to Seattle that Reignwolf really came to be, adding Joseph Braley and David “Stitch” Rapaport. The band has released the odd single since the move, but it wasn’t until early this spring that they released their debut Hear Me Out. Many of the songs date to when Reignwolf was opening for Black Sabbath in 2014, which should give you a very good inkling of the band’s sound. Starlite Room, 7:30 pm, $24.50. BUY
Romi Mayes – This Winnipeg singer-songwriter is edgy yet sincere, and has already been nominated for a JUNO award in her musical adventures. Simon Hoskyn and Nadine Kellman open. Station on Jasper, 7 pm, $10. BUY
Friday 30
Styx – Honestly, what weekend would be complete these days without a classic rock gig? This Chicago band sprang to the forefront of prog-arena rock in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, with songs such as Lady, Babe, Come Sail Away, and Mr. Roboto. The band broke up following 1983’s Kilroy Was Here, with most members forging solo careers for the next five years. Some of the members started reuniting in 1990, then again in 1995, including a short stint with original vocalist Dennis DeYoung. Since 1999, however, the band has been fronted by none other than Lawrence Gowan – who himself had a fairly stratospheric solo career in the mid-1980s with the release of the Canadian classic, Strange Animal). River Cree, 9 pm, $86 and up. BUY
Saturday 31
Carter and the Capitals – This high-energy local funk band hearkens back to days gone by, with a fuzzy, immensely danceable blues-funk vibe that’ll get your toes a-tapping. The band’s eponymous debut was recorded in Vancouver with Ben Kaplan (Five Alarm Funk, Mother Mother). Baby Boy and The Earthly Delights open. 9910, 9 pm, advance $15.
