Avatar and Iron Maiden at La Défense Arena: From Grand Theatrics to Immortal Legacy
- Eden Bisiot
- Jul 22
- 8 min read
Updated: Sep 3
Announced some time ago, July 19 marks Iron Maiden's return to the wonderful French stage of La Défense Arena at the occasion of Run For Your Lives Tour, celebrating the band’s 50 anniversary. And while this is a band whose reputation is well established, the opening act was just as spectacular! Avatar deserves our full attention, which is why I will talk a lot about both bands in this report.
When I entered, half the venue was already full, and it was only the beginning! The crowd was getting impatient, whistling, playing with their phone flashlights, chatting, grabbing a beer... A few minutes before Avatar's performance, the venue was almost full. Even the bleachers (to my surprise, as this is unusual) had very few empty seats.
AVATAR: The freak show sets the Défense Arena alight
Photo : Jens De Vos /// @jensthepanda
At 7:26 p.m., the lights go out, the audience screams as the stage displays the logo of the band arriving, to the tune of Beware Of The Clown by The Damned.
The last spotlights go out, then a clown enters the stage with a red box from which Johannes Eckerström emerges. The other musicians arrive on stage as he shouts “What's up Paris!?” and launches into Devil Dance. The singer gives it his all while the guitarists swing their hair in time to the music.
The stage design is effective: letters spelling out the band's name at the back of the stage light up in time with the music, while the logo remains projected just above. The lighting effects are carefully crafted and well thought out, creating a real spectacle.
The first song had everyone on board: the musicians were having fun, the crowd was cheering and applauding... What more could you ask for as an introduction?
The band follows up with a second song where the frontman brilliantly shows off the full extent of his talent, a performance that was highly acclaimed by the crowd before the artist starts speaking:
“I love this city. What city are we talking about? The city of love? The city of insanity! It's Paris! So good to see you again!”
He even shouts “We are”, to which the audience responds “Avatar,” creating a truly intimate moment between the stage and the pit. He then takes the opportunity to introduce the next song, a brand new track that is barely 36 hours old:
"We feel like it's warmed up here. Are we ready to go? Are you ready for some heavy metal? I guess we have to play something faster. Do you want something faster? Great. There's no turning back. You see, Avatar is in your mind, Avatar is in your heart, Avatar is in your fucking ass, we are... In The Airwaves."
A new track, certainly, but already well known to the audience, who headbang, throw their arms in the air to the rhythm of the song, and sing at the top of their lungs. A reaction greatly appreciated by the band's singer, who shouts, ‘’Merci beaucoup !”.
The lights go out, leaving only a guitarist under a spotlight who begins the melody of the next song. The lights come back on, revealing the singer dressed as a clownish ringmaster, wearing a long red coat, hat, and cane. And this beginning, which sounded so much like a ballad, is shattered by a perfectly controlled scream, launching into Bloody Angel.
The song comes to an end and Johannes makes the crowd scream before blowing them kisses, still in a very theatrical way, before starting The Dirt I'm Buried In, which has the whole crowd clapping their hands. The audience seems very receptive to this polished performance, much to everyone's delight. Jonas even honors us with a guitar solo that is as powerful as it is creative.
More than a concert, this is a real show: costumes, staging, flawless performance. The lighting dazzles us as much as the performance of the musicians, who give their all and don't let up.
Finishing Captain Goat, Johannes takes the mic again to express his gratitude:
"This is amazing, thank you! The privilege, the honor, the pleasure, and the dream come true that it is to stand on this stage here. You have no idea!"
But also to tell us about the band's history:
“You know, before Avatar was a show, we went to a show. The first thing we did as a band is to go to Stockholm to see Iron Maiden. From then to now we get to stand here in front of all of you. Boom ! Crazy ! And all of you came on time to come to see us, to hear us play. It’s crazy ! What the fuck ! Merci beaucoup ! We love playing in this city !”
He then takes the time to ask who has seen Avatar on stage before and laughs as he counts to three. He then asks who is seeing them for the first time and is met with a delirious crowd that makes him exclaim, “Holy shit!”. He then launches into a powerful and inspiring welcome speech that I could have transcribed here, but I couldn’t translate the emotion that accompanies it. It’s a speech that needs to be seen, heard, and experienced, not read. I can tell you, however, that he ended this fabulous speech by teaching the audience to shout “Smells like a freak show” before launching into the music.
Then it's time for the last song, “This is your last chance, join us!”.
The crowd and the musicians continue to give their all for one last lap around the arena, while Tim gives us an impressive performance. Johannes, meanwhile, teases the other musicians as they play. The last strum of the strings signals the end of the set, as the frontman takes the mic one last time to announce their return to Paris on March 7, 2026, at the Zénith, and to wish the audience a great evening with Iron Maiden.
They then exit the stage to circus music, leaving behind a delighted audience impressed by such a polished and refined performance for an opening act. Avatar knows how to put on a real show, and they didn't hold back, much to our delight! Seeing what they are capable of in 45 minutes, we can't wait to see the full extent of their talent in a full set! And if you're interested, there are still tickets available here!
Iron Maiden: Blazing Riffs and the Enduring Power of a Legend
The crowd is getting impatient but remains entertained and entertaining, waving their arms in the air, applauding, and shouting the name of the headliner. Every minute that passes before Iron Maiden takes the stage seems like torture for the fans. And it will last a few more minutes due to a slight delay by the band.
At 8:52 p.m., the first notes of Doctor Doctor (UFO) ring out in the hall as the stage lights go out, leaving only a few yellow spotlights. The audience is going wild, shouting, dancing, clapping their hands, and the stands are rising. It's a real standing ovation!
The last notes ring out and the hall is plunged into complete darkness. The stage lights up to offer us a carefully crafted animation, moving through different titles such as The Ides Of March and the first notes of Murders In The Rue Morgue, during which the band appears in a cloud of smoke after the curtain drops, causing the crowd to scream.
The stage design lives up to what you would expect from Iron Maiden: a backdrop with animations matching the different songs and eras of the band, currently on tour to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Every element of the stage is well thought out and showcases each musician. The stage is deeper than it is wide, and the space is fully occupied without being disorganized or “too much.” The lighting design by Antti Saari and his team adds the icing on the cake that is Robert Coleman's work.
A show of this magnitude requires a large number of teams to make it work, every night of the tour. And I think it's only fitting to congratulate everyone involved in its production.
With each song, you can feel the mastery of the sound, the mastery of the instruments, the mastery of the voice... Iron Maiden has been around for five decades for a reason: their shows are always as good as the first ones, if not better.
The musicians may be focused on delivering the most perfect performance possible, but their talent and flawless technique allow them to take the time to have fun, occupy the entire stage, play with the audience, or even allowing Janick Gers to do acrobatics with his guitar, pushing the guitarists in the audience to the brink of a heart attack. However, as I said, everything is done with skill and no guitars were harmed in the process.
Bruce Dickinson, on the other hand, tends to interact much more with the audience, getting them to shout “hey hey hey” in rhythm, encouraging them to clap their hands, or even talking to them:
"France! It's my birthday tonight! We are 5... 500... no, 50. 500 is the sum of our ages, haha! But 50 years tonight! We work hard for these shows. It's more than just two hours to play songs. In 50 years, a lot of things change, and tonight we have a new drummer: Simon Dawson!"
Indeed, after Nicko McBrain's departure last December, the announcement of the new British drummer was not long in coming. Initially trained for the previous tour in case of problems with the original drummer, Simon was already known to Iron Maiden fans through his long-standing collaboration on Steve Harris' solo project, British Lion. From the start of the tour in Prague on May 31, Dawson was very well received by the audience. It seems that his perfect mastery of Iron Maiden's most legendary songs won their hearts.
Iron Maiden leaves nothing to chance. Neither the change in its musicians nor its elaborate and flamboyant staging, peppered with pyrotechnics and highlights with the audience, but also surprises, from costumes to guests, including incongruous scenarios such as a fake hanging or the sinking of a ship.
It's difficult to describe this concert without recounting it to you. Because it's an experience, more than a concert, we are faced with an almost theatrical performance of the songs, sailing through the ages while feasting our eyes. I’m not here to tell you everything that happened, but I’m here to tell you whether the concert is worth the trip; and I won't answer with a simple “yes,” but with “you'd be foolish not to go if you have the chance, because you'll have the time of your life.”
At 11p.m, the concert ended as it had begun: with a shower of applause and cheers, leaving the fans as dreamy as they were satisfied.
I was amazed to be so surprised by a show that I already expected to be spectacular. Both by the live power of the opening act and the total mastery of the headliner. Each one took us into their own world, and one thing is sure: we didn't want to leave. Once again, La Défense Arena was the venue for an evening where time stood still, where a dream came true for many fans who left with hearts full of happiness and heads full of memories.
A big thank you to everyone involved in organizing this memorable event, and a big thank you to Olivier Garnier and Replica Promotion for making our visit possible.
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