Get Ready to Rock: Iron Maiden Thrills Fans and Guns N’ Roses Sets the Mood at Power Trip 2023!

Power Trip kicked off Friday night with a doubleheader of Iron Maiden and Guns N’ Roses.

While there was disagreement over which band should be opening for the other, most attendees agreed that both bands turned in impressive performances.

Iron Maiden

Confession: I missed the first hour of Iron Maiden’s set because I was working on a story, so my good friend Jasyn Smith was kind enough to fill me in on what I missed.

Anyone who knows Iron Maiden knows they pull out all the stops to match theatrics and media with their music. In true rock ’n’ roll fashion, the band arrived 20 minutes late, but kicked the show into high gear with songs like “Caught Somewhere in Time” and “Stranger in a Strange Land” while the screens showed mascot “Eddie” freaking out on the screens.

The age of the performers definitely showed due to their stiff movements, but playing fast metal will excite almost anybody, and the band ran around stage from time to time to liven up the crowd.

After a few mosh pits in the general admission pit section, frontman Bruce Dickinson headed onstage after a quick costume change—donning his battle vest, gauntlets and all.

About an hour into the show, things started to really intensify, as Eddie appeared onstage in something resembling a robot suit—while wielding a gun. While the band played “Heaven Can Wait,” Dickinson made a comment about Eddie’s weapon, stating, “Oh, he’s got a gun—but this is a fucking gun!” before pulling a sheet off a huge machine gun prop, and starting a firefight with Eddie featuring pyro effects. It was entertaining—a definite visual treat.

The band helped out newer fans of Iron Maiden by displaying a flag with the album that corresponded to each song. (Yeah, I know the real reason was to show off more of the band’s impressive, consistent artwork.)

When “Fear of the Dark” started, the crowd went nuts. People all the way back in the GA seated section were on their feet, singing along as Dickinson creeped around the stage. When the intensity of the track picked up, the band bounced around, matching the energy of the front row pit section.

“Scream for me!” shouted Dickinson before the band launched into “Iron Maiden.” The fast-paced energy was enough to ignite the crowd and band, but the enthusiasm grew further when Eddie returned, this time in a samurai costume, and began doing tricks with his sword. He began fighting with guitar players Dave Murray, Adrian Smith and Janick Gers before pretending to play guitar a solo on his blade. “Iron Maiden is gonna get you all!” shouted Dickinson before the band left the stage.

I was unsure if the band would perform an encore, since Guns N’ Roses was to follow, but they returned to the stage for a few more after the restless crowd chanted: “Eddie!”

As Iron Maiden slowly built up to “Hell on Earth,” Dickinson got the crowd to sway their arms back and forth, and seeing the reflection of the whole crowd on the video screen was a unique sight. There were some huge pyro moments as Dickinson wielded his mic stand like a sword, and as the song ended, they kicked into high gear with the hit “The Trooper.”

The band was liveliest just before the set’s end. Every guitarist took turns soloing, and Power Trip attendees got to witness firsthand why Iron Maiden’s guitar work has been so influential to the metal genre.

As the band closed their set out with “Wasted Years,” Dickinson returned to the microphone one last time to say: “Wherever you are, wherever you’re from, we are all one.” It was a positive and uplifting ending moment, as Monty Python’s “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” played via the PA speakers.

Guns N’ Roses

If Iron Maiden was in rock ’n’ roll fashion by being 20 minutes late, what do we call Guns N’ Roses being 35 minutes late? Despite the tardiness, the legendary ’80s rock outfit came out and performed with purpose.

Eager, anxious fans were quickly treated to a great rock show, as the band rolled through hits like “It’s So Easy” and “Bad Obsession.” Frontman Axl Rose pranced and ran around like a mad man while belting out the tracks, while the video screens mixed psychedelic visuals with light and laser effects.

I noticed a difference between band T-shirts: The members of Iron Maiden wore Iron Maiden shirts, while Guns N’ Roses’ shirts supported other musicians. Guitarist Slash had an Alice Cooper shirt on, while bassist Duff McKagan was repping old-school punk rocker Johnny Thunders on his vest.

Hits like “Welcome to the Jungle” got the crowd engaged and singing along, reinvigorating the Power Trip energy for some—while signaling the approach of bedtime for others. When the band finished “Jungle,” many attendees began heading home.

Guns N’ Roses experimented with moods and songs, offering synthy sounds via “Hard Skool” and explicit lyrics via “Absurd.” (The line “pussy full of maggots” garnered a, shall we say, unique reaction where I was sitting.)

There were a lot of audio issues, with drastic mixing being done during songs. Axl’s voice and Slash’s solos were ear-piercing. Many fans were complaining about this, and about the quality of Axl’s voice, in a Power Trip Facebook group.

The T-shirts were just the start of the band paying homage to other performers, as covers of “Live and Let Die” (Paul McCartney and Wings), “Down on the Farm” (U.K. Subs) and “T.V. Eye” (The Stooges) made both the band and crowd happy. It was especially interesting to hear the Paul McCartney cover after hearing the same song here at Desert Trip seven years ago.

Guns N’ Roses were still rocking hard well into their second hour on stage, showing no signs of stopping. They blazed through, guitar-soloed and extended-jammed their way through tracks like “Rocket Queen” and “Anything Goes,” and even had a serious moment with track “Civil War,” showing a video of the Ukraine flag.

Slash started on another guitar solo rampage, this time jamming with the full band before starting that ever-famous intro of “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” The area around the GA seating was nowhere near as packed as it was hours ago, but attendees who remained were standing and singing along to one of the most popular songs in rock history. Axl Rose’s voice is not what it was 40 years ago, but with the help of the massive audience and backup singer Melissa Reese, the song was just as powerful.

Rose headed to the piano and led the band into “November Rain,” another fan favorite. Out of all of the Power Trip bands, Guns N’ Roses arguably has the most ballads and slow songs, so it was cool to see this huge, heavy rock crowd sing along and dance slow. After covering “Wichita Lineman,” the band visited their most famous cover, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” originally by Bob Dylan. It was another nice nod to Desert Trip, yet this version was much more rockin’ than Bob’s, and for many fans, this was their last song of the night.

The band kept rolling through songs before Rose announced that the 1 a.m. curfew was near. After three hours of rock jams, Guns N’ Roses took Indio to “Paradise City,” featuring more Axl Rose screams and Slash solos for the road.

A big fireworks show closed the epic first night of Power Trip, one minute after curfew—and all was right in the rock world.

Edited on Oct. 10 to correct the name of a song.