Iron Maiden — along with older kin Judas Priest — helped launch the New Wave of British Metal. Characterized equally by the rumbling locomotive rhythms of Maiden bassist/songwriter Steve Harris and the twin lead guitar attack pioneered by Judas Priest, NWOBM not only inspired thrash, but later extreme movements like death and speed metal. In 1982, the addition of octave-scaling vocalist Bruce Dickinson took the band to another level, but the ’90s marked the departure of Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith and the start of a period of indulgent, over-produced music. Brave New World (2000) returned the band to the classic mid-80s template and lineup, Smith and Dickinson included. The Final Frontier (2010) adopts futuristic themes and pushes the boundaries of their sound with five tracks longer than eight minutes. They’re joined by Coheed and Cambria, hard-rocking sci-fi prog heads in their own right. $39.50-$79.50; 7:30pm Wed, Aug 15; AT&T Center, One AT&T Center, attcenter.com. Check out our full online calendar of upcoming events here: calendar.sacurrent.com.
