"Scream for me, Tampa!" may be the greatest four-word sentence in the human language, according to the 12,000 voracious souls who filled the St. Pete Times Forum last night. Bay area Iron Maiden fans waited almost 23 years to hear frontman Bruce Dickinson name our city at the end of his trademark request.

As a diehard Maiden fan for half my life, I could easily gripe about the setlist. But as a music journalist (hah!), I could only stand in awe as this band made even their less impressive recent material sound badass. And the Forum, oft-reviled by concertgoers, actually sounded badass. For Maiden, at least. [All photos by Jeff O'Kelley.]

Young Florida thrashers Black Tide received the typical arena-show opening-band sound mix (treatment to which they are no strangers). They lacked volume and bass, but still played to a three-quarters full house despite taking the stage 15 minutes ahead of the ticketed start time. I guess after 23 years of waiting, Maiden fans don't mind showing up early.

This article appears in Apr 14-20, 2011.