Iron Maiden’s revival of their Powerslave set-up on their Somewhere Back In Time tour brought back all sorts of odd memories for me.
I was first introduced to Iron Maiden’s mascot, Eddie, while in elementary school. I still have my denim jacket from the sixth grade with the Killers patch sewed onto the back. This version of Eddie was portrayed as a small-time hood, wandering the streets of London with a bloody axe in hand. For the longest time it was the only variation I was accustomed to.
It was my familiarity with early Eddie that made his regal appearance on the album cover for Powerslave so shocking to me. It proved that Eddie had a history which stretched back further than what I had already been exposed to. He wasn’t just tied down to one time or place. There was a kind of continuity there. A secret history.
Even more than the difference in eras, the disparity in status between these conceptions of Eddie threw me off. How did a lowly thug become a tyrant? Was that even possible? I found the notion terrifying. The idea that some petty monster, the kind I was already used to dealing with in my own neighbourhood, had the potential to rise to power and lord it over everyone was an unwelcome revelation.
