Band forced to skip encore after hour-long blackout at La Défense Arena during historic French heatwave
‘Iron Maiden‘ have issued an official statement following a severe power outage that interrupted their performance at La Défense Arena in Paris on Monday, June 22, forcing the band to cut their set short and skip their encore entirely.
The concert was being filmed for an upcoming release, making the incident particularly significant. The show had been running for approximately 50 minutes when, toward the end of “2 Minutes to Midnight,” a total power cut brought everything to a stop. For 10 minutes the venue was in complete darkness until service lights came on, though not on the stage. The arena’s air conditioning was also non-functional during the hour-long outage, leaving tens of thousands of fans in sweltering conditions during a historic heatwave that saw temperatures in Paris reach 44 degrees Celsius that day.
The blackout impacted most of the arena’s neighborhood in the Nanterre area of Paris. After approximately an hour, power was restored and ‘Iron Maiden’ returned to the stage, resuming the set with “Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” However, the concert was scheduled to finish by 11 p.m., with a curfew that the local police chief would only extend to 11:35 p.m., citing that local transport in the area stopped by 12:15 a.m. and they could not have over 30,000 fans on the streets unable to get home. This meant the band completed 14 of the 17 typical tracks on the setlist, finishing with “Iron Maiden” but unable to play the encore, which would have included “Aces High,” “Fear of the Dark,” and “Wasted Years.”
The cause of the outage remains under investigation. As reported by French national newspaper Le Figaro, officials are investigating whether the outage was linked to the extreme heat. However, French electricity distributor Enedis said the problem did not appear to originate from the public power grid and was more likely related to the arena’s own electrical installation.
Vocalist Bruce Dickinson addressed fans in the band’s official statement:
“Despite everything, the audience and atmosphere last night were fantastic and, like every other challenge Iron Maiden have faced over the years, we’ll find a way to deal with and overcome the missing songs in the encore when it comes to the final film. We know that many of you travelled long distances, waited patiently throughout the interruption, and were looking forward to experiencing the complete Run For Your Lives show. We share your disappointment. No one is more frustrated than the band and crew, who were eager to deliver the full performance you deserved.” – “What we will remember most from last night is the incredible spirit inside the arena. Your patience, understanding and unwavering support through an extremely challenging situation meant the world to us. The energy in the room was remarkable and is exactly what we have come to expect from Paris, and a reminder of why we always love playing here. Thank you, Paris.”
Manager Rod Smallwood added:
“The fans were magnificent and a huge thanks to them from the band for their patience and support. It just illustrates again what great fans we have. The temperature in Paris was as high as 44 degrees Celsius that day and the hall AC went off with the cut so of course, with so many people in there, it soon got hot while they were waiting for us to be able to resume playing. Naturally when we continued with the lights and pyro and excitement it got seriously hot for fans and band. Despite that, the energy of the reaction was incredible!”
It is worth noting that the concert was a phone-free event, meaning no fan footage of the power outage exists. ‘Iron Maiden’ are due to have several more European festival appearances throughout the summer in combination with a headline tour that they are documenting, hence the phone-free environment. The band has indicated they will investigate the reasons behind the power failure in the coming days and find a way to address the missing encore songs in the final film.
