Iron Maiden, Megadeth
10 minutes ago
3 min read
TD Garden
Boston, MA
September 9, 2026
After two days of recovering from RPM Fest, it was time for the big show, Iron Maiden and Megadeth at the TD Garden in Boston.
I didn’t want to miss what is likely Megadeth’s last tour, and unfortunately the tour was doing 2 nights in LA but no Northern California dates! (To be fair it is a pretty limited tour, LA is the only West Coast stop before San Antonio and then off to Latin America). So it seemed like the perfect excuse for a Boston trip.
In the afternoon before the show we went to Eddie’s Dive Bar, a merch popup in a sports bar that was part of the TD Garden. Iron Maiden’s merch operation is really kind of intense, there were tons of places to buy merch during the show, plus this popup during the day of the show.
Eddie’s Dive Bar is also a chance for them to feature the new Trooper Beer from Lagunitas which we covered earlier. We even got a pic with Eddie, who wisely dropped the Union Jack in the home of the Boston Tea Party for the more universally loved Lagunitas IPA flag.
We got into the Boston Garden (not the same Boston Garden as the one I went to as a teenager, but the new home of the Celtics and Bruins standing in the same place) early to grab beers and review the merch there.
While we were standing in a merch line Megadeth suddenly started their set, at 7 PM, not at the 7:20 stated on the tickets and on every schedule. Not sure what happened there but that was kind of a bummer.
Especially since Megadeth did not play a particularly long set, just 9 songs. They sounded great though, Dave Mustaine isn’t belting out vocals any longer but he can still sing, and he is still playing a lot of serious riffs.
His band is really off the hook, a young guitarist who shreds effortlessly without seeming cocky, and a young bass player too, bringing the energy and complementing Grandpa Mustaine really well. Here’s what they played:
Tipping Point
Hangar 18
Take No Prisoners
Sweating Bullets
Trust
Tornado of Souls
Symphony of Destruction
Peace Sells
Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
Anyway, I hadn’t seen Megadeth since they opened for the Scorpions in 2017 in Oakland. Not sure how long this farewell tour will last, sometimes they seem to go on for a few years or decade, but in Megadeth’s case I’m guessing it will be on the shorter side so I'm glad I made it out.
Iron Maiden delivered their regular amazing performance and impressive stage show. They just don’t seem to have slowed down at all as best I can tell, at least since the last time I saw them in 2019.
Bruce Dickinson can still hit all the notes, and there is a lot of energy on stage from all of them. Between various Eddie’s and the animated videos projected behind them, it is quite an experience.
I’m not sure what else there is to say, except that their set leaned heavily on classics and their hits of the 1980s. As an old dude I appreciate them playing so many classics, especially seeing “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” live, that is a long and complex song. Here is what they played:
Murders in the Rue Morgue
Wrathchild
Killers
Phantom of the Opera
The Number of the Beast
Infinite Dreams
Powerslave
2 Minutes to Midnight
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Run to the Hills
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
The Trooper
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Iron Maiden
Aces High
Fear of the Dark
Wasted Years
After 3 days of non-stop metal bands at RPM Fest, this show seemed over quickly in just about 4 hours, but we left having seen two masters of metal still at their peak after so many years.
–Hectic
