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Metal legends Iron Maiden gave Dallas an enjoyable dose of theatrical nostalgia

For all of its changes, fads and phases, rock 'n' roll at its best is a timeless art. From Little Richard and "Tutti Frutti," to St. Vincent and her otherworldly guitar acrobatics, rock is often a knowing nod to the past and a powerful surge forward all at once.

On Friday night inside of a packed American Airlines Center in Dallas, British metal pioneers Iron Maiden taught a master class in how to simply let go and enjoy the past without worrying about too much else, especially the cares of today.

Nostalgia, when consumed for basic nostalgia's sake, can be pretty empty.

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If a mullet-sporting headbanger dwells too deeply in the past, it's safe to assume that their present, let alone their future, isn't worth getting excited about. The image of the prom king quarterback still wearing his increasingly snug letter jacket at his 25th high school reunion is indeed a sad one. But when the AAC is packed to the ceiling with folks simply wanting to create new memories scored by their favorite songs of the past, the suspension of present-tense self-awareness is certainly forgivable, if not encouraged outright.

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Even though the most popular songs of the night are well over three decades old at this point, nostalgia wasn't the overriding theme for the evening. Between Maiden and Swedish metal opening band Ghost, it was an outlandish flair for drama that carried the night. To say both sets were of the theatrical variety is an understatement as massive as the 10-foot tall, ghoulish "Eddie" mascot that strutted his way around the stage during the headliner's set.

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Comparisons to Spinal Tap, the farcical, painfully prescient 1984 metal mockumentary, were easy to make if one was so inclined. The elaborate, fire-breathing Mayan-style stage design ("Stonhenge," anyone?), blended with tireless lead singer Bruce Dickinson's operatic howl and the athletic twirling and prancing of lanky guitarist Janik Gers were all outlandish. But dang it all to heck, it worked. As long as you wanted it to, that is, and if you were there, why wouldn't you want it to?

The Broadway-glow of the night didn't end with the set construction or spewing pyro. During "Death or Glory," one of the newer tunes, the sweat-soaked Dickinson performed in a chimpanzee mask. And for "The Trooper," unarguably one of the defining songs of the early heavy metal movement, Dickinson, donning a red Revolution-era British soldiers jacket, triumphantly waved a tattered Union Jack during a sequence that would be at home in London's West End theater district perhaps more than in a Texas arena.

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With a slew of rock radio hits, Maiden could've filled its over two hour set with nothing but metal-riffic staples of the Thatcher administration. But the Iron Maiden Army is a fiercely loyal one, and though the several songs from the group's 2015 critically-praised and commercially successful Book of Souls, weren't as raucously-received as certified gems such as the 1982's "Children of the Damned," the new songs were still welcomed more heartily than an outsider could ever understand.

In the encore, the dramatic nostalgia tightened its grip on the crowd during "The Number of the Beast" and "Wasted Years." With a gigantic, satanic "beast" lurking from high behind the stage as the audience chanted "six, six, six!" the scene that caused protests in the '80s was now jubilant and triumphant. Rock 'n' roll has thrived for generations because it evolves as its influence spreads. Once dangerous and unpredictable, Iron Maiden is now a comfortable, yet fiery blast from the past that still feels new if you want it to.

Like music? We do, too. Check out everything you need to know about upcoming concerts in D-FW.