The gates at Knebworth House opened at midday on Friday, 10 July 2026, welcoming EDDFEST campers ahead of the main event on Saturday. Gig-goers wandering around the world-famous venue were greeted by a veritable smorgasbord of wondrous delights, a cornucopia of delicacies from “the house of Iron Maiden.”
The carefully curated exhibition, celebrating the Metal titan’s 50th anniversary, included the Infinite Dreams Museum Experience, which was a walk-through exhibition of stage props and relics. Everything from Baphomet, the devil figure used on The Number Of The Beast tour, to personal mementoes dating back to the Paul Di’Anno era was displayed there, in all its glory. You can read more about the Iron Maiden Fan Experience here.
There was also Unfair Funfair featuring Eddie-themed rides and carnival games. An EDDFEST expanded Eddie’s Dive Bar was also in situ, and of course, there was the Maidenville stage. There was something for everybody to enjoy, but ultimately it was the music that everybody was there for.
Featuring six scorching bands, all with links to Iron Maiden, the Maidenville stage was lit up like a burning inferno, infused with some of the hottest talent around.
Tony Moore
The EDDFEST musical proceedings got underway at 3 pm with Tony Moore performing songs from his critically acclaimed Awake setlist. Moore was recruited by Steve Harris in 1977 as their keyboard player, playing one gig at the Bridge House pub in Canning Town on 4 July 1977, before parting ways with them.
Despite a rather truncated 40-minute set-list (Awake is usually a one-hour 45 Minute set), Moore set the stage alight with six stunning tracks, drawing the crowd toward the stage like a pied piper. The highlight of his set, Crazy In The Shed, shows just what a truly accomplished artist he is.
Tony Moore told MetalTalk in a 2024 interview how he was discussing the Awake project with Steve Harris. “I’m obsessed with it,” Moore said. “I feel like I’m going crazy in the shed. He [Harris] said to me, ‘That should be the title of your next song, Tony’.” The song will be released as a single on 4 September 2026, and more details can be found here.
Gypsy’s Kiss
Gypsy’s Kiss links to Iron Maiden are well known. Both Dave Smith, the band’s vocalist and guitarist, and Steve Harris formed Influence in late 1973. The band was later renamed Gypsy’s Kiss and lasted around 18 months before dissolving.
Another 40-minute set saw Messrs Smith, Morley, Marr, Hunter, Gatcum and Emms ripping up the stage with some juicy NWOBHM cuts. You have to applaud these boys. If they played Knees Up Mother Brown, they would still make it sound electrifying.
Again, with each song belted out, the crowd grew and grew around the Maidenville stage.
Airforce
At 5.20, the bomb-bay doors opened, as Airforce flew over the stage to drop a 40-minute payload of high-octane Metal. Airforce’s links to Maiden are again well documented, with drummer Doug Sampson playing on the Soundhouse Tapes and Chop Pitman being one of Steve Harris’s closest friends.
It was quite strange to watch the band from a backstage position as you could literally see the audience grow and grow with each song played. Lino’s voice, always immaculate, launched into Fight, the band’s first track of their eight numbers.
With Tony Hatton’s energetic bass playing, Sampson’s drumming, which seems to be more accurate than an atomic clock, and the laconic fretwork (but big sound) from Pitman, it is just sublime.
Songs such as Heroes and Son Of The Damned and, of course, Band Of Brothers sound so good on a big open-air stage. The group really do deserve to be playing these massive venues.
The final track, Finest Hour, which was a huge crowd-pleaser, led into Maiden United.
Maiden United
Led by Dennis Stratton (oh come on, Dennis needs no introduction!), the ridiculously talented axe-man led the way with a sumptuous acoustic set of Iron Maiden classics. These were not just like-for-like copies. The tracks were completely reworked, featuring Damian Wilson on vocals.
With a stunning version of Strange World kicking off the set, three of the tracks came from Iron Maiden’s eponymous first album, which Stratton played on.
However, the highlight was Wasted Years, which featured a keyboard-driven main riff and some wonderful rhythm guitar work. Stratton, who was moved to tears at the San Siro last month after a stadium full of fans paid tribute to him, was clearly enjoying himself up on the Maidenville stage, along with the rest of the lads.
As for the audience? They were loving it.
Stray
Stray strayed onto the EDDFEST stage next, and the awesomeness continued. These guys are proggy, they are rocky, and they are bloody good fun. Led by the irrepressible Del Bromham, Karl Randall and the rest of the lads have this almost chilled Metal feel about their music.
Stray were highly influential in helping form Steve Harris’s relationship with music. Maiden even covered Stray’s 1970 track All In Your Mind, and brought them as support on several European dates on the Dance Of Death tour.
Houdini kicked off their set, and you would not want to escape from the band’s musical craftsmanship. Jericho was followed by Harry Farr, tickling the audience’s earlobes. The ever-burgeoning crowd were highly appreciative, but Stray’s crowning glory came when they played All In Your Mind. This version of the song has a slower, more melodic feel to it than the Maiden cover version.
As the sun descended over the stage, Bromham’s crisp guitar work and Karl Randall’s drums welcomed “magic hour”, that point between dusk and night. Bromham then went on to embrace the theatrical, hanging his guitar from the scaffold, like a 17th-century ne’er-do-well.
Despite the axe just dangling there, Bromham still managed to make it ooze sweet sweet music. The rest of the band are absolutely awesome, and this was a great venue for Stray to showcase their abundance of musical wares.
Blaze Bayley
The clock strikes 8.50 pm, and enter Birmingham’s finest, the one, the only Mr Blaze Bayley. The erstwhile Maiden singer was supported by Absolva as his backing band, and what a set they performed. With eight of nine tracks coming from the House of Iron Maiden, Bayley’s brooding baritone voice kicked off proceedings with the X Factor’s Lord Of The Flies.
With the Appleton brothers, Martin McNee and Tom Atkinson working their magic, Bayley thrilled a packed Maidenville. Two more tracks followed before monastic chants heralded Sign Of The Cross. This song is classic Bayley. It suits his vocal range beautifully, and you can tell Blaze was in his element.
The only non-Maiden track, Born As A Stranger, followed, before we heard the cries of “FREEDOM!”. The song that the film Braveheart cried out for, fired up. Nobody sings this better than Blaze. Although he did not write the track, this really is his song.
Bayley then addressed the EDDFEST audience, saying, “I’m so lucky to have such loyal support and be a part of the Iron Maiden family. It’s incredible. The two albums that we did, it’s a long time ago and they were a little bit controversial at the time because they were so different to what had gone before.
“But in retrospect, people look back at those albums, and they view them in a different way. I think the love of that music has grown throughout the fan base. So, that’s a really, really nice feeling.”
Another film-based song followed with Man On The Edge. With the crowd totally invested in Bayley’s performance, he finished with Futureal and The Angel And The Gambler.
Blaze Bayley’s voice is a model of consistency. It does not waver, it does not drop out of tune, it bellows and breathes life into every story the singer tells. It also has to be said, he is one of the nicest guys on the circuit.
The evening was then rounded off with Hair Metal Glamageddon, a hard rock tribute extravaganza.
Interestingly, throughout the proceedings, Steve Harris took the time to go and watch each artist play from the side of the stage. He seemed to be in his element, enjoying every note, every performance. One young lad even got the thrill of his life after asking the stage manager if he could get his Iron Maiden album signed by Dennis Stratton.
Dennis graciously obliged. However, what the lad did not expect was for Steve Harris to also sign the album. The young lad promptly burst into tears.
So day one was over, and there were a lot of happy campers, all set up, primed and ready to rock the main event, the following day. You can read MetalTalk’s extensive EDDFEST coverage here.
