Iron Maiden Paris concert cut short by power outage

A major power outage at the La Défense Arena in Paris on Monday, June 22, forced the heavy metal band Iron Maiden to cut its concert short, leaving thousands of fans frustrated after an hour-long delay in sweltering conditions. The show, which was being recorded for a planned concert film, was halted midway through the performance.

The outage struck as the band was playing the song "2 Minutes to Midnight," plunging the venue into darkness. While backup generators restored some house lights within approximately 10 to 15 minutes, full power to the stage was not restored for about an hour. The problem was reported to have affected a wider area of the Paris Nanterre neighborhood.

With France experiencing a heatwave, the extended loss of power also meant the arena's air conditioning was off, exacerbating the discomfort for the crowd. Reports indicate that some attendees left the venue during the wait.

When Iron Maiden returned to the stage, they resumed with "Rime of the Ancient Mariner." However, the delay pushed the show against a strict local curfew of 11:30 p.m. Authorities did not permit an extension, forcing the band to drop its planned three-song encore, which was to include...