Iron Maiden · Dio · Motörhead

This is one of my favorite shows of all time, full stop. I went to Star Lake with my friend Jason Ballard, and the three-band bill turned out to be just about perfect from the first note to the last.

Motörhead was the ideal way to kick the night off. Lemmy and the band came out swinging with "We Are Motörhead" and never once let the energy drop — "Doctor Rock" and "Killed by Death" were highlights, and of course "Ace of Spades" and "Overkill" sent the set out the way only Motörhead can. Loud, fast, no nonsense, exactly what an opener for a night like this should be.

Dio was the surprise highlight of the evening for me. It was my first time seeing him, and the setlist could not have been better — a true career-spanning show that pulled from every chapter of his career. He opened with "Killing the Dragon" from the then-current album, ran through Dio classics like "The Last in Line," "Stand Up and Shout," "Rainbow in the Dark," and "Holy Diver," covered Rainbow with a stunning "Stargazer," and gave us not one but two Black Sabbath songs in "The Mob Rules" and a closing "Heaven and Hell." His voice was every bit as powerful in person as on record, and watching him work the crowd was a masterclass. I left a much bigger fan than I came in.

Then Iron Maiden. This was my first time seeing them since the No Prayer for the Road tour back in 1991 — twelve years between Maiden shows is too long, and they made up for every bit of it. The Doctor Doctor tape rolled, and they tore straight into "The Number of the Beast" and "The Trooper" back to back. The setlist leaned heavily on the classics — "Revelations," "Hallowed Be Thy Name," "Fear of the Dark," "Iron Maiden," "2 Minutes to Midnight," and "Run to the Hills" — with a few tracks from the more recent records like "The Wicker Man" and "The Clansman" mixed in. Bruce was in fine form, the band was tight, and the production was everything you'd want from a Maiden show.

Three legendary bands, all firing on all cylinders, on a summer night at Star Lake with a good friend. It doesn't get much better than that.