"I think there are a few new faces out there," Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson said in front of a near capacity crowd of 12,500 in Concord, CA, on Wednesday night. "Some younger people who weren't even born when we wrote some of these songs 25 years ago."

Ain't that the truth. And while this summer may be one for the resurgence of rock vets, Iron Maiden never went away. Dickinson asserted that the crowds have only gotten bigger and the band is not only "still doing it," but still doing it right. Despite their worn looks, Iron Maiden backed Dickinson's claim with a two-hour concert that ripped through all their greatest hits, including extended versions of 'Wasted Years,' 'Run to the Hills,' 'Number of the Beast' and 'Powerslave.' At least a few of these classics are headed for retirement soon: Dickinson revealed that the band has been working on a new album and that next time they come around, they'll be showcasing the new material. (The band's most recent release, 'Somewhere Back in Time,' is a greatest hits compilation of songs taken from 1980 to 1989.)

The group's mascot, Eddie, appeared in various incarnations throughout the night, once as a giant mummy that burst out of the backdrop and another time as a super-sized machine-enhanced militant that marched on stage to spar with the guitarists. During certain moments, especially when Dickinson bantered about albatrosses and a 300-year-old poem in the introduction to 'Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner,' Iron Maiden came dangerously close to summoning Spinal Tap. The obvious difference, of course, is that their props were actually the right size -- that is to say, larger than life.