Iron Maiden and the lesson given by Bruce Dickinson. What I was left with after the concert attended by tens of thousands of people

Minutes after Iron Maiden took the stage, the first thing I did was pull out my phone and Google, “How old is Bruce Dickinson?”

One of the expressions that always annoyed me is “I love you like the first day” and, more jokingly, more seriously, the only appropriate line for it always seemed to me: “What do you mean? So little?!” The most valuable thing about a relationship with a loved one is the shared history, the long string of encounters, experiences and repeated choices that have brought you to the point where you are today.

It goes for places, books and of course music. Iron Maiden is not only a band that made history, but a band that many of us have a history with. For this past, I went to the concert that Iron Maiden held in Bucharest on Thursday, as part of the “Run for your Lives” world tour, and I discovered some musicians with a present that they live to the fullest.

At nearly 68, Bruce Dickinson has incredible energy. I had seen him in concert before, but I didn't dare to hope that he kept it over the years.

Not only does he “hold his voice” – and he did for two whole hours – but he still has a presence capable of enlivening tens of thousands of people. He strides across the stage in force from one end to the other while flawlessly singing, acting, changing costumes, always communicating with the audience. Like a conductor, he raises his hands in the air and the energy rises, and the audience shouts, sings and claps to the beat.

Also at a high energy level (though it's hard to beat Dickinson at that) are his bandmates Adrian Smith, Dave Murray, Janick Gers, Steve Harris and drummer Simon Dawson, who replaced Nicko McBrain. Because we were still talking about age, guitarist Adrian Smith, who had a sensational performance, is 69 years old. You don't see or hear that in concert.

Bruce Dickinson: “Life is better than all other options”

If I had to sum up the Iron Maiden concert with one phrase, it would be “full of life”. And this reminds me of an interview that Bruce Dickinson gave two years ago to Rolling Stone magazine.

Diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, the Iron Maiden frontman told reporters how his battle with the disease, which he managed to survive, changed his perspective. “I really appreciate every day, but that means every day I have to do something (…). When I had the series of shows like one-man show across the United States we created a t-shirt that said, “Life is better than all other options.” And if I had to have a mantra to guide me in life, that would be it,” he said. The way he presented himself in front of the Romanian viewers shows that he does.

32,000 spectators at the National Arena and the Romanian flag on stage

I felt very lucky to be able to see Metallica and Iron Maiden in Bucharest, two weeks apart from each other. The “interweaving of generations” that I saw at the Metallica concert also existed here, and it even seemed to me that I saw even more children at Iron Maiden.

In front of me sat a kid no more than eight years old who lived the music to the fullest: he energetically kept the rhythm with his hands in the air and simply jumped from his chair to some songs. “It's Eddie again!” exclaimed another child, seeing the giant ax-wielding mascot stalking band members at concerts. And, because for a while I also watch rock shows with the eyes of a mother, I realized that the scenography that Iron Maiden brings and the animated world – very well done – on the screen resembles the universe of video games, so familiar to children and teenagers.

32,000 people were at the National Arena on Thursday, and the audience experienced the concert without reservations. During the encore, the whole stadium sang “Fear of the Dark”, during the song “Hallowed Be Thy Name” thousands of people held their phone flashlights on. At “Trooper”, Bruce Dickinson brought the Romanian flag on stage, another highly appreciated moment. But what was special about this show is the audience kept their energy throughout it.

After the concert was over, as we were heading out of the stadium, a group of teenagers were singing “Andri Popa” at the top of their lungs.

I remembered with a smile how it was when I was their age and would have called everyone over 40 around me “old rockers”. Now I have become one of the old rockers. And I feel really good about that.