Heavy metal with a twist

Bang your head: Iron Maiden set to shock with their other side

Iron Maiden at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on Friday
Photo courtesy of Iron Maiden
Dream Theater starts the night's concert

What a boon it is to be a heavy metal band so prolific, with a song catalog so vast, that it can simply build world tours based on eras of the past work.

For the better part of the last decade Iron Maiden — a 30-year British heavy metal tour de force that makes the originally British Invasion look about as scary as the Backstreet Boys — has been feeling a bit nostalgic for the early hits when it came to Houston. This Friday show, however, as part of "The Final Frontier World Tour" — just the second date on a North American-European summer trek that began in Dallas on Wednesday — is a departure from the familiar.

Based on the Dallas setlist, lead singer Bruce Dickinson and Iron Maiden have found a renewed love for the less-heralded and often politically-charged songs that anchored albums like Brave New World, A Matter of Life and Death and Dance of Death which were all released in the last 10 years. In addition a new song, "El Dorado," from the band's upcoming 15th studio album, The Final Frontier, (scheduled to be released on August 16) will be heard live for the first time.

This is a massive departure from the familiar ground that Iron Maiden usually cover on stage. For the last two years the band has been circling the globe on the aptly titled "Somewhere Back In Time World Tour" which was an homage to the group's meteoric 80s rise into the mainstream. Sing-along guitar bombs like "2 Minutes To Midnight," "Wasted Years" and "The Number of The Beast" were in ample supply.

This new show is a new adventure that will make some bristle and other bang their craniums with glee.

While many of the obvious Iron Maiden classics have been ignored, this a chance find out about a side of Eddie that most never see and hear some tracks that may never get played live by Iron Maiden again.

(And if you have to ask who Eddie is ... this Iron Maiden show might not be for you.)

I love it when a band is bold enough jump off a cliff and dare their audience to take the leap with them.

Iron Maiden, 7:30 p.m. Friday at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Tickets: $35-$95

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that's slick

Affordable indoor amusement park slides into The Woodlands this spring

The indoor park at Slick City The Woodlands

Render courtesy of Slick City Action Park

Slick City offers all the fun of a park without the heat.

Any parent in Houston knows the four sweetest words in the English language are "affordable, indoor, air-conditioned playspace." Slick City, a brand-new dry slide indoor playground, is slated to open in The Woodlands next month to the delight of all sunburn and heat stroke-adverse families in north Houston.

“The Woodlands is a community built around families, and Slick City creates the kind of experiences that bring people together,” said Mandy Bush, co-owner of the Slick City The Woodlands franchise. “We were drawn to the innovation behind the park and the opportunity to create a space where kids, parents and friends can unplug, be active and make lasting memories together.”

Slick City Action park is a relatively new player in the indoor playspace industry. Founded in Denver, Colorado in 2021 by CEO Bron Launsby and Gary Schmit, the playgrounds focus on their patent-pending big slide designs rather than the trampolines and virtual reality games that seem to make up most other major indoor parks. The company has been rapidly expanding into the Texas market, including opening a Denton location last August, as well as parks in Willowbrook, Webster, and Katy.

The Woodlands' location at 3905 FM 1488, Suite 100, will have 35,800 square feet of playspace, with 14 large-scale slides using the company's latest designs. This is also the first Slick City to include a soccer air court, perfect for kids afflicted with FIFA Fever ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Attractions include Riptide, Mega Launch, Cowabunga, Avalanche (V2) and Turbo Twin, as well as a near-vertical thrill slide that rivals theme park coasters in intensity. Admission prices range from $25 to $34 for 90–120 minute sessions, with mandatory $3–$5 CitySocks required

With Houston's hot summers, families sometimes struggle to find places for kids to play away from the unrelenting heat. Playground architects have been steadily adapting their designs for newer parks to account for heat, but nothing beats the power of air-conditioning. Getting to watch the kids fly through the air off of massive slide ramps is a bonus.

Render courtesy of Slick City Action Park

Slick City offers all the fun of a park without the heat.

amusement parks family friendly