What's your point? MSG has a certain capacity, it has nothing to do with anything.
You simply fail to understand.
Maiden played L.A. Forum on the SBIT tour (which was their biggest tour by attendance, ever). 17.000 people.
They've topped U.S.A. with World Slavery Tour. Then, they played four nights at Long Beach Arena. 14.000 people each night.
For the comparison, Pink Floyd played two consecutive nights at Anaheim Stadium (In The Flesh Tour, 1977), around 90.000 people each night. At that same tour, they've played similar audiences in Europe, as Maiden on World Slavery Tour in Europe. And far, far less numerous audiences than Maiden on SBIT European leg.
Excuse me, but there are a lot of stadiums in NY metro area that can support > 30.000 people. Yet Maiden decided for MSG because they weren't sure they'd sell out some NY stadium.
Why they wouldn't sell out NY stadium?
Because the percentage of European Maiden fans in total European population is far greater than the equivalent ratio in USA.
There's an arena that can hold up to 10.000 in concert, an arena that can hold up to 15.000 in concert, a small stadium that can hold up to 20.000 in concert, and a big one that can hold up to 60.000 in concert. They played on the big one, configured to 35.000 max. They knew they couldn't sell out 60.000, so they've covered whole east shell (half of seating capacity) with stage. But they knew they would sell way more than 20.000, unlike in New York. New York metro has almost 20 million people. My city with it's suburbia has half million people. NY has 40 times the people, yet the attendance was 1.5 times less.
Do you understand now?
P.S. i just don't get that some American Maiden fans are too proud to admit that their countrymen don't like them (as much as in some other countries in the world). Bashing countries is wrong (unless it's backed by objective facts), but not admitting some negative facts (which are subjective, by the way!) is even more. I bash my own people and country on everyday basis, in hope that those things i don't like will change for better. Nothing wrong with that.