RUN FOR YOUR LIVES 2025 Tour Thread *SPOILERS INSIDE*

[Arrakis]

My, what an entitled spoiled bunch we can be sometimes.

I'm watching a proper head-on view of Budapest opening night, not the real-time livecast from Tuesday and I'm astonished at how great the band sounds and how well the video backdrop works along with the integrated lighting system. It's a fantastic production.

I think Simon Dawson is a fantastic choice as new drummer. From a musician's perspective, watching the moments where he interacts with the guys as he's still finding the nuances, the tempo changes, within different songs is fascinating for me. They're still working it all out but they'll get it; the foundation is there.

I'm not going to repeat the various opinions already shared and debated, my own included. And I'm not chastising anyone. I'm just recognizing that of all the bands that I've followed, which ones are still performing at such a high level with their original and/or classic members intact..? Who's still designing elaborate stage shows and giving two-hour shows after fifty years..? I'm just saying...and as far as the setlist, yes; fans absolutely have the right to be disappointed or confused by some choices. That said, they're doing pretty much all of the great tracks in one show..? And keeping things fresh and interesting by adding or rearranging bits here and there, like Adrian's melody line during "POTO?" Hey, I'll take it. Yes, I would have swapped out "Aces High" too...but hey, I'll live (the problem isn't Bruce's age or voice; it's a song that doesn't translate well live IMO). Anywhoo, for me it all works better a day after digesting everything.

I was there and I have to say out of the 9 Maiden shows I attended since 1995, this was top 3 yesterday, maybe their best so far for me.

And let me tell something else about the sound. I attended those atrocious shows in 2008 and 2010 at the Sziget festival and some others with major sound issues before Pooch taking over the FOH engineer role.

Finally Maiden sounds great. Crystal clear and loud guitars yesterday, and very good drum sound.

It's ridiculous how a band at this stage in their career can still pull something like this.

The audience was full of families and teenagers. In order to keep the different generations they had to upgrade their visuals and they did a great job at it.

So all in all, this show is a must see I gotta say.

 

[Helmuth Von Moltke]

Looking forward to London, excited by the first 2/3rds of the set. But glad I'm not going to multiple dates, time to take a step back.

Been to single dates in 1998 and 1999, and then multiple dates on BNW, GMETID, DoD, ERuTW, AMOLAD, SBIT, TFF, ME, BOS, LOTB, FP tours.

Not sure what it is, maybe too much change in one go without Nicko and with screens. I'm especially pissed off by the uninspired encore.

If the 50th anniversary tour hits interesting other countries in 2026 I'll maybe see another date. But glad I'm not investing lots of money and building my travel plans around the tour this summer.

 

[matic22]

Many thanks. Do you know more about the story of the Red Special?
I was always curious, how come two amateurs, one being teenager managed to build such a classic instrument?

I am reading he was an aviation draughtsman. Did they have any workshop with lathe machines etc in the basement or something? Did they have professional consultation?

Basically, Brian didn't have the money and he and his dad set on building the best guitar they could. They succeeded in every regard, except the pickups, which were replaced by pre-fabricated Burns ones. It was used on everything Brian ever recorded, with the exception of Crazy Little Thing (Roger's Tele), 12 string parts and Nothing But Blue (Ibanez JS). In 90's the guitar was very dinged up and zero fret needed to be replaced, so it was x-rayed and copied 3 times by Greg Fryer (guitars named John, George and Paul). Happy with results, Brian comissioned full restoration of Red Special, which was also done by Fryer. However, Fryer lives in Australia, so he wanted a luthier, that was living in UK. Enter Andrew Guyton. Andrew again did some restoration work on the guitar and Brian made him the guitar's #1 repair man (has refinished it twice and did other work since early 2000's due to touring damage, it's still Brian's main guitar).

How did he start doing work for Maiden? I think Colin Price (Dave Murray's tech), Justin Crew (Kirk' Hammet's tech) and Pete Malandrone (Brian May's tech) are friends. I Think Pete recommended Andrew to Colin when it came to refretting of Dave's California Series Strat. Happy with the results, Colin brought him Janick's guitars last year and this year, he brought him the Destroyer and assumingly Lados after that.

If you work on the most or second most priceless guitar of all time (along with EVH's Frankie), you must be good. It seems like the Destroyer was in the flood up to the bridge pickup (the pickup was corroded and rewound), judging by damage and luckily the neck didn't twist, so the guitar was salvegable.

So, thanks to Colin and Andrew, we have classic guitars back on tour.

 

[OutwardFeller]

The "uninspired" encore block is probably an amazing thing for first time goers and the casuals. I am sure I´ll have a good time even if I don´t have any desire to see these 3 tracks again. It´s a little bonus after like 90 minutes of the amazing main set. Honestly I am stoked to see the opening old school block of songs as I was far too young to see them 20 years ago + they are finally playing fucking KILLERS!!!

 

[Vaenyr]

The Murders intro drum roll was already much better than on the first night. Still a couple spots in the second half of the fill that need some cleaning up, but I have no doubts that Simon will be pulling that off in no time. Dude's a beast and a great choice for the band.

Though it is kinda hilarious 1) being able to see him play in the first place and 2) how animated he seems to be while playing. It looks like he's putting all the strength of his entire body into some of those grooves, which shows the sheer physicality of the job, while also looking somewhat cartoonish in the best kind of way. I love it lol

 

[btx109]

I was there and I have to say out of the 9 Maiden shows I attended since 1995, this was top 3 yesterday, maybe their best so far for me.

And let me tell something else about the sound. I attended those atrocious shows in 2008 and 2010 at the Sziget festival and some others with major sound issues before Pooch taking over the FOH engineer role.

Finally Maiden sounds great. Crystal clear and loud guitars yesterday, and very good drum sound.

It's ridiculous how a band at this stage in their career can still pull something like this.

The audience was full of families and teenagers. In order to keep the different generations they had to upgrade their visuals and they did a great job at it.

So all in all, this show is a must see I gotta say.

I have friends from middle school that still follow the band...maybe not as deeply as me, but yeah. Middle school for me was 1980 . A couple of guys are now parents and we're planning to see RFYL with their kids. So yeah, I have a wide view of the band and their history.

 

[damage_case]

btw. IMO Bruce's screams on Killers are better (cleaner, nearer to Paul's) than '88 & '99.

 

[Poto]

btw. IMO Bruce's screams on Killers are better (cleaner, nearer to Paul's) than '88 & '99.

Someone wrote he sounds like a chicken, and I can't unhear it.

He has a lot of screams this tour. Killers, Wrathchild, Beast, Rime. Did he scream at the end of Aces High too?

Maybe he has a bet with Lzzy Hale who can scream the most. She is also a screamer.

 

[btx109]

The Murders intro drum roll was already much better than on the first night. Still a couple spots in the second half of the fill that need some cleaning up, but I have no doubts that Simon will be pulling that off in no time. Dude's a beast and a great choice for the band.

Though it is kinda hilarious 1) being able to see him play in the first place and 2) how animated he seems to be while playing. It looks like he's putting all the strength of his entire body into some of those grooves, which shows the sheer physicality of the job, while also looking somewhat cartoonish in the best kind of way. I love it lol

Someone said that he looked exhausted and like he was about to keel over numerous times during the first show. Hilarious.

 

[Prowler]

Am i the only one that i didnt like the stage?

Ι'm 50/50. I like some aspects of it, but I definitely prefer BOS, Legacy and Future Past stages.

Not sure what it is, maybe too much change in one go without Nicko and with screens. I'm especially pissed off by the uninspired encore.

If the 50th anniversary tour hits interesting other countries in 2026 I'll maybe see another date. But glad I'm not investing lots of money and building my travel plans around the tour this summer.

I will still go to multiple dates, but I'm also not sure why I'm not that excited after the first 2 shows. It's probably the production, it doesn't seem like a Maiden concert. Also, some of the videos, like Mariner, are 100% AI and don't know how to feel about that. It's distracting me.
The uninspired encore is fine by me, except Aces of course.
My other issue is the pacing. Rime and 7th are too close to each other and they have almost the same structure and honestly 7th after Rime seems a bit boring. Maybe they should have played 7th earlier or not at all after all. Also, they did all this AI video for Mariner and they just got 7th son Eddie waggling his spinal cord for 7th son.

 

[Prowler]

Someone wrote he sounds like a chicken, and I can't unhear it.

He has a lot of screams this tour. Killers, Wrathchild, Beast, Rime. Did he scream at the end of Aces High too?

Maybe he has a bet with Lzzy Hale who can scream the most. She is also a screamer.

Bruce has a very difficult job for this tour. There are only 2-3 songs that are easy and safe for him. He has the experience though to handle it. Murders and Aces are the two I personally feel he can't do justice. Killers is good enough for me. Hallowed is extremely difficult at this point, but it's not that bad.
Powerslave, Phantom and Fear might be the only easy ones for Bruce and they aren't easy by all means.

 

[Poto]

Someone said that he looked exhausted and like he was about to keel over numerous times during the first show. Hilarious.

I agree. It started from the intro to Murders in the Rue Morgue and ends at the crash ending to Wasted Years. But hey, the man is 66, and the songs are demanding.

Meanwhile the drummer to Halestorm is Animal from Muppet Show.

 

[btx109]

I agree. It started from the intro to Murders in the Rue Morgue and ends at the crash ending to Wasted Years. But hey, the man is 66, and the songs are demanding.

That is an understatement. He's done a great job with the material so far.

 

[Azas]

I'm surprised to hear that Simon was "exhausted" in some parts of the show (not really—just interesting). Now he literally knows how big the boots are that he has to fill when it comes to the sheer demands of a Maiden show. Hmm, maybe they’ve got a backup drummer ready for Simon now, just in case—since he’s not yet used to that level of energy outburst

 

[btx109]

I'm surprised to hear that Simon was "exhausted" in some parts of the show (not really—just interesting). Now he literally knows how big the boots are that he has to fill when it comes to the sheer demands of a Maiden show. Hmm, maybe they’ve got a backup drummer ready for Simon now, just in case—since he’s not yet used to that level of energy outburst

I don't believe he was actually exhausted; that was just a comment by a complainer.

 

[naranja]

Bruce has a very difficult job for this tour. There are only 2-3 songs that are easy and safe for him. He has the experience though to handle it. Murders and Aces are the two I personally feel he can't do justice. Killers is good enough for me. Hallowed is extremely difficult at this point, but it's not that bad.
Powerslave, Phantom and Fear might be the only easy ones for Bruce and they aren't easy by all means.

Wrathchild isn't too difficult overall

 

[Prowler]

Wrathchild isn't too difficult overall

yeah that's another one and Beast also except the scream.

 

[matic22]

Someone wrote he sounds like a chicken, and I can't unhear it.

 

[Prowler]

He actually sounds kinda like that

 

[____no5]

Basically, Brian didn't have the money and he and his dad set on building the best guitar they could. They succeeded in every regard, except the pickups, which were replaced by pre-fabricated Burns ones. It was used on everything Brian ever recorded, with the exception of Crazy Little Thing (Roger's Tele), 12 string parts and Nothing But Blue (Ibanez JS). In 90's the guitar was very dinged up and zero fret needed to be replaced, so it was x-rayed and copied 3 times by Greg Fryer (guitars named John, George and Paul). Happy with results, Brian comissioned full restoration of Red Special, which was also done by Fryer. However, Fryer lives in Australia, so he wanted a luthier, that was living in UK. Enter Andrew Guyton. Andrew again did some restoration work on the guitar and Brian made him the guitar's #1 repair man (has refinished it twice and did other work since early 2000's due to touring damage, it's still Brian's main guitar).

How did he start doing work for Maiden? I think Colin Price (Dave Murray's tech), Justin Crew (Kirk' Hammet's tech) and Pete Malandrone (Brian May's tech) are friends. I Think Pete recommended Andrew to Colin when it came to refretting of Dave's California Series Strat. Happy with the results, Colin brought him Janick's guitars last year and this year, he brought him the Destroyer and assumingly Lados after that.

If you work on the most or second most priceless guitar of all time (along with EVH's Frankie), you must be good. It seems like the Destroyer was in the flood up to the bridge pickup (the pickup was corroded and rewound), judging by damage and luckily the neck didn't twist, so the guitar was salvegable.

So, thanks to Colin and Andrew, we have classic guitars back on tour.

Wonderful. I’m still baffled how common mortals (not luthiers) obviously without proper training and tools managed to build such an instrument