I expect in the eddfest another setlist
He chose solo songs with a Maiden vibe/parts. Cool. I guess the EddFest set will be all Maiden songs.
Do we know if there's a reason that he has never played certain Maiden songs from his albums?
I've never heard him talk about the decision-making that goes into choosing which Maiden songs he plays, but I'd assume the usual batch he plays are the ones he likes to perform or ones he knows go down well with the crowd. The nice thing is that he's expanded that a bit in recent years, with Fortunes of War, Judgment of Heaven, and Como Estais Amigos on his Damaged Strange Different and Live album. That one kind of felt like a conscious effort to get more live versions of his Maiden material on record, so I hope he continues to broaden that net to include Don't Look to the Eyes of a Stranger, Lightning Strikes Twice, and The Educated Fool (along with other unrepresented songs from TXF).
Did this happen right after The King Of Metal bombed, or was it later on…?
What do you mean by 'bombed'? It's not the greatest Blaze album, but I think it did quite well in the presales back in the day.
One especially strong improvement Blaze has made to the setlist is the inclusion of Doctor Doctor. It’s usually played at the end of the show and is hugely popular whenever I see him, so it’s surprising that it wasn’t included until fairly recently. I also think it’s great that Wrathchild has remained in the set since Blaze first started playing it, as a tribute to Paul. Blaze could easily add Afraid to Shoot Strangers without losing too much integrity. With Doctor Doctor, Wrathchild, and Afraid to Shoot Strangers alongside Sign of the Cross, The Clansman, Futureal, and Man on the Edge, Blaze could perform an exceptionally strong setlist. It would probably work really well with more casual Maiden fans, without crossing the line into feeling like a full-on cover act.
I would guess that 2027 would be the right time for a new Blaze album. Chris and Luke co‑wrote Circle of Stone with Blaze, and now they’ve also brought in Tom Atkinson, who is a very strong songwriter as well. With that lineup, a new album feels like the natural next step. With all the weekend shows going on, I would not be surprised if they spend the weekdays writing and recording new tracks. Followed, of course, by a supporting tour. With alot of focus on Maiden over the last few years, I hope 2027 the band will be back focusing on the Blaze catalog, especially IE triology, War Within Me and CoS and a potential new album. And hopefully alot of touring! I think they are way overdue to play the US and South America! Then in 2028 we have the 30th anniversary of Virtual XI, and I really hope they repeat the anniversary tour concept they used last year for The X Factor. Virtual XI played in full would be incredible.
I dont see the point of playing iron maiden songs that you havent recorded you have like 25 songs recorded with your voice plus a lot of solo records. Im talking about thr eddfest not the tour.
I don’t think including one or two songs would do any harm. Blaze has far better control of his voice these days, and some of the live footage from the ’90s doesn’t really show him at his best. After all, he played around 240 shows during that period, singing those songs live night after night, which gives him legitimacy when performing them today. Besides, Blaze did record those songs, even if only as live versions. When I was six, my dad constantly played the Afraid to Shoot Strangers live version from Best of the Beast in the car. At home, he also had a video of the Wrathchild / Man on the Edge BBC recording with Blaze, which I remember clearly. And this isn’t unusual, plenty of singers do this. Ripper Owens may arguably take it a bit too far by focusing so heavily on Halford‑era Judas Priest material, but Ian Gillan regularly includes Hush in his solo shows and even on his live albums.
I know he recorded live versions and sung a lot of more songs with them. Im talking about eddfest i hope he play 100% songs from xfactor virtual xi and bsides. I think he is the main act ? So thst would be cool. And bring 2 guitars! And maybe steve would show up,who knows is the day before.
I think the setlist this year will stay close to the one he played at the tour kickoff this past weekend, mainly Maiden songs with a few solo songs. His solo band now includes two guitarists, Chris Appleton and Tom Aktinson. They played a fantastic setlist!
It’s pretty much universally panned as his worst album by a mile, and Blaze has never burned up the charts in the first place.