A new year has begun and I have updated my Future Past playlit a bit with the hope that some songs will be played this year. This is the setlist I would like to see. I went with the 5-5 idea we got in the teaser for the Future Past tour with some classics and surprises thrown in. I tried to keep the setlist as realistic as possible (so no song they have never played before, except Alexander, and no deep cuts). And in addition, I added some explanation about each song and why I put it there and what feeling it has or what theme it fits. Again, that's all my opinion, but I like Maiden's thematic touring a lot and I feel like the combination of Senjutsu and Somehwere in Time makes a perfect theme.
The Future Past Tour 2023
Intro: Doctor Doctor
I just can't see them opening with the Blade Runner theme as many people have suggested. Doctor Doctor is just one epic song to get the crowd all cheered up and I don't think the Blade Runner theme has that same energy to it.
………Intro to the 'The Future Past' theme………………………
1. Caught Somewhere in Time
The perfect song to open the setlist with and set the mood for the rest of the setlist. And it really gives that 'Future Past' vibe to the audience. I'm 100% sure the stage setup will blow us away with some kind of hybrid between Somewhere in Tim album cover and some Japanese influence from Senjutsu and I feel like Caught Somewhere in Time is the perfect introduction to that.
2. Days of Future Past
I feel like this song can't be left out of the setlist and it makes perfect sense to have it played after Caught Somewhere in Time. It has the same fast paced energy to it and it fits perfectly in the theme of the whole tour. It's also a Senjutsu song so the first two songs immediately introduce us to the hybrid theme of this tour.
3. Futureal
Staying in that 'Future Past' theme I think we might get this song purely because it's a Blaze era song, and Bruce tends to like some of those songs, and it's a song we haven't heard in quite some years. A fast paced song that the audience can cheer along to is just what the opening of the concert need in contrary to the somewhat slower Writing on The Wall we had during the 2022 tour.
4. The Time Machine
A great song to take the fans on a journey through time and prepare them for the rest of the setlist. Although this song is slower paced then the first 3 songs we've had so far, I feel like this one fits perfectly into the intro of this tour and foreshadows the songs to come on this journey through the Future Past.
………Journey through Time………………………
5. Stranger in a Strange Land
The song just fits into the whole futuristic theme of the whole tour and is perfect after a slower song like The Time Machine. And if you want to go even further, it tells a story accompanied by The Time Machine about a person who traveled through time and ended up somewhere in a strange land.
6. The Trooper
The first song that is not from the Somewhere in Time or Senjutsu album and one we can't miss on any setlist nowadays. Why did I put it here? No idea. But I think the Trooper can be put anywhere in the setlist and it would still make sense.
8. Heaven Can Wait
A true anthem for Maiden fans, especially during the "cheering" part of the song. It's just a great song to kind of end the Somewhere in Time theme for now and get to some more classics and Senjutsu material.
9. The Number of the Beast
After the cheerful Heaven Can Wait it's time for another classic with this one. Just like The Trooper I think you can put this song anywhere on the setlist but putting it after the fast and joyful Heaven can Wait but before the slow and heavy The Parchment made sense to me.
10. The Parchment
As mentioned before, a slow and heavy song. After The Number of the Beast the lights dim and the intro to The Parchment plays setting the darker vibe of the Future Past tour. And this darker vibe is passed on to the next song being Fear of the Dark.
11. Fear of the Dark
Just like Heaven can Wait, I feel like Fear of the Dark is like an anthem that fans just have to sing along to. After The Parchment is over I feel like the fans need some more energy and can sing and jump along to Fear of the Dark while still staying in the somewhat darker mood for now.
12. Iron Maiden
I don't have to explain why Iron Maiden closes of the show before we're getting the encore, right?
………Encore………
11. Senjutsu
Yes I know, there's not many people that like this song but I personally think it'd be an awesome song to open the encore with. It'll be similair to the Legacy of the Beats tour in 2022 where the lights were dimmed and the drum started pounding before Nicko and the guys started of with a fierce song.
12. Alexander the Great
Alexander, just like Senjutsu, is such a great atmospheric song that makes perfect sense to be in the encore. After Senjutsu ends the light dim again and the intro to Alexander plays, hyping the crowd up.
13. Hell on Earth
Finishing up the encore with another long song, Hell on Earth has that 'closing' vibe to it. It's an emotional song with great passion and I think it's a great song to make the fans think the show's over, just like The Clansman did during the 2022 tour.
………Encore 2………
14. Hallowed be thy Name
I couldn't leave Hallowed off the setlist so I put it in the second encore. Just like The Parchement I think it's a darker and deeper song which is great to be played as opening for a second encore.
15. Wasted Years
And finally, Wasted Years. A final return to the Somewhere in Time album, concluding an incredible journey through time where the band took fans on several classics, Somewhere in Time and Senjutsu together. The song worked perfectly as a closer during the Book of Souls tour, and I think it will work just fine during this tour as well. Maybe even better.
