Iron Maiden Tour 2025 - Discussion

[ShadowOfTheGods]

I think you're all expecting too much from Maiden

IF next year we'll get something to celebrate Maiden's 50th anniversary, it would be the most boring (for us, diehard fans) setlist possible.

Why? Because they will need to play hits. If the whole stadium thing (if it's happening) is not enough, you have the fact they basically just played 2/3 of their best known songs during 2023 and 2024. I'm not ruling out some deeper cuts, but I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this:

1. The Wicker Man
2. 2 Minutes to Midnight
3. Wrathchild
4. Phantom of the Opera
5. Run to the Hills
6. Dance of Death
7. The Trooper
8. Powerslave
9. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
10. Evil That Men Do
11. Hallowed be Thy Name
12. Iron Maiden

13. Number of the Beast
14. Fear of the Dark
15. Running Free

Add to that a lot of pyros, explosions and props and you have one of the best show ever for a casual fan (and one of the most boring one for someone who saw them 40 times).

 

[Nomadd]

I think you're all expecting too much from Maiden

IF next year we'll get something to celebrate Maiden's 50th anniversary, it would be the most boring (for us, diehard fans) setlist possible.

Why? Because they will need to play hits. If the whole stadium thing (if it's happening) is not enough, you have the fact they basically just played 2/3 of their best known songs during 2023 and 2024. I'm not ruling out some deeper cuts, but I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this:

1. The Wicker Man
2. 2 Minutes to Midnight
3. Wrathchild
4. Phantom of the Opera
5. Run to the Hills
6. Dance of Death
7. The Trooper
8. Powerslave
9. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
10. Evil That Men Do
11. Hallowed be Thy Name
12. Iron Maiden

13. Number of the Beast
14. Fear of the Dark
15. Running Free

Add to that a lot of pyros, explosions and props and you have one of the best show ever for a casual fan (and one of the most boring one for someone who saw them 40 times).

The Writing on the Wall - should be listed too. Honestly - I think this is the most probable scenario for the next two years. In 2026 they will include a new single before the 18th album release. 2017 - 18 new album tour. That's it!

 

[Azas]

If this is a boring setlist, I am a balerina. It's great alone for Powerslave and Rime. Plus Phantom and Running Free. Hmm, and Dance of Death. Then, there's Hallowed and 666. Oh, and Wicker Man, and Fear of the Dark's singalong. Pretty solid, if you don't ask me.

 

[matic22]

I think you're all expecting too much from Maiden

After Future Past Tour setlist, which was like a fever dream, I think anything is possible at this point.

Plus, if the retirement rumours are remotely true, playing deep cuts keeps things interesting and prolongs the lifespan of the band.

 

[GhostofCain]

I have seen this line a lot but is there any official word from the members of the band or management that there was no plan to do a Seventh Son themed tour? I know there’s a press release promising a Maiden England dvd release to shortly follow LAD, but that is merely circumstantial evidence. I always assumed even before 2012 that a Seventh Son themed tour would be next. I remember feeling like Moonchild in the encore was meant to foreshadow the next tour. Seems like a no brainer that they would eventually revisit that album as well with its own tour.

Their original plan was to cover the second half of the 80s with the SBIT tour in 2008, with the release of Live After Death (before the tour) and Maiden England (shortly after) as part of the History of Iron Maiden DVDs. That is why the setlist featured 4 songs off Powerslave, 2 off Somewhere in Time, and 3 songs off Seventh Son of a Seventh Son.

Halfway through the tour they realised that they were printing money with History tours and shelved the planned release of Maiden England so they could do another retrospective tour with a focus on the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son tour once the next studio album cycle was completed. A final leg was added to the SBIT tour in 2009, with a setlist closer to Live After Death than in 2008, and the rest is history (of Iron Maiden).

 

[TheMercenary]

I'm quite sure the next GH tour will be 90's oriented. We had the 'Early Days' tour in 2005 (picking songs from the first four albums), the 'Somewhere Back In Time' tour (mainly oriented on 'Powerslave' and 'Somewhere In Time'), then 'Maiden England' tour with a setlist based on 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son' tracks. The most logical would be to have a GH tour about the four records released in the nineties. And the thing that makes me think that, was the "Blaze Bayley" thing in the thanks credits by Steve Harris in 'Senjutsu' booklet. So, the special anniversary tour could unite Blaze Bayley and Bruce Dickinson on the same stage next year. Don't know if Paul Di'Anno will also be invited, though. We'll see. But, it could be a pleasure to hear "The Aftermath", "Blood On The World's Hands", "Futureal", "Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger", "Tailgunner", "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter", "Run Silent Run Deep", "Be Quick Or Be Dead", "Afraid To Shoot Strangers", "Judas Be My Guide" live.

 

[ShadowOfTheGods]

I'm quite sure the next GH tour will be 90's oriented.

They would've done it in 2018. 90's celebration tour will never happen and I can tell you it was never part of the band's plans.

And while I agree that some songs would work perfectly live (When 2 Worlds Collide, Judas be My guide), I'm sure 99% of the stadium would fall asleep with Blood On the World's Hands or The Aftermath.

 

[TheMercenary]

They would've done it in 2018. 90's celebration tour will never happen and I can tell you it was never part of the band's plans.

And while I agree that some songs would work perfectly live (When 2 Worlds Collide, Judas be My guide), I'm sure 99% of the stadium would fall asleep with Blood On the World's Hands or The Aftermath.

I never felt asleep while listening to "Blood On The World's Hands" and "The Aftermath". These songs are the most energetic on 'The X Factor', along with "Sign Of The Cross" and "Man On The Edge". When Blaze was still in the band and that Maiden played the songs that you consider as very good "sleeping pills", no fans in the audience felt asleep when the band played these two songs : on the contrary, Blaze was spat on, insulted and had things thrown in his face.

 

[ShadowOfTheGods]

I never felt asleep while listening to "Blood On The World's Hands" and "The Aftermath". These songs are the most energetic on 'The X Factor', along with "Sign Of The Cross" and "Man On The Edge". When Blaze was still in the band and that Maiden played the songs that you consider as very good "sleeping pills", no fans in the audience felt asleep when the band played these two songs : on the contrary, Blaze was spat on, insulted and had things thrown in his face.

Those are some of the most unknown songs from Maiden. Even die hard fans sometimes don't know them. Now, think of a 50k people crowd which is mostly made of casual fans. How they could react?

 

[Randalf]

I think you're all expecting too much from Maiden

IF next year we'll get something to celebrate Maiden's 50th anniversary, it would be the most boring (for us, diehard fans) setlist possible.

I respectfully disagree.

Wildest setlist dreams aside, the Maiden setlist structure after Maiden England run has been fairly fresh and even adventurous, offering quite balanced selection of "hits" & dusted off classic rarities, deeper cuts and if an album tour or such, also new stuff.

It's not like I, or anyone else, would expect them to completely ditch Fear of the Dark, The Trooper, The Number of the Beast and such, but I would say that the ratio between the most obvious picks, very interesting stuff & songs that fall in between (e.g Wasted Years, Can I Play With Madness) will stay roughly the same as it has been for past few tours.

There sure is certain sense of "obligation" for them to play a handful of biggest hits, yes. There also seems to be push and strong intent within the band to also dust off their own favourite cuts that fit their current groove very well. Such songs also give depth & purpose to the overall design of the future tour(s) they have left in them.

I could be wrong, for sure, but given how even The Legacy of the Beast 2022 (which had fairly interesting song selection anyway) was bit of a "let's get this done and move on..." thing, I honestly don't seem them going out for a tour with most of the setlist being going-through-motions.

Of course, the whole Anniversary tour is pure speculation at this point and I still think the "50th" thing won't be too heavily underlined, whatever theme they'll be touring under with.

That all being said, the quoted & bolded expressions "too much" and "most boring" are highly subjective, as some would find the return of songs like Moonchild, Phantom of the Opera or The Clairvoyant very welcome and truly exciting - I would certainly love them - where as some (due to these songs having several years of setlist representation from the past 20 years already) might find them relatively "boring" and "playing safe."

 

[ShadowOfTheGods]

I respectfully disagree.

Wildest setlist dreams aside, the Maiden setlist structure after Maiden England run has been fairly fresh and even adventurous, offering quite balanced selection of "hits" & dusted off classic rarities, deeper cuts and if an album tour or such, also new stuff.

It's not like I, or anyone else, would expect them to completely ditch Fear of the Dark, The Trooper, The Number of the Beast and such, but I would say that the ratio between the most obvious picks, very interesting stuff & songs that fall in between (e.g Wasted Years, Can I Play With Madness) will stay roughly the same as it has been for past few tours.

There sure is certain sense of "obligation" for them to play a handful of biggest hits, yes. There also seems to be push and strong intent within the band to also dust off their own favourite cuts that fit their current groove very well. Such songs also give depth & purpose to the overall design of the future tour(s) they have left in them.

I could be wrong, for sure, but given how even The Legacy of the Beast 2022 (which had fairly interesting song selection anyway) was bit of a "let's get this done and move on..." thing, I honestly don't seem them going out for a tour with most of the setlist being going-through-motions.

Of course, the whole Anniversary tour is pure speculation at this point and I still think the "50th" thing won't be too heavily underlined, whatever theme they'll be touring under with.

That all being said, the quoted & bolded expressions "too much" and "most boring" are highly subjective, as some would find the return of songs like Moonchild, Phantom of the Opera or The Clairvoyant very welcome and truly exciting - I would certainly love them - where as some (due to these songs having several years of setlist representation from the past 20 years already) might find them relatively "boring" and "playing safe."

I partly agree with this and I see your point. But again, I read people talking about playing Seventh Son or Powerslave in full, which is something that will never happen, not just because the band has no interest in it (otherwise they would've done it already), but because it makes no sense at all.

Of course they could put some deeper cuts in it, but I wouldn't be surprised to see just "hits" which they haven't played for a while (Rime or Dance of Death, for example). They did put FTGGOG in 2018, after all. But from that to "they're going to play mostly songs from the 90s" it's a long way and honestly I don't know how many people would be happy with it.

Whether it's a 50th anniversary tour or not, we know they're playing big venues and most likely festivals next year, and for those kind of situation you need to bring out quite a lot of hits. And before saying "but people go to see Maiden anyway" just look at the US sales for this tour which features 3 classics only. Ok, the US is not an universal marker, after all the Euro leg sold out in no time, but I think that after giving these songs a bit of rest they will return in full force next year. Again, I'm not saying the setlist will definitely be just greatest hits, I'm sure they will play some deeper cuts as well, but I'm not expecting to hear songs like Only The Good Die Young or Flash of the Blade, for example. More like Bring Your Daughter or 22 Acacia Avenue, for example.

Honestly, if it's a 50th anniversary tour for real then I would love to hear A LOT of post 2000 songs. Coming Home, Paschendale, IESF, Longest Day, BNW and so on.

 

[Vaenyr]

I'm quite sure the next GH tour will be 90's oriented. We had the 'Early Days' tour in 2005 (picking songs from the first four albums), the 'Somewhere Back In Time' tour (mainly oriented on 'Powerslave' and 'Somewhere In Time'), then 'Maiden England' tour with a setlist based on 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son' tracks. The most logical would be to have a GH tour about the four records released in the nineties. And the thing that makes me think that, was the "Blaze Bayley" thing in the thanks credits by Steve Harris in 'Senjutsu' booklet. So, the special anniversary tour could unite Blaze Bayley and Bruce Dickinson on the same stage next year. Don't know if Paul Di'Anno will also be invited, though. We'll see. But, it could be a pleasure to hear "The Aftermath", "Blood On The World's Hands", "Futureal", "Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger", "Tailgunner", "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter", "Run Silent Run Deep", "Be Quick Or Be Dead", "Afraid To Shoot Strangers", "Judas Be My Guide" live.

A 90s tour would be a dream come true for me but there is exactly 0% chance for that to ever happen unfortunately.

 

[Sth2112]

I'm quite sure the next GH tour will be 90's oriented. We had the 'Early Days' tour in 2005 (picking songs from the first four albums), the 'Somewhere Back In Time' tour (mainly oriented on 'Powerslave' and 'Somewhere In Time'), then 'Maiden England' tour with a setlist based on 'Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son' tracks. The most logical would be to have a GH tour about the four records released in the nineties. And the thing that makes me think that, was the "Blaze Bayley" thing in the thanks credits by Steve Harris in 'Senjutsu' booklet. So, the special anniversary tour could unite Blaze Bayley and Bruce Dickinson on the same stage next year. Don't know if Paul Di'Anno will also be invited, though. We'll see. But, it could be a pleasure to hear "The Aftermath", "Blood On The World's Hands", "Futureal", "Don't Look To The Eyes Of A Stranger", "Tailgunner", "Bring Your Daughter To The Slaughter", "Run Silent Run Deep", "Be Quick Or Be Dead", "Afraid To Shoot Strangers", "Judas Be My Guide" live.

I would love a 90’s themed tour and documentary release, but I think they don’t have time for it

 

[TheMercenary]

A 90s tour would be a dream come true for me but there is exactly 0% chance for that to ever happen unfortunately.

Never say never. The band can surprise us all.

 

[Kalata]

but is it just me or are a lot of Maiden posts lately featuring Seventh Son references?

Good spot. The album has a few deep cuts. And btw, being a concept album, it could have been played live (like the debut and POM).

I think you're all expecting too much from Maiden
IF next year we'll get something to celebrate Maiden's 50th anniversary, it would be the most boring (for us, diehard fans) setlist possible.
Why? Because they will need to play hits. If the whole stadium thing (if it's happening) is not enough, you have the fact they basically just played 2/3 of their best known songs during 2023 and 2024. I'm not ruling out some deeper cuts....

I can't agree with you, especially after the current tour and the desire expressed by band members to play more rare songs. Ofc the usual classics are more than expected, but if they replace some of them with popular deep cuts like in the current tour, it will be good for all kinds of fans. Just 3 classics are enough. And Maiden don't ''need'' to play the hits. I hope and think that they are preparing something interesting and more original. I think that's not indifferent to the band and that they will want to repeat ideas, even now. Plus they always find a way to surprise us.

The tour's theme is curious (if the tour is different than the 2026 one, like in 2005 and in 2006 - both very interesting setlists, btw). For the last 2 tours they have limited themselves with themes, so I think they won't do it this time. Anniv (loosey-) branded tour will allow them that big time, but only for 1 year will be odd. The stage set will also be very curious, maybe they will use worlds again (hybrid tour again, two old albums this time). Again, if the 2026 big tour is different, they'll save some surprises for it. 3-5 deep cuts for both tours, no more (like on the current tour). And some are ''deeper'' than others. More than 1 or 2 Reunion songs would be great imo, and if they don't play at least 1 SJ song. They also could play a new song next year (if the album is recorded early) or during the 2026 tour before the release (if it's the same tour or if it's not an album tour, but that would be more likely for a 3rd leg like in 2022).

 

[Ben Beast]

But you know, what if Bruce got the years wrong?
He has gotten even the already recorded songs wrong (I think during En Vivo - 2 minutes to midnight)

 

[ShadowOfTheGods]

And Maiden don't ''need'' to play the hits.

Maiden need to play the hits when doing big tours like next year is shaping to be, just like every other band. You don't sell tickets by playing When Two Worlds Collide and no, Maiden don't sell tickets just because they're Maiden. Just look at the US sales, probably the slowest and lowest in a decade.

There could be one or two surprises, but definetely not a setlist which is 90% made by deep cuts or rare songs (it also depends by what you consider "rare"). They said a lot of stuff about what they wanted to do and most of the time that stuff never happened (Loneliness being played on the FP tour, for example).

 

[Nomadd]

Specified songs are for die-hards, big arenas, festivals and stadiums need hits to attract more and more casual listeners, it's obvious.

 

[matic22]

They could sell out stadiums, especially in Europe, if they did full Seventh Son plus some other classics IMO.

 

[Ascendingthethrone]

Maiden need to play the hits when doing big tours like next year is shaping to be, just like every other band. You don't sell tickets by playing When Two Worlds Collide and no, Maiden don't sell tickets just because they're Maiden. Just look at the US sales, probably the slowest and lowest in a decade.

There could be one or two surprises, but definetely not a setlist which is 90% made by deep cuts or rare songs (it also depends by what you consider "rare"). They said a lot of stuff about what they wanted to do and most of the time that stuff never happened (Loneliness being played on the FP tour, for example).

I don’t think the ticket sales are slow due to the concept of the tour. The outrageous ticket prices are putting lots of people off. Lots of big stadium shows are not selling out anymore.