Maiden's "surprise" for the upcoming tour.

M

Maidenvana

Invader
As you all probably know, Maiden supposedly has a few "surprises" for the upcoming tour according to Bruce. Well, I was thinking about it a little bit, and I thought to myself "Hm.. what if they aren't only concentrating on the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album/tour like we are being led to believe? What if they are going to revisit Somewhere in Time too so to speak? I mean isn't it kind of funny how Maiden generally overlooked Somewhere in Time (a VERY powerful album) ever since Somewhere on Tour in 1986/1987? That was about 25 years ago! And since the 80's Maiden have given great acknowledgement to their earlier works through the years, especially on these history tours.

Lets look at the facts..
The Early Days World Tour: Played just about every song on Iron Maiden, played five songs off of Killers, only the three typical songs off NOTB (however this is insignificant, as the others like Children of the Damned, The Prisoner, and 22 Acacia Avenue have been played on MANY tours since 1982.), and on POM we got to see four songs.

Somewhere Back in Time: Played every song worth mentioning on Powerslave, and again revisited some earlier classics. As for the songs after Powerslave, we got HALF of Seventh Son (chances are we are gonna get the same ones again for this tour.), Wasted Years, and Heaven Can Wait. Plus Fear of the Dark.

Now, on those two tours alone Maiden gave us pretty much everything worth bringing back from the 80's, but they still didn't pay much attention to Somewhere in Time. Lets look at some song stats..

Caught Somewhere in Time (Last played in 1987)
Sea of Madness (Last played in 1987)
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (Last played in 1986, and only played once or twice I think.)
Stranger in a Strange Land (Last played in 1999)
Deja Vu (Never Played Live)
Alexander the Great (Never Played Live)
Wasted Years (I'm not positive, but i'm pretty sure that before Somewhere Back in Time World Tour the last time they played this song was in 1999, and before that 1988.)

That leaves only Heaven Can Wait, which since Somewhere on Tour has been the only song off the Somewhere in Time album that seemed to get any real notice.

Which leads me to believe that they just may give us a healthy dose of the album this time around. Lets face the facts, do they REALLY have to play The Trooper, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Fear of the Dark, etc. again this tour when they can use the space for AWESOME songs that they haven't played in almost 25 years? They have shown in the past that they can omit some live staples from their set, so it shouldn't be discounted. And correct me if i'm wrong but isn't SIT the biggest selling album in the USA for Maiden? If not, it must be one of the top 3. So for them to largely overlook the album again would surprise me.

In my opinion it's this tour, or never again. After this tour i'm pretty sure they will concentrate on another album or two, and it is unlikely they will revisit anything else on a large scale. Hence, I feel very strongly that they are going to play some Somewhere on Time material (particularly Alexander).

What do you guys think? Agree? Disagree?
 
I agree, Alexander I consider to be a distinct possibility (they know the fans are after it), they'll almost certainly play Wasted Years (HCW not so sure) and I would reckon they'll chuck in one more that isn't the title song. And if they open with CSIT that would be epic! Then from Seventh Son they need Moodchild, Infinite Dreams and The Clairvoyant AT LEAST (taking SSOASS as a given here). My only really desperate want when they come to Blighty is Rime, which I know is a substantional long-shot...
 
I believe the most realistic "surprises" could be Caught Somewhere In Time or Alexander the Great.

Caught Somewhere In Time was only played on it's own tour, and I feel like it would be generally well-received if they dragged it out of the vault to be played with modern sounding and vocals. Not only that, but it sure would be an unexpected surprise.

Alexander the Great has never been played live, and I'm sure the band realizes how popular it is among the fans, and how most would love to hear it live just once. Not only that, but Bruce has always kind of teased it the last couple of tours (particularly while in Greece), and he said during the 2010 concert in regards to Alexander the Great that "Maybe we'll think about it, alright?"... So it is due, and very possible that it could be in this setlist.

Much like Powerslave was to the SBIT tour, and just like Maidenvana mentioned in their post, I think that most of this tour will consist of Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son songs. And also, after this tour, those two albums will be effectively closed off, never to be played again (maybe a staple here and there, but not too extreme). So now would be the time to play those lost classics like Caught Somewhere in Time and Alexander the Great. Or even Sea of Madness? Or The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner? I'm sure the title song Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is a given for this tour, and most of the album was covered already during the SBIT tour. So now is the time to focus completely on Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son for a grand finale.
 
TheNew#2 said:
And if they open with CSIT that would be epic!
Click to expand...

Indeed, that would be the most epic Maiden opener, in my opinion. But since this is obviously a big replica of the Maiden England concert, I'm almost certain they would HAVE to open with Moonchild...? However, I think during this concert, Caught Somewhere in Time would be more appropriate, and more effective, being the opener for the ENCORE. Imagine Bruce introducing the band mates, and then commenting "This next song we have not played in 25 years, etc, etc..." and then all of a sudden the track starts opening up as Caught Somewhere in Time... Ahh man, I got goosebumps just imagining it!
 
Demigod_Tyek said:
Much like Powerslave was to the SBIT tour, and just like Maidenvana mentioned in their post, I think that most of this tour will consist of Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son songs. And also, after this tour, those two albums will be effectively closed off, never to be played again (maybe a staple here and there, but not too extreme). So now would be the time to play those lost classics like Caught Somewhere in Time and Alexander the Great. Or even Sea of Madness? Or The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner? I'm sure the title song Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is a given for this tour, and most of the album was covered already during the SBIT tour. So now is the time to focus completely on Somewhere in Time and Seventh Son for a grand finale.
Click to expand...

You summed it up perfectly with that paragraph. :)

And I agree with you about the Alexander the Great thing. They definitely know how much fans want to hear it be played live, and I really think that they are going to make our dreams come true this year.

I can picture it now.. they close with Iron Maiden, lights go out, people cheer "Maiden!" for 2-3 minutes, then the sound of wind is played over the PA.

...Enter dear Alexander

:D
 
Yes, I totally agree that the setlist will be a both a mixture of Seventh Son songs AND Somewhere in Time songs including some off of Maiden Heaven. Of course, Bruce did say there will also be some classic songs that people will want to hear as well (Number of the Beast, Trooper, Fear of the Dark, etc.) With that said... here is my prediction of what the setlist will be like...

1. Moonchild
2. Caught Somewhere in Time
3. The Prisoner
4. Still Life
5. Killers
6. Can I Play With Madness
7. Wasted Years
8. Infinite Dreams
9. The Trooper
10. Seventh Son of A Seventh Son
11. Alexander the Great
12. Fear of the Dark
13. Iron Maiden
---encore---
14. The Number of the Beast
15. Stranger in a Strange Land
16. Hallowed Be Thy Name

So why do I feel it will be something like this? Because it features 2/3rds of the original Maiden Heaven setlist, it focuses on Seventh Son and Somewhere in Time, and also has their classic songs they like to play every tour. However, I did not include songs like The Evil That Men Do and 2 Minutes to Midnight because they are songs that have been played on several recent tours. However, I did include Alexander the Great on there because I think that the band realizes how many fans want to hear that song and if there was any tour to finally play it... it's this one (since they may not play many of these songs ever again)! Plus Bruce actually sung part of it at Greece recently! So who knows? Maybe we will finally hear it! :)

So what do you guys think of this setlist?
 
Firstly I think this is a very valid and well-written theory, personally I would love to hear some lesser played songs from SiT, especially the title track and Alexander the Great. With regards to the above setlist, that would make me a very happy man indeed! I'm sure Maiden realise that there is a certain degree of fan demand for these songs and that they could well take notice and "surprise" us with some more obscure live songs on this tour.
 
Don't bet on any surprises off of SIT. Wasted Years and Heaven Can Wait, and that's it. Maybe SIASL, but highly unlikely.

And yes, they will play The Trooper, 2 Minutes to Midnight, probably Fear of the Dark, most certainly NOTB.
 
I have to agree with Ranko.

Maidenvana, you say they played "every song worth mentioning" from Powerslave. I think quite a lot of people would disagree. Four songs from POM is hardly revisiting this album either. Fact is Maiden didn't go back to these albums and really do anything other than revisit songs that hadn't been played live for years. This is very welcome, but did they actually play anything that had never been played live before? Sure, from SiT, as pointed out, almost the whole album (except HCW & Wasted Years) hasn't seen the light of day since the SiT tour --but do you really think you're going to get something that wasn't even played live then? i.e. AtG. I'm not so sure.

Also, all this talk of these two albums being "closed off", while true (literally), is a little dramatic --in comparison to what? Literally every album, except the one Maiden are touring, are in this situation: IM (title track, that's about it), Killers (you're not getting much off this album now); tNotB (totally overplayed, thank god they've dropped tracks like Run to the Hills); PoM (The Trooper is pretty much all you're going to get); Powerslave (TMtM); SiT (recently, nothing); SSoaSS (The Evil That Men Do, that's about it); NPftD (nothing), FotD (title track, that's it), XF & VXI (bugger all), BNW (maybe The Wicker Man), DoD (title track), AMoLaD (nothing on TFF tour)... It's not really about certain albums being closed off, Maiden just don't have enough set time to really give any album anymore than a few tracks.

That said, I love SiT, & would love to see some tracks from this album make this tour. But, Maiden's idea of a "surprise" is another matter. I just can't see it being ATG, as awesome as that would be.
 
Maidenvana said:
What if they are going to revisit Somewhere in Time too so to speak?
Click to expand...

To be honest, I think that is quite a stretch. As far as Maiden are concerned, they revisited Somewhere in Time during the Somewhere Back in Time tour. The tour title and the fact that they had the SIT walk-on Eddie says it all. We may not like it - especially when considering that they only played two songs from that album as opposed to three from Seventh Son - but that is how it is. These history tours are engineered to get massive festival crowds who only know the biggest hits going, so playing something like Sea of Madness or The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner would have spawned more of a "what the fuck" reaction from most people in the audience. Heaven Can Wait on the other hand is a long standing crowd favourite, and Wasted Years is a pretty well-known song, so including them was not a very big risk. Moonchild was probably meant to throw the Maiden nerds a bone, and I suppose it won over Caught Somewhere In Time for some reason. I have read somewhere that the band considered playing Alexander, but had to choose between that song and Rime, and knew they'd get crucified if they wouldn't play the latter.

So what kind of surprise awaits us now? I don't know. This whole tour came as a complete surprise to me to begin with. I don't think there is some sort of 'Maiden Formula' by which to predict the band's future actions (although some fans really do seem to believe in this sort of thing), but my best guess is that they will indeed play a number of songs they haven't played in a while - probably since the Seventh Son tour. The title track and Infinite Dreams are good guesses. I'm neither putting my money on songs they have never played live before, nor on rarities like Still Life or Killers, although I'd kill to see either played live. That doesn't mean I believe it would never happen, but I'm not anticipating it either.
 
Maidenvana said:
Wasted Years (I'm not positive, but i'm pretty sure that before Somewhere Back in Time World Tour the last time they played this song was in 1999, and before that 1988.)
Click to expand...
1993

Perun said:
These history tours are engineered to get massive festival crowds who only know the biggest hits going, so playing something like Sea of Madness or The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner would have spawned more of a "what the fuck" reaction from most people in the audience.
Click to expand...
Maiden is afraid for such a reaction but they can't predict it. Perhaps these songs would give a huge reaction, especially the intro of Loneliness could certainly appeal to people who have never heard it before. A bigger problem would be the band members themselves, I'm not sure if they could (still) play those songs (again).

This time, I am bound to check the setlist. Now I rather know what will happen, to prevent disappointment.
And the wait is very long (I am in Europe).
 
Forostar - The Last Angry Maiden Fan ;)

You should start reviewing all past Maiden setlists. I bet that'd be a blast. :D
 
All pre-2007 ones were rather fine. ;)

2007 had too many songs which were already done "recently" before that.
The Somewhere Back in Time set was great (it featured Rime!) though I had other expectations due to what was said in advance.
In 2010 I also had other expectations due to what was said in advance.
I predicted 2011 almost perfectly, but I wish it had been otherwise.
Nonetheless I had a great time, especially in 2008, 2010 & 2011.
 
It was always going to happen, 10-15 albums down the line; no band can keep playing a good mix (more than one track) of all their albums --something had to give. These retro/history tours are as good a format as any to allow some old stuff to be trotted out, without ruining the album tours; where, understandably, Maiden want to showcase their new material. I think they've done pretty well, all things considered. Still, I don't think Alexander is the surprise. Oh, also (Forostar), I don't think, honestly, there is any great issue with anyone being able to actually play any of the old material; except perhaps Bruce, & his vocals.
 
I am holding out hope that, for this North American leg anyway, we will get some of what we have NEVER had. Is it out of the realm of possibility that some of the Final Frontier songs we didn't get [outside of Florida] leak into this new leg:innocent:???
I would tend to believe the band realizes the anguish we Yanks have over not experiencing Coming Home, the Talisman etc. The disparity between that first leg of FF and the second was immense. I thank god for Ben Breege, Paschendale and the others we DID get. But what about a list like this for N.A, [with a disclaimer by Bruce for those seeking only classics:grumble: ] then a truer Maiden England set for leg #2?:

Moonchild,
The Evil TMD
The Prisoner
The Talisman
Infinite Dreams
Heaven Can Wait
Coming Home
Wasted Years
The Clairvoyant
Die WYBO
Seventh son
WTWWB
Fear OTD
# of the Beast
Iron Maiden
Hallowed
 
Oh, you know something, you might be right. Since you guys never really got TFF tour, some TFF tracks might be quite likely. Or, at least, it sounds like a neat idea! :D
 
I'd love to hear some of TFF songs played that they didn't play over here. I'm expecting and excited at the probability that they'll be playing SSOASS and Infinite Dreams. Holding out hope for Still Life since I've never seen them play it live.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top