Ruflux
Ancient Mariner
Yeah. This is why they never played Alexander the Great on tour and stuck to that decision, since it never sounded quite right to their ears in rehearsal.
RUN FOR YOUR LIVES 2025 Tour Thread *SPOILERS INSIDE*
- Thread starter Perun
- Start date
Starblind
Ancient Mariner
If the fans didn't push the band they would play the same songs over and over again. All the new album tours will be more of the same (6 new songs and the obvious history ones). Don't make it seem like we're interfering with their creativity. We just wanna see some new songs in different tours because we buy a lot of tickets and make a lot of costs to see them each time! Consumer rights 
And I'm sure this is the inner thoughts of some members in the band too. Remember Nicko, he is always into playing songs like Alexander, Infinite Dreams and he did many deep cuts with his Titanium Tart. I dont wannna start a conspiracy but this setlist is also too heavy on Harris. As I know in most bands, when certain members songs are played, that member gets also a royalty for that performance. Here, there is no song from Murray or Janick. Only 1 solely from Bruce, and 1 solely from Adrian. And very few (3 more?) co-written songs.
And I'm sure this is the inner thoughts of some members in the band too. Remember Nicko, he is always into playing songs like Alexander, Infinite Dreams and he did many deep cuts with his Titanium Tart. I dont wannna start a conspiracy but this setlist is also too heavy on Harris. As I know in most bands, when certain members songs are played, that member gets also a royalty for that performance. Here, there is no song from Murray or Janick. Only 1 solely from Bruce, and 1 solely from Adrian. And very few (3 more?) co-written songs.
btx109
Educated Fool
Absolute BS.
btx109
Educated Fool
This tour is one of the most highly anticipated I've ever experienced, certainly in heavy metal. In my opinion, only Queen's appearance at Live Aid and Led Zeppelin's reunion shows appear to have generated this level of buzz over setlist, stage production and a new member.*
*"In my opinion/experience only; no need for comparisons.
There was so much excitement leading up to Tuesday's opening show, feelings of disappointment were somewhat inevitable.
So. After absorbing the past few days and watching both Budapest shows, I have a few thoughts:
- I think the show is better experienced live in-arena than via video. There's a lot going on with both the screens and the lighting supporting and enhancing the performance that creates an immersive experience that can't be appreciated on YouTube.
- The FOH sound is impeccable.
- On the second night of Budapest, I noticed some tempos being more album-accurate than on past tours, most notably on "Aces High." Unsure if that's good or bad but it helped on that song, I believe.
- Simon Dawson is better than I originally gave him credit for being and I've liked him from the start. One has to understand, its one thing to learn a song; its another to then play it at tempo to make it sound musical and not mechanical. Then to play it not only with other musicians but in performance before 10,000+ people with cues and full production, and to do so seamlessly and in a relatively short time period without warmup dates. Simon is awesome.
Maiden are in the unique position where they could have hired virtually any drummer in the world for that gig yet he was the one chosen and additionally approved of by Nicko. I'll go with the band's decision.
- Having said that, something IS off with his intro on "MITRM." I'm confident he CAN play it, they're just rudiments; maybe it's nerves, maybe the band is trying out a different cue to come in on. But that's my only criticism. His Powerslave, POTO, ROTAM and SSOASS are really strong and those are tough songs.
*"In my opinion/experience only; no need for comparisons.
There was so much excitement leading up to Tuesday's opening show, feelings of disappointment were somewhat inevitable.
So. After absorbing the past few days and watching both Budapest shows, I have a few thoughts:
- I think the show is better experienced live in-arena than via video. There's a lot going on with both the screens and the lighting supporting and enhancing the performance that creates an immersive experience that can't be appreciated on YouTube.
- The FOH sound is impeccable.
- On the second night of Budapest, I noticed some tempos being more album-accurate than on past tours, most notably on "Aces High." Unsure if that's good or bad but it helped on that song, I believe.
- Simon Dawson is better than I originally gave him credit for being and I've liked him from the start. One has to understand, its one thing to learn a song; its another to then play it at tempo to make it sound musical and not mechanical. Then to play it not only with other musicians but in performance before 10,000+ people with cues and full production, and to do so seamlessly and in a relatively short time period without warmup dates. Simon is awesome.
Maiden are in the unique position where they could have hired virtually any drummer in the world for that gig yet he was the one chosen and additionally approved of by Nicko. I'll go with the band's decision.
- Having said that, something IS off with his intro on "MITRM." I'm confident he CAN play it, they're just rudiments; maybe it's nerves, maybe the band is trying out a different cue to come in on. But that's my only criticism. His Powerslave, POTO, ROTAM and SSOASS are really strong and those are tough songs.
Cosmiceddie
Back From The Edge
Just image they did a reunion tour (Brave New World thru Senjutsu).
But they won't. And we all now why. Because they don't have to guts to do it.
Why? Because it would attract less people to attend a tour like this which would lead to making less profit.
"So let's keep doing the classic cabaret thing while we can. It will guarantee maximum income with minimum effort."
But they won't. And we all now why. Because they don't have to guts to do it.
Why? Because it would attract less people to attend a tour like this which would lead to making less profit.
"So let's keep doing the classic cabaret thing while we can. It will guarantee maximum income with minimum effort."
Ancient Marinator
Educated Fool
They kinda did in 2010! I went to this tour but unfortunately was a dumb kid at the time and got too drunk to enjoy it/remember anything, hopefully some recording from this period is released when the band retire and the vault opens.
Iron Maiden Setlist at Auditorio Marina Sur, Valencia
Get the Iron Maiden Setlist of the concert at Auditorio Marina Sur, Valencia, Spain on August 21, 2010 from the The Final Frontier World Tour and other Iron Maiden Setlists for free on setlist.fm!
www.setlist.fm
Azas
Featherslave
I disagree—fans do affect their setlist. The potential crowd size, the attendance… let’s not be naive about that.
Don't get me wrong, I am also someone who prefers a static setlist because I know what I would be getting. Imagine if Maiden were to rotate setlists and the night before the gig I went to they played Back in the Village, while The Angel and the Gambler or some other dross was played at the show I had tickets for!
That being said, rotating your setlist definitely needs more effort than playing the same set every night. I am not the biggest Metallica fan (I have only seen them once, back in 1999), but I am seriously thinking about going to see them in London next year so I get 32 different songs in a weekend.
I agree with that. I don't think that rotating setlist are the greatest fan service as sometimes said. I am so looking forward to hearing Rime of the Ancient Mariner again. If I imagine it wouldn't be played at my show!
Then I would be that fan you read about the day after the show, who refused to leave the stadium, requesting Rime to be played.
And we have to keep in mind that not everybody has enough money to go to more than one show.
Of course they want to attract the largest crowd possible. But from a marketing standpoint I don't think one more deep cut would change much for the casual fans.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
So by Rod's words, it seems they will release (hopefully not a short) video about the new production. Cool and it's interesting. Also the right thing to do. He is also rightly proud of the production, but the truth is they could have done even more. I don't expect the show to look good during daylight.
They also shared some pro-photos. The red sky during Rime at one point is a cool contrasts to the constant blue arts.
Helmuth Von Moltke
Ancient Mariner
To be fair, John McMurtie had an apparently awesome Japan photoshoot booked with the band. He never specified the location, but it was canned because the pandemic started. Which again dates the original Senjutsu promo campaign right to 2020.
As for Live Chapter, wasn't that just a streaming release? Maybe they weren't as bothered as a result with no physical format.
DorotheaMe
Nomad
Just as some here were absolutely sure that they would never replace a member of the classic line-up and retire if someone needs to leave the band or that Infinite Dreams is surely on the setlist because of the book...
I am not so sure anymore.
Murder of Rue Morgue
They're never gonna find me!
They played Alexander because fans insisted and because Nicko told them he that was going to be his last tour and he had said multiple times he would've liked to play Alexander before calling it a day.
RFYL is by all means a greatest hits tour, so they're playing their greatest hits.
Kalata
Out of the Silent Planet
But they don't want to be a cabaret act...
Seriously, they could do a 3rd short leg of this tour (with the same stage but with different arts; the Reunion material is popular, at least it was in 2010, but I have no dobut for the right songs) for the Reunion albums if they want to prologue the new album or if they aren't sure what to do after 2026, but considering this set, they might just do a 3rd leg of it with some changes, which would be too much now. We can criticize the songs selection, but Maiden are not afraid when it comes to setlists and song choices, we have to give them that. They play what they want. Part 2 of this tour won't happen because they can't omit all classics, unfortunately.
I'm sure they will be back to Europe with the RfYL tour in 2027, I hope the new album will be recorded and released the same year (before and after the tour in Autumn).
Vaenyr
Ancient Mariner
This I disagree with. AI may be pushed in every aspect of our lives at the moment, but saying every one is using it is simply untrue. Especially in metal, man bands have shied away from using AI, while those who did end up rightfully skewered by their fanbase. It is incredibly hypocritical for musicians, who are artists as well, to cheap out on paying real illustrators and animators. Hell, we've started seeing entirely AI generated "music" and "bands" that are flooding Spotify with albums every week. We don't have to accept those scummy practices, we can and should call that out and support real art and artists as well.
AI isn't inherently bad. In data science or computer science there are so many interesting and innovative things one can do with models trained on specific data sets. I actually did exactly that for my machine learning assignment at uni. My issue is the use of generative AI, which uses copyrighted material without licenses or even permission to train their models. OpenAI, one of the largest contributors to said technology, has outright stated that their models wouldn't be able to be as sophisticated without stealing copyrighted materials.
There was a card playing videogame that released a while ago, that uses AI for the artwork on the cards, and art trained entirely on the works of a single illustrator (I think one of the designers for the Persona games actually). You'd think that this would be fine, that the creator is involved in the training of the model and that everything would be legally and ethically sound, right? Turns out this model obviously used copyrighted material in its training as well and could perfectly (more or less) recreate a variety of things like Elsa of Frozen or the Superman logo.
Bottom line: Real artists are being hurt and are losing out on job opportunities due to the over use of AI. Musicians have been complaining about Spotify and streaming in general making it difficult to make a living nowadays, but then some of them turn around to screw over fellow artists, despite knowing how difficult times are? Sorry, but that's not something we should accept just because some bands are fine with doing that. I certainly will keep complaining and calling out any band that does stuff like that. Cradle Of Filth used AI for the album cover of a live album they released a couple of years ago, got shit for it, and thankfully stopped using AI. We can make a difference.
dickinson1978
Ancient Mariner
Any video of the full show of the 2nd night?
Iron Lurker
Ancient Mariner
It was criticized as well. "Where's Trooper?! Where's this, where's that?" They also played the entire AMOLAD album on one tour and they took a lot of shit from that. too.They kinda did in 2010! I went to this tour but unfortunately was a dumb kid at the time and got too drunk to enjoy it/remember anything, hopefully some recording from this period is released when the band retire and the vault opens.
Iron Maiden Setlist at Auditorio Marina Sur, Valencia
Get the Iron Maiden Setlist of the concert at Auditorio Marina Sur, Valencia, Spain on August 21, 2010 from the The Final Frontier World Tour and other Iron Maiden Setlists for free on setlist.fm!