Let's check again some of the ''hints'' from recent years:
Sea Of Madness - wasn't it rumored to be played in 2023?
Was it? It was speculated, but as far as I know, there wasn't a
single indicator towards it being even considered/rehearsed. The "Cyborg 5" in the poster indicate that five Somewhere in Time songs will be played, but the discussion around the 5th song being Sea of Madness or Alexander the Great was pure speculation at the time and aside from the special status of Alexander being bit of a shared meme between the band and the fans, there was no actual hints towards either of them before the infamous rehearsal audio of Alexander surfacing just before the first show.
Moonchild - same as above.
Again, as far as I know, there wasn't any actual hint or rumour around this, just pure speculation and the infamous "someone on the IMFC" name-dropping the song. Correct me if I'm wrong, I might very well remember things very incorrectly.
Long Distance Runner - Steve said he would like to play it live.
Only The Good Die Young - same as above.
True, but he could say, and has said, similar things about a variety of tracks out there. It's not much of a indicator towards anything.
To Tame A Land - Nicko played it with his solo band in 2022 or 2023.
This one actually
could indicate something, although Steve asked Nicko to stop playing Alexander with the Titanium Tart after they decided to play it with Maiden, so by that logic these To Tame a Land performances could be considered as hints for either way.
Murders In The Rue Morgue - same as the above/one of Bruce's favorite songs from its album.
Sun And Steel - Nicko wanted to play it live with Maiden.
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner - one of Bruce's favorite songs to play live and mentioned by him not once in recent years.
Agreed about these; the mentioned factors certainly add up to their chances to appear!
The Clairvoyant - part of the 2018 tour poster hints.
Was it? All of the poster hints were later on listed in the IMFC magazine if I remember correctly, The Clairvoyant wasn't among them.
Killers - one of Bruce's favorite songs from its album/the photographer shared it.
Wrathchild - same as above.
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son - same as above.
Hallowed Be Thy Name - same as above.
Infinite Dreams - the name of the anniv book/Nicko played it with his solo band and called it one of his favorite songs.
Prodigal Son - one of Bruce's favorite songs from its album.
Sanctuary - Maiden's page responded to a comment about it.
Transylvania - the photographer shared it.
Powerslave - Bruce with a possible hint about it.
Die With Your Boots On - collab with West Ham?
Flight Of Icarus - the photographer shared a picture of it live in 2022.
And Dave's comment about playing songs from the ''pub days''... Prowler, Drifter, Running Free..
These are quite solid! Prodigal Son is still very unlikely, but not entirely impossible!
I think that's it. More than half of them are deep cuts. It's fun to speculate and see the result in 2 days.
Agreed!
I just want to draw the line between actual hints & rumours and "hints and rumours" that aren't actually hints or rumours at all!
Interesting times ahead!
EDIT:
speaking of hints, I checked the infamous
x.com/dan_d_gr8 but apparently it's not active around RUN FOR YOUR LIVES.
