Simon Dawson is the new drummer

For me it's actually the other way round. When RFYL was announced I wasn't hyped (I'm still not), because it focuses exclusively on my least favorite era of the band. Only the Early Days and another SBIT retread would be less exciting than that tour.

Obviously I will miss Nicko and it is the end of an era, but now I'm actually more excited than I was before. Now they can play around with some rarities and have some fun, instead of having to navigate what is playable and what isn't. Silver linings and all that.
 
matic22 said:
I sincerely hope that have tried playing with Simon this year. Because if they haven't and this decision was made on "I fuckin play with him in fuckin British fuckin Lion, he is the only fuckin drummer I want to fuckin play with if fuckin Nicko retires" and they haven't played a song yet, this could get problematic when they enter rehearsals.
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Please, that’s a little dramatic isn’t it.

Can’t believe so many people are up in arms about this and being quite disrespectful.

Look,Simon is a professional drummer who’s played with Steve for more that 12 years. The rest of Maiden are all pros so I’m sure they can all play iron maiden songs together.

Does anyone really think that Steve or Rod have made this decision and are bringing in a drummer who can’t play any iron maiden songs?

People are acting like this new guy only just learned how to play drums last week and this is all gonna backfire on the band. I think everyone knows what they are doing a bit more than few fans online.
 
It does have positive aspects. It was a bit unfortunate, especially on the anniversary tour, to have to choose the songs according to the drummer's abilities and thus be limited. Maiden's live performance will benefit from a more consistent drummer, how could it be otherwise.

It's just sad for Nicko that he wasn't so much better that he could have ended his career after this special tour.
I'm sure he would have liked that.
 
Melony said:
It does have positive aspects. It was a bit unfortunate, especially on the anniversary tour, to have to choose the songs according to the drummer's abilities and thus be limited. Maiden's live performance will benefit from a more consistent drummer, how could it be otherwise.

It's just sad for Nicko that he wasn't so much better that he could have ended his career after this special tour.
I'm sure he would have liked that.
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Dude came back from a stroke, relearned how to use half of his body, and came out swinging on Maiden's Future Past tour. Nicko should be damn proud of everything he's achieved, especially how he went out like a beast.
 
Nicko's achievements in past 2 years are remarkable and are borderline miracolous. Nobody can deny that.

Despite limitations and some adjustments, he did another world tour, starting 5 months after a serious health scare and having no use of the right arm.

Now, again, what worries me (but I hope that I'll be proven wrong) is that Simon is much more modern-style drummer. Yes, he has groove, but not to the extend of Nicko. The backbone of Maiden groove were Nicko's jazz and funk roots and untypical playing for the genre.

So, after the nepotistic shock and slight dissappointment in Steve, I'm open minded. Let's see how they sound next year. As I said before, I hope that they have played with Simon already and it would be cool if they gave us a snippet or two from the rehearsals.
 
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chaosapiant said:
Dude came back from a stroke, relearned how to use half of his body, and came out swinging on Maiden's Future Past tour. Nicko should be damn proud of everything he's achieved, especially how he went out like a beast.
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He should be proud and we should be grateful! It's also the right time to step down.

Man it’s gonna be weird to see Maiden without Nicko.. They are like family, and how can you replace a family member?
 
GhostofCain said:
Sometimes family members get divorced…

I agree it is going to be extremely weird to see Maiden next year without Nicko. :(
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It's not like a divorce... It was a neccessity that was probably put forward by Nicko. And yeah, it will be very strange.

But that said, I think the band's lifespan has been prolonged for 4-5 years with this.
 
Should we read anything into the fact the press release said he's "stepping in behind the kit for 2025" Kind of odd to word it that way for a tour that is presumed to go into 2026
 
Ironalice said:
Should we read anything into the fact the press release said he's "stepping in behind the kit for 2025" Kind of odd to word it that way for a tour that is presumed to go into 2026
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It wouldn't make sense to change Simon for 2026. Maybe the 2025 tour is a kind of a long-term audition and they didn't want to write 2025 and beyond, in case if things don't work out.

We shall see. But drumming on one of the biggest European tours next year should guarantee him continuity.
 
British Lion drummer joins Iron Maiden? Steve hasn’t learned anything since Blaze. Make Maiden small again! How disappointing.

EDIT: some hope below though I won’t hold my breath.
Iron Maiden are delighted to announce that stepping in behind the kit for 2025
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Of course I will terribly miss Nicko too, but: Having seen Maiden 53 times live yet from 1990 til the present day, the choice of that man is at least something DIFFERENT. And seriously: Would we really want somebody behind the drums who comes somehow "very close" to how Nicko sounded in Maiden while knowing he ISN'T just Nicko? I personally don't need that. Btw, it was the same with Janick in 1990. And all that bashing back then. Admitted, it took me some time as well getting used to Janick, but his songwriting qualities are phantastic. I am nothing but curious what it all will be with the new drummer next year. Anyway, I think if Nicko would have made the decision to quit just a bit earlier, before the whole RFYL tour was announced and presales started, I'd bet almost everything I own that they all would have called it a day. So my conclusion from this on the other hand is: Yes, I am very sure that this will be their last tour and no other studio album will follow (unless they already secretly recorded it. But I don't see the moment they would have done that in their calender of the past 3 years).
 
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____no5 said:
British Lion drummer joins Iron Maiden? Steve hasn’t learned anything since Blaze. Make Maiden small again! How disappointing.

EDIT: some hope below though I won’t hold my breath.
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What does this even mean? How is hiring Simon Dawson making Maiden "small?"
 
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