Simon Dawson is the new drummer

As long as Steve and Bruce want to continue, I think Maiden will keep going. This could be testing the waters to see how viable it is for them to continue without key members. These older bands tend to continue to replace members as much as they can until it's no longer viable. It's usually not just replacing one member. Everybody who thought Maiden would be different has been proven wrong this week, so it's hard to say where they go from here.

This whole time I thought RFYL had farewell tour written all over it, but I am starting to seriously consider whether the cabaret tour theme is more a way to break in a new member with a safe setlist and then they will do more career spanning setlists beyond 2026 or even a new album. I think anything is possible at this point.
 
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GhostofCain said:
It would be sad to see them replacing more band members just for the sake of carrying on.
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Hard to say..

Bruce pointing out that Nicko retires from performing live makes it sound like they could enter the studio at some point. I definitely can't see Maiden record with a different line up than the previous one.

If Dave or Janick retire I still don't think that means the end of Maiden as a live band.
 
Poto said:
Is Simon Dawson really 66 years old?

That's the worst part of it, they chose someone who extends their career with a few years instead of maybe 10.
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I don't think they chose him with the intention of extending their career, hence the announcement of him only for 2025 at the moment. I think it's possible that after RFYL they go into semi-retirement, maybe recording 1 or 2 albums at most (with Nicko) and a few live performances.
 
Smither said:
I mean, yeah Simon Philips is amazing but it was never going to happen, I still don’t know why it has been mentioned that often here. It was quite obvious that it would be between Simon Dawson, Joe Lazarus and maaaybe Justin McBrain.
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Does Simon Phillips have any relationship with Maiden at all or is this just a forum thing?
 
In defence of Steve Lazarus

I'm slightly surprised by the criticism he's getting here, and also that some fans don't remember who he is. He was Steve Harris's school friend and quite a close part of Maiden's team until he was replaced as Fan Club president (e.g. he was at Paul Dianno's original rehearsals with Maiden in the late 70s, so he's been around and done much more that direct some of the 90s promo videos.)

I met him at Fan Club events in the 1990s/early 00s and bumped into him once in a London pub. He was a thoroughly decent chap and loyal to Maiden. I don't think there was a falling out.... My sense is that he was unable to take the FC in a modern direction with email bulletins etc and hence was replaced by Rod with Alex Milas. Steve Lazarus seems to have been retired off when he got to 60+ years old.

But in 1997, when Lazarus took over the Maiden fan club, he improved it from Keith Wilfort and modernised it for the 90s.

Now, regarding Joe: we don't know how Steve and Rod communicated the Simon Dawson decision to Joe, and if they bothered to tell his dad in advance. We also don't know what implicit promises were made with keeping Joe on a retainer. Some disappointment and frustration is natural.

We also don't know how frustrating it might be to actually have worked in close proximity to Steve Harris's stubbornness and decision making style. We as fans are marketed Steve's persona as 'never say die never give in', which I'm sure it is, but it may feel different if you are part of the extended Maiden staff.

I'd be inclined to give Steve Lazarus a break here. He's not said anything scandalous in my opinion.

Also, Lazarus has probably seen Steve's epic fuck ups close up (e.g.: using Barnyard Studios in the 90s; picking Blaze and then failing to tune down, rehearse properly, or give him a live debut in 1994; approving the Dance of Death cover, etc). I'm not slagging off Steve Harris, but he has 'George Lucas-ed' a handful of his big judgement calls over the years when he's lost perspective over his own beloved creation.
 
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Strings74 said:
While I think people are overreacting about Nicko's retirement, I will say that if Dave Murray retires it would be really hard for me to htink of it as "Maiden". And heck, I'm an Adrian fan.
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Dave has always been around. They carried on without Adrian for 10 years. As big of a personality and key member Nicko is the drummer is in the background. Indeed it would be weird seeing Maiden without Dave up there.
 
BludBrutha said:
Can’t believe they’re announcing this so quickly. Let Nicko have his moment in the sun, it’s less than a day since he played his last show! No need to announce this today, the tour doesn’t start until May.
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They probably did it this way, so they don’t get thousands of horrible audition "tapes", and Nicko probably had a plan to finish this tour the whole year.

Well, I hardly know how Simon plays and how he will fit in, but he probably have already played with Maiden in the rehersal room sometime this year. I wish him good luck and welcome to Maiden. One positive thing is that Maiden maybe will continue a few more years as there are no members in their 70’s yet. Thank God we don’t get Mike Portnoy or some other drama queen
 
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