The Future Past tour 2023

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chaosapiant said:
I'll be honest, I've never thought that Wasted Years comes across good live. Something about their choruses with harmonized vocals don't land for me when played live. I feel the same about Can I Play With Madness.
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Maybe that's why I think the peak performance of Wasted Years was on Flight 666, when Bruce kept passing the latter half of the chorus to Adrian. And I agree, Can I Play with Madness has never sounded good live.
 
Dick Brucinson said:
I'm really curoius about all the circumstances that lead to the upcoming The Future Past Tour. I mean, they neglected their SIT album so hard for so many decades, and so it'd be really interesting to know a bit more how it came they changed their minds. I'd love to know who might have been the driving force behind it all. And whoever this may have been: How did he manage to convince Steve to bring back SIT. I'm sure it was not Steve's idea.
Who would have expected this all about only a year ago...
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A nostalgia-tinged tour with a new twist was probably going to sell better than a new album tour after the massive Legacy of the Beast one?
 
chaosapiant said:
I'll be honest, I've never thought that Wasted Years comes across good live. Something about their choruses with harmonized vocals don't land for me when played live. I feel the same about Can I Play With Madness.
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Agreed a 100%. With Wasted Years they never were able to put the melancholy across when playing it live, but that is what exactly carries the song in its original studio version IMHO.
 
Adrian has a great singing voice, but I’ve never found him and Bruce particularly able to harmonize well. Except in studio. And then Steve in the mix is just the worst. Run to the Hills I can tolerate because the chorus sounds fine with just one voice.
 
Dick Brucinson said:
I'm really curoius about all the circumstances that lead to the upcoming The Future Past Tour. I mean, they neglected their SIT album so hard for so many decades, and so it'd be really interesting to know a bit more how it came they changed their minds. I'd love to know who might have been the driving force behind it all. And whoever this may have been: How did he manage to convince Steve to bring back SIT. I'm sure it was not Steve's idea.
Who would have expected this all about only a year ago...
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This is the last 80’s album they have not focused on, so it goes down to one last effort to squeeze out some "fresh" nostalgia, because tickets to these shows sells a lot easier than regular tours. So I think Steve and Rod have been counting money during the pandemic, and have pulled this hybrid tour as a last resort to get a quick fix.
 
Melony said:
I love how Dave's solo flows into the song after the riff and think that's a great athmospheric moment live.
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I agree. Great solo.
chaosapiant said:
Honestly I think it centers around Alexander the Great. They'd said for years that they'd play it one day, and I think with their age at this point they thought "might as well do it now." And since just playing Alex on the Senjutsu tour by itself would seem not particularly thematic, why not make a hybrid tour of the two albums?

Granted, since "Senjutsu" is a title and album all about war in various ways, Alexander the Great would make a bit of sense just on its own. But I think it would still seem strange.
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Yes. Alexander and Stranger, I'd say. I don't think Alexander wouldn't be thematic for the tour (I mean Senjutsu tour, with the SIT theme, nope, but it's from that album). It would have been thematic for TBOS tour. But with such a popular song, I don't think they ''care'' about that. The ultimate deep cut!
Mosh said:
I think it comes down to the stage show. They mention in the original press release that they regret not having the stage on video and want to correct that. It’s not the first time the band has said something to that effect so I see no reason to doubt that that is the main driving force. Because of that, I feel there really aren’t any guarantees with song selection.
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This is probably the main reason. And they wanted a theme for another History/Hits tour, I guess. This is the last 80’s album they haven't focused on.
Black Bart said:
Possibly because most songs -though pleasant on the record- don't come across very well live, except "Wasted Years" and "Heaven Can Wait". And that is a major factor for Maiden when it comes to choosing the setlist.
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I agree. It's a specific album. Sea, Runner, Stranger - they even didn't like how the title track sounded live or something, I forgot. Ironically, the 2 never played live songs from the album would be very good live songs.
chaosapiant said:
What has me curious is whether they're really going to attempt the harder songs on SIT. Especially the psuedo-title-track. I'm sure they wouldn't play that song if they weren't certain they could do it justice. But can Maiden at this age really do it justice? Or, will they instead pick the "easier" to play songs from SIT like Wasted Years, Strange in a Strange Land, and Alexander?

Ultimately, I'm all kinds of curious what they'll choose. Vocally, I think Bruce can do just fine. It's Nicko's feet I'm most worried about, as selfish and nitpicky as that sounds.
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Well, Wasted Years, Stranger and even Alexander are expected. I think they'll want to play the title track, but it should be the opening song. But as you said, they wouldn't play the song if they weren't certain they could do it justice. Aces High last year was slower because it was the last song in the set, while Hallowed isn't super fast in the studio verson, just to give some examples. SIT is one of Nicko's best works with Maiden and it would be difficult for him at the age of 70. They waited too long with the SIT album. Agree about Bruce.
Black Bart said:
No but now, communication in general and Internet fandom in particular create an expectation that was not there back when the album was originally released. If the old songs don't work as well as expected, they'll just use new backdrops and/or accessories (i.e the flamethrower and the cross, respectively on "Flight of Icarus" and "Sign of the Cross"). Maiden -and other bands their size- don't have to promote music any more but merely develop a brand.
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You're right about the Internet fandom. Are you saying that Flight Of Icarus and Sign Of The Cross didn't work live last year? Stage props can't save a song live imo. They don't have to promote music anymore, but they always will.
chaosapiant said:
Adrian has a great singing voice, but I’ve never found him and Bruce particularly able to harmonize well. Except in studio. And then Steve in the mix is just the worst. Run to the Hills I can tolerate because the chorus sounds fine with just one voice.
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I wouldn't say that about Adrian and Bruce. As for Steve's backing vocals, well, during Paschendale in 2003 they sounded good. Agree about Run To The Hills.
Dick Brucinson said:
How did he manage to convince Steve to bring back SIT. I'm sure it was not Steve's idea.
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This tour is a real surprise, but (iirc) Steve said that SIT is an album without fillers. He even regrets not filming the 1986 tour. They know that it's one of their best and most liked albums. The case with Flight Of Icarus was more or less the same.
Sth2112 said:
This is the last 80’s album they have not focused on, so it goes down to one last effort to squeeze out some "fresh" nostalgia, because tickets to these shows sells a lot easier than regular tours. So I think Steve and Rod have been counting money during the pandemic, and have pulled this hybrid tour as a last resort to get a quick fix.
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^ This too.
 
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I'm really hyped for the 2023 tour but please tell me I'm not the only one who wants to hear some more DoD, AMOLAD, Virtual XI or NPFTD songs live?

When was the last time we heard a song from NPFTD? 2003 (with Bring your Daughter... to the Slaughter). When was the last time we heard a song from DoD? 2011 (Dance of Death). I don't know I REALLY like Somewhere in Time and I can't wait for them to play some more Senjutsu songs but man I wish they'd play some songs from those albums. Maybe just as a filler inbetween songs and replacing songs like The Trooper or something. But I really hate how they neglect some of their albums. At least SiT is getting some attention in 2023....

Paschendale, No More Lies, Journeyman, When Two World Collide, Futureal, Como Estais Amigos, The Edge of Darkness, Man on the Edge, Longest Day, Out of the Shadows, Benjamin Breeg, Run Silent Run Deep, Public Enema? Come on Maiden, please!
 
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GhostofCain said:
They would have sold lots of tickets no matter what, but nostalgia always pushes ticket sales to the next level.
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I agree with this, that nostalgia tours bring a next level anticipation for a tour and this reflects in ticket sales.

I think they looked at the reaction the 3 Senjutsu songs got on the last leg of the LOTB tour and thought a whole tour based around the album might not shift as many tickets.

Yes there’s a hardcore of fans that would still go and see the tour and generally the album has gone down well but there’s a huge market, especially in the US for the older stuff.

A Senjutsu based your would have sold well but adding a bit of nostalgia I bet has raised ticket sales which is why extra dates are being added. I know the BOS tour did really well but I suspect that has a lot to do with Bruce’s throat cancer and people thinking it might be their last chance to see the band on a big album tour.
 
its_ArchroniX said:
I'm really hyped for the 2023 tour but please tell me I'm not the only one who wants to hear some more DoD, AMOLAD, Virtual XI or NPFTD songs live?

[...]

Paschendale, No More Lies, Journeyman, When Two World Collide, Futureal, Como Estais Amigos, The Edge of Darkness, Man on the Edge, Longest Day, Out of the Shadows, Benjamin Breeg, Run Silent Run Deep, Public Enema? Come on Maiden, please!
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A tour like that would be perfection for me. Many of the popular deep cuts of the 80's have been revisited a bunch. Songs like Aces High for example have multiple live versions now, from various points in their career.

With the BNW and DOD tours featuring some Blaze-era songs I was hoping that his trend would continue and that some of those songs would get their second chance. In the hands of a vocalists like Bruce, who is masterful at interacting with crowds, some of those songs could work incredibly well live. Not to mention that they'd sound better than the weak production of the studio albums. I'm happy that SOTC and The Clansman have reached a status where they held their own on the Legacy tour, but I'd love to hear some other forgotten songs at some point.

NPFTD and FOTD could use some revisiting as well. Sure, the former especially gets criticized a lot, but the title track or Public Enema Number One are great and melodic songs. Judas Be My Guide seems to be one of the most popular songs of the 90's (mostly because folks seem to dislike everything else more lol), why not play something like that?

More reunion representation would be amazing as well. Some of their best work (in my opinion of course) was written after reuniting. They certainly don't need to feel ashamed and hide an amazing collection of music. Most reunion-era tours have gotten official live releases (where's A Matter Of Live And Death, Steve? WHERE IS IT???), so I kinda get that they don't really see the necessity of featuring some of those songs. On the other hand there are like 3 billion versions of RTTH lol. Just give us a bit more variety.
 
Vaenyr said:
NPFTD and FOTD could use some revisiting as well. Sure, the former especially gets criticized a lot, but the title track or Public Enema Number One are great and melodic songs. Judas Be My Guide seems to be one of the most popular songs of the 90's (mostly because folks seem to dislike everything else more lol), why not play something like that?

More reunion representation would be amazing as well. Some of their best work (in my opinion of course) was written after reuniting. They certainly don't need to feel ashamed and hide an amazing collection of music. Most reunion-era tours have gotten official live releases (where's A Matter Of Live And Death, Steve? WHERE IS IT???), so I kinda get that they don't really see the necessity of featuring some of those songs. On the other hand there are like 3 billion versions of RTTH lol. Just give us a bit more variety.
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I just wish Maiden would be more like Metallica in that aspect. Metallica revisits their "not fan favorite" albums from time to time with Load, Reload and St.Anger songs being played live and honestly I love this! Not every show or tour has to include songs that everyone knows in my opinion. When I saw Metallica in 2022 they played Trapped Under Ice, Metal Millitia, Bleeding Me and Dirty Window. I went crazy when I heard them live and I feel blessed to have been able to see songs like this live. Especially Trapped Under Ice!

And as you say, the reunion era songs have gotten their attention by getting a live performance on DVD or on Youtube (exception for AMOLAD indeed....) but I don't see that as a reason not to play these songs anymore. Especially with the 90's albums, I feel like they are ashamed of it or just don't want to be reminded of that time. And that is sad, at least for new Maiden fans (like me) who may never again see a song from those albums live....
 
srfc said:
Maiden played Sign of the Cross and The Clansman on the last tour.
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Yes I know, I was there...

But to be a little bitchy about this if that's all we get from (subjectively) a great 90's discography then it's pretty sad in my honest opinion. There are so many great songs on NPFTD, FotD (apart from the title track which we're getting every tour now), XF and VXI that have so much potential to be played live. And I'm not even counting the reunion albums now. It feels like Maiden doesn't care about those anymore after their respective tour is over, at least that's how it feels to me. Sure we saw DoD on the Final Frontier tour and Greater Good on the 2018 and 2019 Legacy of the Beast tour, but that's about it (not counting the 2010 leg of the Final Frontier tour). I think it's safe to say we'll never hear another song from The Final Frontier or Book of Souls again.

Clansman and Sign of the Cross have been played live before (Brave New World Tour) and while they are good songs, they were nothing new that we had not seen from the band before in the reunion lineup.
 
My take on the motivation behind the Future Past Tour - for the last nearly 20 years Maiden have alternated between album tour and history/greatest hits tour. The band lost out on 2 years of touring due to the pandemic - given that they are aware they won't be around forever at this point they may have decided to combine the Senjutsu album tour plans with the next history tour (SiT based) plans so that they will move on to whatever comes next in 2025 (new album/farewell tour) and be back on track. In other words if COVID had never come along maybe we would have got:

2020: Legacy Of The Beast final leg
2021/22: Senjutsu tour
2023/24: SiT retrospective tour
2025: ???

Instead we get:
2022: LotB with Senjutsu realm
2023/24: Future Past
2025: ???
 
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