The Future Past tour 2023

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I really wonder what made them installing all these major changes to their touring concept and the setlist in particular. I mean, the concept of the tour next year by itself doesn't allow any of the well known lazyness of the past in terms of choice of songs. They HAVE to put a lot more of work than usual to it all in advance now. They easily could have glued together a setlist with lots of Wrathchild, RTTH, Running Free, TMTM etc. and would probably again fill stadiums. So, how come?
 
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Dick Brucinson said:
I really wonder what made them installing all these major changes to their touring concept and the setlist in particular. I mean, the concept of the tour next year by itself doesn't allow any of the well known lazyness of the past in terms of choice of songs just. They HAVE to put a lot more of work than usual to it all in advance now. They easily could have glued together a setlist with lots of Wrathchild, RTTH, Running Free, TMTM etc. and would probably again fill stadiums. So, how come?
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I think playing 3 Senjutsu songs this year played a major factor. Also realising that playing the whole Senjutsu isn't possible. Another factor would probably be half of the band wanting to dust off SIASL and paralell with that the eternal fan begging for Alex.

So, I think firstly they wanted to do the whole Senjutsu, but they realised that that would mean the show would exist from Senjutsu+IM and FOTD. The managment was probably terrified of that idea. So they decided to play 3 Senjutsu songs this year, so they can replace 1 or 2 of those next year with other new songs.

I also think that an internal not played for a long time song shortlist exist, from which they pick what are going to play on the next tour. We know that SIASL was pretty high on that list (Nicko, Bruce and Adrian talked about it) and would probably be played on Senjutsu tour anyway. After that, according to Nicko, he had that phone conversation with Steve, where he told him he wants to play ATG with Titanium Tart and if Nick is to believe, Steve doesn't allow Nicko to play songs that weren't played by Maiden before, so Nicko started pushing to play ATG with Maiden as soon as possible.

So, somewhere at the beginning of the year, Maiden had SIASL and ATG shortlisted for the Senjutsu tour. And Rod probably went "Lads, can you bloody play Wasted Years and Heaven Can Wait with those and we will bloody market it as a bloody hybrid tour. You bloody played those recently anyway. We will still be bloody playing stadiums. Bloody hell thats bloody brilliant. And combine bloody Japan with bloody SIT artwork, bloody great. We'll bloody make a lot of money!"

So, my theory is that Senjutsu tour became The Future Past tour, because SIASL and ATG were shortlisted to be performed and the managment wanted to cash in on a bit of nostalgia again. Plus, I think they know the time is slowly but surely running out.
 
I really wonder what made them installing all these major changes to their touring concept and the setlist in particular.
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I honestly don't see any particularly major changes. LotB covered a broader sweep than previous history tours, but the only real wildcards were Flight of Icarus and Greater Good of God. It was autopilot Maiden from Fear of the Dark onwards in the set. The second leg certainly reverted to type with the three most predictable numbers from Senjutsu played in album order, and Blood Brothers being a downward trade. The "worlds" thing was pretty superficial, especially so this year.

Future Past is obviously unknown at this point, but assuming Heaven Can Wait and Wasted Years make the cut, that likely only leaves three slots for deeper cuts from SiT, five from the new album (again standard Maiden - the only surprise being it isn't six or seven), and the "classics we know our fans want to hear", which perhaps might include an actual surprise, but there's unikely to be more than one. A mid-80s Iron Maiden fan woken from a cryogenic slumber would have no trouble recognising the show of Maiden today. Even the stage has barely changed in 40 years, save for superficial dressing.

Why these small moves towards variety? Necessity. The setlist stagnation became unmissible, with too much obvious overlap from one tour to the next. And probably also a degree of careful long-term planning - it's not too hard to gripe about any one individual setlist, but their IP has been carefully (and successfully) parcelled out over the reunion years. They've grown the band, kept an interest in the current material, and regular attendees will have heard most of what they want to hear over the years (with a few notable exceptions), even if not all together in the same setlist.
 
Remember Tomorrow, Another Life, Purgatory, Still Life, 2 Minutes to Midnight, Rime of the Ancient Mariner, Infinite Dreams, The Prophecy,

Be Quick or Be Dead, From Here to Eternity, Childhood’s End, Weekend Warrior, The Aftermath, 2AM, Futureal, Lightning Strikes Twice,

Gates of Tomorrow, Age of Innocence, Journeyman, The Longest Day, The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg, The Legacy, The Final Frontier, If Eternity Should Fail, Speed of Light, Darkest Hour,

Including the SIT songs, it’s fun to think of how many songs that can relate to the theme of TIME and SPACE
 
Dick Brucinson said:
I really wonder what made them installing all these major changes to their touring concept and the setlist in particular. I mean, the concept of the tour next year by itself doesn't allow any of the well known lazyness of the past in terms of choice of songs. They HAVE to put a lot more of work than usual to it all in advance now. They easily could have glued together a setlist with lots of Wrathchild, RTTH, Running Free, TMTM etc. and would probably again fill stadiums. So, how come?
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My take is that time is running out for the guys and they realise that they can’t do the usual album tour then history tour anymore. Plus they’ve run out of ideas on how to theme a history tour. They clearly won’t do a 90’s based tour so where else can they go.

On top of this I’m guessing the reaction to the 3 Senjutsu songs recently has made them think hard about what to do next.

A large part of the audience at a maiden gig wants the classics and only the most dedicated fans want new album songs.

It makes total sense to me to combine the new album with a slightly overlooked (live that is) classic album. Best of all worlds. Plenty of new album songs, some deep cuts for the mega fans and some classic stuff for the casual fans.

I would not be surprised if they drop one final album after this tour and then do something similar for that albums tour, create a theme to get away with plenty of new stuff but some deep cuts and classics. All centred around the 50th anniversary of the band which is coming up.

The classic only tours (history, legacy) are over I think.
 
Samantas5855 said:
I want a new album. Bruce said they had booked a studio during covid and cancelled, hope they'll book it again after LOTB ends
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Same. The classics are fine and well, and sure, I enjoy listening to them at a concert. What I'm truly looking for is new music though.
They've shown that they still have some of the magic and are able to write great music after almost 50 years in the business. Let me hear more of that, as much as possible.
 
matic22 said:
I'm almost certain they will open with a Senjutsu track. However, don't know which one. Both Stratego and DOFP would be good choices.
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Stratego is not a good choice, it’s not working live that well as we witnessed last summer.

Dick Brucinson said:
Steve will need a psychological therapist with him on tour. So many new things might otherwise be hard to handle for him.
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Let’s wait and see how many new things we’ll actually get and maybe it’s us who’ll need a therapist in the end.
 
Senjutsu is my favorite Reunion-era album also - yet the title track is only a shaky 7 IMHO.

Really glad that the album takes off and never really lets up after the just good (but not great) opening track. Everything from Stratego on out is an 8, 9, or a 10 (I'd probably only rate Stratego and Death of the Celts as 8's, with every other song on the album either a 9 or a 10)
 
Samantas5855 said:
I want a new album. Bruce said they had booked a studio during covid and cancelled, hope they'll book it again after LOTB ends
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Highly unlikely Bruce and steve have a lot of commitments making recording an album impossible.

Best bet is they do it beginning of 2024 for a release later that year after a summer tour or even sometime in 2025
 
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