I'm reaching a conclusion here: No matter which songs Maiden choose to play, there'll be complains. I mean, I would LOVE to see Empire being played live, but there only one place that I can see it: At the encore, as the only song. If they do that, others will complain that "there is not enough songs". In the end, a group will always complain.
And about FotD, Trooper, NotB...would you ask for the Stones to not play Satisfaction? Would you ask Purple to quit Highway Star? AC/DC retiring Back in Black and Highway to Hell? "Hey, Page, could you not play Stairway to Heaven? I'm tired of listening to it". Those songs are the symbol of the band, the marks that all the crowd will surely follow, that made them (even more) famous, and, damn it, the song they like to play. Maiden did a big thing by skipping Hallowed on 2012/13/14, RttH on 10/11/16, 2MTM this tour...you don't see other rock/metal bands dropping "hit songs" like that. That kind of song is the core of EVERY band, specially on an album tour. I'm amazed and thrilled that they are actually bringing back 2 gems. Every other band would play safe and execute the famous songs (2MTM and RttH).
About Tears, it's the song to give Bruce a rest. He's a almost 60 years old who had months of chemotherapy (a treatment that affects hard even younger people) thanks to a throat cancer. I agree that they could pick another song, yes, but another on this line (Coming Home, Wasted Years, maybe Afraid to Shoot Strangers or The Pilgrim). I'm just happy that Bruce can sing at 90% of the pre-cancer level and can deliver a nice concert to all of us. Wherever the songs are.