The Official Book of Souls Tour 2016 Thread (Warning: Spoilers within!)

When us Maiden fans say, "They should drop FOTD for say, Alexander the Great" for example. How does this relate to say...

Megadeth should drop Peace Sells for Disconnect
Metallica should drop Sad but True for 2X4
Judas Priest should drop Hell Bent for Leather for Locked In?

I mean, nobody really questions those decisions because the former songs are far better than the latter.
A band like Dream Theater who in my estimation makes quality songs throughout typically change up their setlist during album tours in an alarming,but healthy rate. They always do Pull Me Under and Metropolis but that's it. Every concert I've heard on CD/DVD has been consistently different to the point where I have heard multiple complete albums live spanning years of concerts.

Definitely hear you on all of this, but to be fair Dream Theater is even more consistently different than you are giving them credit. I've seen them 3 times since 2010 (when they opened for Maiden) and I've only heard Pull Me Under once, and unfortunately never Metropolis.
 
Yep, seen them twice with a 3rd time in May and I don't think I've heard any of their songs more than once. Can't say that with any other band I've seen live multiple times.
 
Regarding setlists, keep in mind that Maiden have a lot of people to satisfy. First and foremost they have to please themselves. It has to be fun for them, otherwise playing would become a chore instead of a joy. On album tours they are promoting new product, so they have to learn & incorporate new material into their set. Since the expectation is for new fans to buy the album, they must choose which songs they believe are best represented in a live context, which might not necessarily be what hardcore fans believe are the best tracks. Hence, one of the reasons for no "EOTC."

Then there are audience considerations. For knowledgeable, hardcore fans like most of us they try to throw in a rare or deep album cut...on this tour it's "COTD," on the last Maiden England tour it was "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" and "Phantom Of The Opera." My two wishes for this tour were COTD and "Flight Of Icarus." I got one of them. And last tour, I LOVED "POTO"! I would love to have heard "Infinite Dreams" over "The Clairvoyant" but again, taking everything into account it was difficult to argue with "Phantom..." and "SSOASS."

Finally, you have brand new fans seeing the band for the first time and long-time fans who haven't seen them in years. I too heard people leaving Mandalay Bay grousing about not hearing "RTTH" or "2MTM." Hard for me to relate but I get it. Those classic songs for many are what the band is all about...the songs that they remember from high school or some other point in their past. So they're always going to play "The Trooper," "NOTB" and "FOTD." They'll always close the set with "Iron Maiden," which still gets me hyped. When you toss all of that into the pot, I think they do a fantastic job of assembling a well-paced, full production each tour with something hopefully to please everyone. With a catalog as deep as theirs, it's impossible to please everyone. For example, I LOVED the decision to play "AMOLAD" in its entirety, but I heard a large segment of the audience at Irvine Meadows booing halfway through the set. Unlike most bands Maiden has very few duds or filler material on their albums. They're remarkably consistent. Even an album like "NPFTD," probably my least favorite album, has some great cuts on it.

And lastly, the boys aren't young pups anymore. For what they give each night onstage, I think we're privileged to get what we do from them. Hell, I'd love to see "For The Greater Good Of God" again but my guess is we'll get that one the same time that they finally perform "Alexander..." live.
 
And lastly, the boys aren't young pups anymore. For what they give each night onstage, I think we're privileged to get what we do from them. Hell, I'd love to see "For The Greater Good Of God" again but my guess is we'll get that one the same time that they finally perform "Alexander..." live.
I'm not sure that we'll ever see another song from AMOLAD again in a setlist.
 
I find it funny how so many people complain about the setlists when they either have never seen Maiden live before or only once or twice.

"Why don't they play "Empire..." instead of "FOTD" again? This will be my first Maiden show!!!"
 
For what it's worth, I don't think that "EOTC" would go down well live nearly as well as it seems like it would. Myself, I'd prefer if they traded "TOAC" for "The Great Unknown," which I thought they'd play based on Adrian stating that he dreaded performing it live because of the tuning.
 
For what it's worth, I don't think that "EOTC" would go down well live nearly as well as it seems like it would. Myself, I'd prefer if they traded "TOAC" for "The Great Unknown," which I thought they'd play based on Adrian stating that he dreaded performing it live because of the tuning.
What tuning is it? I'm pretty sure it's standard tuning.
 
A couple pages ago someone brought up a very interesting point and projected timeline of what Maiden has left. We can talk about that all we want, but the real question is.. will Iron Maiden play Alexander on the Farewell tour? :D
 
A couple pages ago someone brought up a very interesting point and projected timeline of what Maiden has left. We can talk about that all we want, but the real question is.. will Iron Maiden play Alexander on the Farewell tour? :D
As much as I'd love to have a GMETID-style setlist with nearly all albums represented, their farewell tour will probably just be Somewhere Back In Maiden England part 3. Aces, 2 mins, wrath, TETMD, etc.
 
What tuning is it? I'm pretty sure it's standard tuning.

I think it's an open D (DADF#AD) with capo on the 2nd fret. Adrian stated that he used that in an interview. The other guitars are standard.

Edit: Here is the part of interview:
When discussing the third track on the album, “The Great Unknown,” Smith even revealed a hint about the setlist for the upcoming tour, adding, “I was messing around with a tuning, an open D tuning [DADF#AD]… It sounds very strange, but it kind of works. “The Great Unknown’s” riff came out of that tuning, really. But I also used a capo on it, which makes it weirder, and I’m dreading playing it live [laughs]. But that’s a different little thing I did on this album.
 
I don't think they'll do a farewell tour. I think they're at the stage where they'll go on for as long as it's profitable and physically possible for them to do it. They appear to still have a lot of gas left in the tank both creatively & physically and with the success of this album & tour, seems within the realm of possibility that they may have another go-round in them following this one. They're still playing & performing at a very high level.
 
Bruce did state his desire to record another album so my guess is they go on a album / farewell tour combined for 2019. They will fill the gap with a possible 2018 tour branching into the 90s and releasing Donnington 92 on DVD.
 
I agree, I think though that's there's a lot of marketability in a farewell tour. All those Maiden fans that'll just make it next time they come to town have to go now hahahaha
 
I don't think they'll do a farewell tour. I think they're at the stage where they'll go on for as long as it's profitable and physically possible for them to do it. They appear to still have a lot of gas left in the tank both creatively & physically and with the success of this album & tour, seems within the realm of possibility that they may have another go-round in them following this one. They're still playing & performing at a very high level.

I also think an official farewell tour will not happen, because that closes the doors for the future. And if you decide to do it again, the fans might feel used. If they do it it would be something like Rush's R40; nothing official, but most of the fans know that it's over with touring. Also as I stated before and as Jan and other members of the band stated, the history tours are over. I can see them recording new album in late 2017 / early 2018, and then a short 3-month tour and more in 2019.
 
The history tours may be over but i can see a tour before the next album along the lines of the gimme ed tour , nothing too major just a brief summer run like in 03 And Donnington 92 will be released on DVD at some point so I could see a Be Quick back in the set etc etc
 
The history tours may be over but i can see a tour before the next album along the lines of the gimme ed tour , nothing too major just a brief summer run like in 03 And Donnington 92 will be released on DVD at some point so I could see a Be Quick back in the set etc etc

Yup with a new single in the set, I can see that in summer of 2018. There is also a strong possibility of the 97-99 Dickinson solo band reforming for an album. Roy Z has stated numerous times on Facebook that he would love to work with Adrian again.
 
I generally don't take photos or videos of concerts -- and I'm annoyed at the army of people who obstruct my view with their phones -- but I did quickly snap this image, which I think is pretty cool:

View attachment 4621
 

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