Unplayed live songs and the future of Maiden: what's next?

Mosh said:
We all know @Diesel 11 wants to hear The Apparition live
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To be honest, while you're write that I'd love to see it get played if only for the historical significance, I'm actually quite content with it remaining a studio-only song. It's just a weird little song from Iron Maiden and that's all, I'm content with its place in history (although the h8rs suck).

Playing a whole album live is an interesting thought. I doubt it'll happen for Powerslave (covered on SBiT), Seventh Son (covered on ME), and now, thanks to the current Future Past Tour, Somewhere in Time, but I could see something being done for the debut, TNOTB, or POM. Iron Maiden already had each of its songs played live, so they could play the full album live as a 50th anniversary celebration in 2030 (hoping they're still going in 2030!).

I'm not sure that all of TNOTB would be played, given that Steve isn't a fan of "Invaders" or "Gangland", but you could easily do something like this:
  1. Murders in the Rue Morgue
  2. Wrathchild
  3. Children of the Damned
  4. The Prisoner
  5. 22 Acacia Avenue
  6. The Number of the Beast
  7. Run to the Hills
  8. Total Eclipse
  9. Hallowed Be Thy Name
  10. Transylvania
  11. Phantom of the Opera
  12. Fear of the Dark
  13. Iron Maiden
Encore
  1. Killers
  2. The Trooper
  3. Running Free
POM seems totally doable, just a matter of whether or not Steve wants to bring out "Quest for Fire" or not. I think "Sun and Steel" has a solid chance of being included in a future setlist, it's a short H&B rocker with a chorus that could be fun live. I really do want to see "Still Life" get brought back by the reunion era, it's a fantastic song and worked really well on the STOASTour. That's a dream setlist inclusion for me.

Steve's comments on "Only the Good Die Young" make me think that that song may get played someday, but time will tell if it continues to stay in the hypothetical or not.

With "Alexander the Great" being played live now, I guess that opens the door to "Empire of the Clouds" getting a shot in some form. I doubt it though. I love the song, and it really stirred people up when it was released, but it hasn't seemed to stick out in the public consciousness as much post-Senjutsu. Maybe it'll be a surprise inclusion if Bruce releases that damn solo album and then does a solo tour.

A final thought right now: after the current tour ends, will Maiden return to the studio for album 18, or will they hit the road again for a 50th anniversary tour? Bruce said before the third leg of LOTB that the band was discussing playing Senjutsu live in full. Obviously that didn't happen, and instead we get the opening trio of "Senjutsu" - "Stratego" - "The Writing on the Wall" on the third Legacy leg, and now on The Future Past Tour we're also getting "Days of Future Past", "The Time Machine", "Death of the Celts", and "Hell on Earth". Should a 50th anniversary tour happen, and assuming that Maiden aren't going to celebrate the anniversary instead by releasing another album, could the three remaining Senjutsu songs - "Lost in a Lost World", "Darkest Hour", and "The Parchment" - get included in that tour? It's a little weird to think of what one could call the Senjutsu Tour being split into three different tours proper, but it's a possibility if they're really so fond of all the songs as much as they said they were.
 
I was actually thinking about the debut album in relation to this thread today. Here's something wild: disregarding Iron Maiden and Wrathchild, we haven't had anything from the first two albums since Maiden England. By the time Future Past wraps up, we're going to be 20 years removed from The Early Days tour and prime for a 50th anniversary tour, going back to the first two albums would be a logical choice. Maybe even 5 off the debut and 5 off Killers. Doesn't seem to lend itself to a never-before-played song though.

I don't see them ever doing EOTC, but it's likely Bruce will revisit it live some day. I think it would have to be a sort of solo endeavor though.

I would say after this tour they're done with Senjutsu songs. After all is said and done, 7 Senjutsu songs is a pretty solid selection. I can actually understand why they skipped Lost in a Lost World, Darkest Hour, and Parchment.
 
Mosh said:
I was actually thinking about the debut album in relation to this thread today. Here's something wild: disregarding Iron Maiden and Wrathchild, we haven't had anything from the first two albums since Maiden England. By the time Future Past wraps up, we're going to be 20 years removed from The Early Days tour and prime for a 50th anniversary tour, going back to the first two albums would be a logical choice. Maybe even 5 off the debut and 5 off Killers. Doesn't seem to lend itself to a never-before-played song though.
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I highly doubt it. The 2005 tour was for that.
Mosh said:
I don't see them ever doing EOTC, but it's likely Bruce will revisit it live some day. I think it would have to be a sort of solo endeavor though.
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I agree.
Mosh said:
I can actually understand why they skipped Lost in a Lost World, Darkest Hour, and Parchment.
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Why? There's not enough space in the set for another long song, because it's a ballad (they didn't play the one from TBOS album) and because of it's tempo and no chorus? It's really surprising that they don't play either of Nicko's 2 favorite songs from the album! Like they did with Tears Of A Clown in 2016. Drumming wise, both are easy for live performances.
 
Quite honestly, I don't know where they can go from here, and I have the feeling they don't know themselves.

They did several tours revisiting the classic 80's album, SIT it basically the last one. The first four tours didn't have any particular stage setup that lends itself for revival, and an argument could be made that the Early Days tour counts as the coverage. The present tour could serve as a model for the future - blending classic Maiden with a new album - or it could be a one-off.

I'd say that Maiden have about ten years left in them, and if they keep up with the current touring pace, that would mean two new tours, three tops. Maybe they can hold out a bit longer if they settle for a replacement for Nicko in five years or so.
It would be great if all of them were new album tours, but I really don't feel confident predicting anything at this point.
 
Perun said:
I'd say that Maiden have about ten years left in them, and if they keep up with the current touring pace, that would mean two new tours, three tops. Maybe they can hold out a bit longer if they settle for a replacement for Nicko in five years or so.
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That's too optimistic, I'd say about five tops. There are physical limits and it's all tied to Nicko - 'Arry won't be willing to re-learn how to play with a new drummer when he's over 70. I mean, anything is possible, sure, but I doubt that.

Of course I can just as well see myself eating crow in 2033.

(also, purely sound-wise, I have no inclination whatsoever to listen to Maiden without Nicko. I can imagine Bruce or any of the three amigos being replaced, but the rhythm section is the deal-breaker for me).
 
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Poto said:
Revisiting SIT and playing Alexander the Great tells me that they ran out of ideas.
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Yeah this was a last option, since everything else from the 80’s have been covered by now, and losing two year worth of touring. In 2005 they said this tour will be the last opportunity to see some of those songs. And the 2012-2014 tour was very likely the last time they played some of the tracks as well.

Regarding the original topic, I think they will not play more old songs they have not played yet. I don’t know if To tame a land have been played live before, that one is most likely if it would happend. Or Infinite dreams, that has not been played live since 1988?

If they are doing more tours with only old songs, it would be a simple greatest hits tour I think. Doing Edward the great in full + a few newer songs. But I hope they will try to do another album with related tour instead
 
1. Killers
2. Wratchchild
3. Children of the Damned
4. Sun and Steel
5. To Tame A Land
6. Flash of the Blade
7. The Duellists
8. Childhood's End
9. Deja Vu
10. Infinite Dreams
11. Only the Good Die Young
12. Phantom of the Opera
13. Iron Maiden

14. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
15. Sanctuary
16. Running Free
 
Maiden are still long overdue a 90's retrospective (along with Early Years pt.4) and a reissue of Live at Donington on blu-ray with a decent audio mix would be a good place to begin.

It would be a good opportunity to see them bring out some fan favourites of that era such as Judas be my Guide. The best selections from NPFTD and FOTD to begin with. And some of the more popular Blaze era tracks that we know they can play (Man on the Edge and Futureal havn't been seen live since Ed Hunter). Maybe even take a risk and rework something like Fortunes of War or Judgement of Heaven?

Then chuck in a few classics (like HBTN) in the encore.

As long as they leave The Apparition well alone you could have a great setlist.
 
New album and new songs and more rare stuff from Piece of Mind would be awesome. Would love Still Life and To Tame a Land to come back

Would also like more reunion era songs to come back. Some stuff from Final Frontier and Book of Souls would be fun
 
I think, realistically and at best, we get one more new album followed by a short new album tour and then a farewell greatest hits tour.
 
JudasMyGuide said:
I don't remember off the top of my head what has and hasn't been played live off it, but since they brought back SotC,
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With Blaze: Sign of the Cross, Lord of the Flies, Man on the Edge, Fortunes of War, The Aftermath, Blood on the World's Hand, The Edge of Darkness.
The last 3 never were not performed on the Virtual XI tour, while Fortunes of War was played at the first few gigs, then dropped.

With Bruce: Sign of the Cross, Lord of the Flies, Man on the Edge.

I'm not sure how much Bruce liked singing Lord of the Flies and Man on the Edge though, but he has mentioned that he liked singing Sign of the Cross and The Clansman.

I don't think we will se any of those songs now though, I think the band would like to play other stuff.
 
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Spaldy said:
Maiden are still long overdue a 90's retrospective (along with Early Years pt.4) and a reissue of Live at Donington on blu-ray with a decent audio mix would be a good place to begin.

It would be a good opportunity to see them bring out some fan favourites of that era such as Judas be my Guide. The best selections from NPFTD and FOTD to begin with. And some of the more popular Blaze era tracks that we know they can play (Man on the Edge and Futureal havn't been seen live since Ed Hunter). Maybe even take a risk and rework something like Fortunes of War or Judgement of Heaven?

Then chuck in a few classics (like HBTN) in the encore.

As long as they leave The Apparition well alone you could have a great setlist.
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Yeah, I agree with this and would love to see this live. It seemed to me that people loved Afraid to Shoot Strangers live (I definitely did) and you could collect a lot of prime stuff from the 90s that wouldn't even alienate too many people.

Also, if you named the tour Fear the Dark Again or something like that, that'd be a good PR stunt, that song is still universally beloved and a live staple.
 
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