Final Tour Date Announced
Says drummer and local Florida resident Nicko McBrain; "We'll be arriving right in the middle of Spring Break so this really promises to be a huge party for everyone and I'm sure there will be more than a few sore heads in Fort Lauderdale the following day! The whole tour has been an amazing experience and this final leg back on Ed Force One promises to be crazier than ever!."It was quite something to bring to reality the mad idea of creating a flying tour bus out of a Boeing 757 but it's enabled us to go further to reach many fans in countries we have never played before and also revisit fans where we haven't seen for some time, and it's a long time since we played in Florida! The 757 truly has been our 'magic carpet' as Bruce describes it.
"Luckily for me the magic carpet is stopping not far from my front door which is very handy and nice way to finish this tour. Not far to stagger home!!"
Rammed full with a full complement of band, crew and twelve tons of stage set and equipment, the band's customised Boeing 757, christened Ed Force One by the fans and flown again by Astraeus Airlines Captain and Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, will be once again circumnavigating close to 50,000 miles around the planet for concerts in 22 cities in 14 countries round the globe, making it a staggering 39 countries in total visited on this 2008/2009 tour, playing to almost two million fans.
The 'SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME' tour revisits the band's history by focusing almost entirely on the 80's in both choice of songs played and the stage set, which is based around the legendary Egyptian Production of the 1984-85 'Powerslave Tour' which was featured on the recent DVD 'Live after Death'.
This is arguably the most elaborate and spectacular show the band have ever presented, and will include some key elements of their Somewhere In Time tour of 1986/7, such as the Cyborg Eddie..
Says band founder Steve Harris "We will be loading onto the plane as much equipment as we can ram in, along with plenty of pyro!! The set list will be a bit different to the shows we have done so far on this tour as we will include a few more songs from the first four albums. This show is likely to be the last time we play many of these songs live so we really will be giving it everything we have got!
"The tour was set to finish in Recife in Brazil but we thought we should call in to Florida on the way home to play there for the first time in ages and to drop Nicko off at home!! Using Ed Force One really does give us this degree of flexibility."
Taking off in early February Maiden will make their first appearances in New Zealand for 16 years via Belgrade, Dubai and Bangalore followed by the long haul up to Mexico and then a very extensive run through Latin America, finishing the tour now in Florida.
Comments Bruce Dickinson "The unique way of touring last year with everyone and all our gear on the plane helped to make 2008 easily one of the most successful, exciting and fun years in the band's career. Taking Ed Force One around the planet and playing to our fans in so many different countries was an incredible experience for all of us. I personally found that flying and performing was one of the most challenging and satisfying things I've ever done despite the rigours and the many logistical difficulties we encountered.
In fact it was so much fun we decided to do it again as a final leg of this tour and we really wanted to get back to some of the places we haven¹t been to for a long time and we¹ll also be visiting many new places along the way.
All in all this will be a fantastic way to round off a tremendous 12 months for the band. After this we take a bit of time off, get our energy back and then start work on a new studio album."
Fans around the world will be able to see what it was like flying on Ed Force One in the recently announced movie 'FLIGHT 666' which will play in selected cinemas around the world on Tuesday April 21.
Members of the Iron Maiden fan club will be able to access an exclusive first ticket pre-sale on Thursday 12th February from 9am and will also be able to be eligible to enter the FIRST TO THE STAGE BARRIER draw. Tickets go on sale to the public at
2 minutes to Midnight on Friday 13th February.