Alexander the Great, fucking finally

They're coming to Calgary near me so i am very tempted by this. Not entirely sold on 5 songs from Senjutsu but maybe its the perfect time to revisit that album and try again with it.

agreed. I prefer the entire Senjustu album be played, along with the songs from SIT. They should rest "Fear" & "Trooper", among others.

Absolutely thrilled they are playing Caught Somewhere In Time, Stranger In A Strange Land, and Alexander the Great. Hell On Earth is one of the finest tunes on Senjutsu, so I'm glad they are playing it too. However, The Time Machine is by far the worst song from that album and I would've preferred The Parchment. Days Of Future Past was obvious due to the tour name, but they could've skipped The Writing On The Wall and include Stratego instead which is far superior.

I don't know why they chose Heaven Can Wait and not Sea of Madness, Deja Vu or Loneliness... since they have played it already in their 2008 tour. It's the least exciting song off SIT imo. Can I Play With Madness instead of Infinite Dreams or Only The Good Die Young was a stupid choice too, they've played it on a few more recent tours. But all in all, some very unexpected treats and I'm quite mad I won't catch them on this tour. The only date in Sweden is at Sweden rock festival and I'm abroad that day. In Greece actually, which should have been somewhere they would play considering a specific song they're playing. Bruce's voice sounded very good despite some lyrical mistakes, I hope it stays that way and that they do a second leg of the tour.

Agree with all of this. Heaven Can Wait is easily my least favourite on Somewhere In Time. Would way prefer Only The Good Die Young or especially Infinite Dreams over Can I Play With Madness as well

I want to talk about Seventh Son and BNW. Those are among my favorite albums by them. Like, they have some of my favorite melodic elements; songs like Brave New World and Clairvoyant actually makes me feel like I'm in an epic journey sailing though the ocean. Though when it comes to drumming, nothing beats Killers or NotB, but then again, Clive Burr was phenomenal.

This is a really great setlist. I love Senjutsu, and the fact that they've run through most of the album between this tour and the last one is amazing. 5/8 songs from Somewhere In Time is insane, given that it's usually ignored. I'll echo the comments about wanting any of the other 3 songs over Heaven Can Wait, but I never saw the 2008 tour, so anything is good. Hopefully this comes to Toronto because I will definitely be there.

Finally some justice to Somewhere in Time!

There's decent enough video footage of the Ljubljana gig. I watched a clip of "Alexander the Great" and that was excellent, even though Bruce messed up a few lines in the last verse.

God I hope this tour comes somewhere near me at some point.

Funnily enough he could literally say "Oops, it's my first time playing it live!"

from Blabbermouth...

I was about to be cynical and snarky about the song being overhyped by the fans, but once I listened to the recording I actually got emotional and happy!
37 years since it was released. And I respect the hell out of Maiden to focus on both Somewhere in Time and Senjutsu, the really limited the other classics like Hallowed which is one of their most played songs.

I have this underlying notion that this whole tour has been pulled of just for the Alexander The Great to be played

I like Heaven Can Wait, but it is a bit of a gimmick in that oh-woh-woh middle part is where a bunch of fans come on stage to sing it.

A popular (banned) poster should love this tour. His favorite Maiden album was Senjutsu!

"Adrian can't remember the solo" has always been a joke. The hard part to play is the noodly bridge that shifts keys (but also drops beats, I guess?) before the big breakdown.

Also seen lots of good footage of the Slovenia gig premiere. Thought it was great. As if they're going to play Sea of Madness too, I'm actually amazed they finally busted out Alexander. Dropping Number of the Beast, Run to the Hills, and Hallowed, very brave, but their encores really became a slog until recently, glad to see they're finally changing things up a bit. Aces High as an encore last tour was a sign of that.

Fortunately those of us not having decided if they want to go, can look at youtube vids from presumably the entire tour anyway.
As much as I would like to see 'Caught Somewhere in Time', 'Stranger in a Strange Land' and especially 'Alexander the Great' live I'm not sure to go because of ticket prices and I find Dickinson a bit underwhelming on the Prague and Ljubljana vids.

Not only are the prices high (although, not ludicrous like other acts), the standing seems to sell out immediately even if you were willing to pay.

You can still see loads of great legendary metal bands for a third of the price, and not in a great big arena either where you're watching it on a screen most of the time

Nicko must be really struggling, health wise. He's playing slower, drums sound weak, he's avoiding certain bits.

It's always sad when you see these people age.

It's just cause he's 71 (today in fact). Time catches up with everyone and things need to be changed or slowed accordingly.
The Maiden fan community is up in arms cause he hasn't been doing the intro roll on The Trooper but my honest take is that he might be dropping some of the more complex bits in order to get through a complex set fairly smoothly, at least while he gets fully settled into the set live.
Seen some unbelievably cruel and straight up nasty comments since the tour started that he must have Alzheimer's which makes me furious after having seen my father go through that ordeal.

I saw the band twice on (the future) past weekend. I was on floor on Saturday, but had a seat on Sunday. The visuals were far better (absolutely beautiful lights and stage props), as was my concentration. I didn't notice Nicko playing slower or worse, actually. I think he nailed some crazy stuff on both new and 'SiT' era songs.

I was in Ljubljana. Didn't notice anything weird either.

I'd like to see some American dates.

Metal Pilgrim made a YT vid about it btw:


Nicko is 71 already. It's a matter of time until they just can't pull it off anymore
I noticed I missed some specific fills on 'Caught' especially but it is amazing he is still doing a tour like this at his age. Drummers are often the first to suffer from old age.


Personally I'm not into Bruce's voice this tour. He's clearly having fun in some vids wearing a rubber Greek helmet but his voice sounds tired and struggling to me

Well, if people say that for McBrain now, what we should say about Lars who has been fucking all songs up at least since 2004? And he was not even old back then... Nicko at least has integrity and his playing shows that he still gives a shit.

Fixed mate. He stopped routinely practicing at some point during the black album world tour. It seems to coincide with the moment his drumming stopped being innovative.

Bruce seems drunk on stage everytime I watch a video of them now. Or on something.

Certainly not drunk but surely at an age and part of his career that he just doesn't take it as seriously as he used to. He just seems to do it for some earthly fun and giggles.
I just think his voice, especially the high notes aren't good enough anymore for some classic songs. No big deal. Age happens.
But Iron Maiden as a live entity clearly are in decline now because of their age.

I just realized that there haven't been any situation in Maiden history that some of the band members were forced to sit down on tour, thus, being replaced by someone else. They have always maintain they integrity no matter what.

I think playing in Maiden has just became their job. Passion is not completely gone, but I don't think they enjoy it as much as they used to.
Bruce is (finally) recording his new solo album with Roy Z, Smith has his Smith/Kotzen project, Harris tours with British Lion... Day before the Ljubljana show I also went to British Lion concert (also in Ljubljana, also first concert of the tour) and man, you could just feel how much Harris enjoys playing with them. I didn't get the same vibe the day after, on Maiden show.

British Lion is where Steve can act out his fantasies of what might have happened to Maiden had Blaze stayed with them: small gigs to die-hards and as much dull hard rock as you can shake a stick at.

Also, I’m not going to judge a drummer’s performance from some poorly recorded YouTube stuff and people are freaking out over him missing a fill? It’s live performance! Also, in the studio, Nicko’s certainly pulling out some subtle and interesting stuff; just listen to how he drives a song like ‘Days of Future Past’. He’s not the drummer he was in ‘83 but he’s still got it.

Not really to do with age. He just didn't practice enough.

He is practicing now and playing to a click live, he's definitely improved somewhat over the last few years and metallica plays a lot better because he's not massively speeding up the songs anymore.

Not unless you count the gig where 'Arry had to sing because Di'anno got nicked for waving a knife around in public.

He's been dropping a lot of fills and doing things simpler than before but he's still driving the band just fine. Like I and others have mentioned the man is 71 years old. I'm very involved in the Maiden community but I don't really know anything from inside the Maiden camp, but I have heard however that Nicko does want the band to continue even if he can't and has apparently named someone as a potential replacement, one of Steves cousins. But I don't think we're anywhere near those discussions anyway.
Also, people need to realize just how amazingly lucky we are that they are still around and everything post 2015 is an absolute bonus cause lets not forget that Bruce had stage 3 oral cancer which could have taken his voice, or even worse.

Lars has been getting ripped for his lazy live work for decades now.

Yes, akb88. We're still witnessing this fine band. I am not complaining. Not one inch. I have seen many decades, and so has Iron Maiden. I am happy we've been together so many years.

Up the Irons! \,,/

Lars is sloppy but he's still technically proficient. Do you know how many drummers in the world can play double bass at 195bpm like he does in Battery? Just because it's relatively common in extreme metal doesn't mean it's easy. Nicko has never been able to play anything like that.

No but Lars can't do Bonham kick triplets at Run To The Hills speeds.

Clive Burr > Nicko McBrain

I have no technical knowledge to back this up, I just like his drumming better. Listen to Phantom of the Opera, Clive's drumming complements the guitars perfectly. I can't recall Nicko doing something similar, but please prove me wrong.