Well... It’s been a relatively long time coming, but at last, it’s finally arrived. Yes, that’s right – the time has come for a brand spanking new Iron Maiden UK tour!
Unbelievably, it’s been four long years since Eddie and his crew last played a proper tour for the home crowds and that was way back on the Matter of Life and Death Tour. Admittedly, they have been back since then for a few one-off shows, including Download 2007 and a concert at Twickenham Stadium the following year, but that wasn’t really enough to keep the masses happy. Thankfully however, the increasingly impatient Maiden fans among you can finally rest easy. If you weren’t able to make it to Sonisphere in August, you now have that long-awaited second chance that you’ve so desperately been craving. Well, almost anyway. Unfortunately, if you are hoping to get hold of some tickets on Saturday, when the tour eventually goes on sale, you’re still going to have to wait another eight long months before you’ll have the chance to catch a glimpse of your heroes in your home town.
The Final Frontier Tour started back in June in the US, before the new album was even out, and is scheduled to end in style, thirteen months on, with a series of ten huge homecoming shows – right here in the UK. This grand finale will double as a big “thank you” to the British fans who have waited so patiently since the last Iron Maiden tour in 2006. The band are currently taking a break from the tour before the second leg gets kicked off in Moscow next February.
‘The Final Frontier’, Iron Maiden’s 15th album, was released in August to a fantastically positive response from all four corners of the rock world. The critical acclaim it received even matched up to its commercial reception, as well as the appreciation from the die-hard fans. The album has already proved to be the band’s most successful to date after debuting at Number One in the album charts of 30 different countries. In fact, ‘The Final Frontier’ is the first Maiden album to debut at Number One in the UK in 18 years, following the group’s ninth LP ‘Fear of the Dark’. It has even become the most successful Iron Maiden album in the US, reaching Number Four in the Billboard 200. However, despite all of this success, the album’s title has caused some concern among fans, who have feared that this one might be their last. Fortunately, the band members have since denied this.
Iron Maiden were first formed in 1975 by bassist and key songwriter Steve Harris who, after 35 years and numerous line-up changes, has remained the only constant member of the group. Bruce Dickinson joined as lead vocalist in 1981, replacing Paul Di’Anno, and made his debut on their third album ‘The Number of the Beast’ in 1982. Although Iron Maiden had previously experienced some success with their two albums with Di’Anno, ‘Iron Maiden’ and ‘Killers’, it was ‘The Number of the Beast’ that earned them their first Number One album. It also included the two singles that are probably still their most well-known to this day – ‘Run to the Hills’ and the album’s title track. The band achieved their only ever Number One single in 1990 with ‘Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter’ and, three years later, Bruce Dickinson left to pursue a solo career. Iron Maiden recorded two albums with new vocalist Blaze Bayley before Dickinson returned in 1991. Since then, the line-up has remained the same and the band have released four albums, including ‘The Final Frontier’.
Whether or not Iron Maiden are really thinking about calling it a day, it’s certain that, after the success of the album, next year’s tour dates are going to be huge and tickets are going to go fast. So, if you’re planning on attending one of the shows as either a life-long fan or just a first-timer, as Eddie might say… Be Quick or Be Ticketless.
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The Final Frontier Tour started back in June in the US, before the new album was even out, and is scheduled to end in style, thirteen months on, with a series of ten huge homecoming shows – right here in the UK. This grand finale will double as a big “thank you” to the British fans who have waited so patiently since the last Iron Maiden tour in 2006. The band are currently taking a break from the tour before the second leg gets kicked off in Moscow next February. 
