Tickets will be going on sale starting March 1st for Iron Maiden’s Western US leg of their Somewhere in Time World Tour. The tour is notable for a few reasons:

1. In celebration of the DVD release of their seminal concert film Live After Death, the band’s set list will include mostly classic songs from their ’80s period and a stage setup similar to that of the Powerslave tour (which was the tour Live After Death was born out of).
2. The band, crew and all their equipment is traveling the world together in the band’s Boeing 757 piloted by Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson.
3. Iron Maiden fucking rules, and they wrote all your favorite Ozzfest-metal band’s riffs 30 years ago.

The world tour is already underway, with healthy showings in Mumbai, India, and Perth, Australia. Pilot/vocalist/rock god Dickinson is excited about hitting the Western US:

“We are all greatly looking forward to getting back to see our fans in places like Texas, the South West and Seattle where we haven’t played for quite some time. And for this leg we will be able to bring along all Eddie’s toys which we couldn’t get on our plane during the first leg. We are all having a great time on this tour and really can’t believe the excitement it is creating round the world and the huge numbers of people who are turning out to see us. It makes for a really very exciting time for all of us, fans and band alike”

You should be pretty stoked too. After the jump, a couple Sky News clips about the band’s trip to Mumbai and Western US tour dates with dates and times those tickets go on sale. (more…)

James’ post somehow reminded me of my first exposure to possibly the most epic metal band of all time, Iron Maiden:

What can be more rock than this? If only Rick Allen had seen this first.

Sadly, I’ve long abandoned buckling my safety belt and I will one day look like Eddie. le sigh.

I promised good ol’ Brit that I wouldn’t write anything mean about her ever again, because I felt sorry for her. But I still kind of laughed when I saw this 313merch shirt that spoofs an Iron Maiden album cover, Piece of Mind.

Other than Zacky Vengeance being able to rip off a good Iron Maiden riff here and there, Avenged Sevenfold sucks balls. But they sell a lot of albums and get taken along on big ass tours so somebody’s gotta be buying this crap. Maybe it’s you. If it is, and you care, go check out the second installment of their in-studio “teaser,” which has been posted on my favorite site YouTube.

You can also listen to a clip of their new song on their MySpace page. I won’t, but you sure could.

Live From Abbey Road- Iron Maiden Interview and Performance

Band Members of Iron Maiden Speak about their work and perform in this clip from their appearance on the new Sundance Channel program Live From Abbey Road. This episode, also featuring Natasha Bedingfield and the Gypsy Kings, airs Thursday July 12th at 10pm on the Sundance Channel. For more info, visit: www.livefromabbeyroad.com

IRON MAIDEN CONFIRM NORTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES
Iron Maiden are pleased to announce they will be beginning their 2006 World Tour with eight dates across the USA and three dates in Canada starting October 4th in Hartford, CT.
Tickets for the shows will start going on to the general public from the weekend of August 12th, with details of local box office and on-sale times at www.ironmaiden.com. Iron Maiden has also arranged for a special fan club pre-order for all shows beginning August 1 and continuing through to the public on-sale date
This follows the recent announcement that their highly anticipated new studio album A Matter Of Life And Death, will be released by Sanctuary Records on September 5th.
Says Bruce Dickinson “This is the first time we’ve started a tour in the States for many, many years. It’s going to be great to get out there so the fans can get to hear the new material and see the new show first for a change. We’re all incredibly pleased with the album, and the tremendous response of those people who have had the chance to hear it so far. Their reaction has been phenomenal and we expect to play a lot of it on tour.”
“We will be bringing the full show to America, which we are currently putting the final touches to, and we fully intend to make it as spectacular and memorable as we can. And of course, our mate Eddie has already booked a place on the plane with us”
On the topic of A Matter of Life and Death, Bruce comments, (This album has to be our best since working with Kevin Shirley (Producer). There is such a wide scope of musicianship on this album. Every one of us has put everything into this record and it’s really paid off.”
The upcoming North American dates represent the beginning of the (A Matter of Life and Death World Tour,” which will continue into Japan and then travel through to Europe, finishing with two shows at London’s Earls Court Arena just before Christmas. All the shows on the European leg have been on sale since March and reaction to the dates has been incredible, with the majority of shows already sold out months in advance.
Accompanying Iron Maiden on the USA tour (excluding the Hartford and Los Angeles ) are new UK metal sensation, Bullet for My Valentine, who have been receiving rave reviews while on tour with Guns N' Roses throughout Europe.
The full tour dates are -
4 OCT USA - New England Dodge Music Center - Hartford, CT
6 OCT USA - Agganis Arena - Boston, MA
7 OCT USA - Tweeter Center At the Waterfront - Camden, NJ
9 OCT CANADA - Colisee Pepsi Arena - Quebec City, QC
10 OCT CANADA - Bell Centre - Montreal, QC
12 OCT USA - Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Uniondale, NY
13 OCT USA - Continental Airlines Arena - East Rutherford, NJ
16 OCT CANADA - Air Canada Centre - Toronto, ON
17 OCT USA - Palace of Auburn Hills - Auburn Hills, MI
18 OCT USA - Allstate Arena - Rosemont, IL
21 OCT USA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre - Irvine, CA
Full details of the new album, tour and links on where to get tickets can be found on www.ironmaiden.com.