by Mark
From The Guardian:
Bruce Dickinson’s BBC 6 Music rock show is to be axed and Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie’s Radio 2 show cut to three nights a week in the latest changes to the two stations. Dickinson, the lead singer of Iron Maiden, has presented a rock show on the digital station since it launched in 2002. It is the first 6 Music show to be axed since the BBC announced proposals to close the station at the end of next year.
by Mark
8:24 pm in News, tours by Mark
Iron Maiden are to release their next studio LP, “Final Frontier”, in ‘late summer’ this year (so, expect it to drop around August).
This will be supported by a 22-date North American tour starting in June:
| JUNE | |
| Wed 09 Fri 11 Sat 12 Mon 14 Wed 16 Thu 17 Sat 19 Sun 20 Tue 22 Thu 24 Sat 26 Tue 29 Wed 30 |
Dallas, TX – Superpages.com Center Houston, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center Denver, CO – Comfort Dental Amphitheatre Albuquerque, NM – The Pavilion Phoenix, AZ – Cricket Wireless Pavilion San Bernardino, CA – San Manuel Amphitheatre Concord, CA – Sleep Train Pavilion Auburn, WA – White River Amphitheatre Vancouver, BC – GM Place Edmonton, AB – Rexall Place Saskatoon, SK – Credit Union Center Winnipeg, MB – MTS Center + +Dream Theater will not be performing in Winnipeg |
| JULY | |
| Sat 03 Wed 07 Sun 11 Mon 12 Wed 14 Thu 15 Sat 17 Sun 18 Tue 20 |
Toronto, ON – Molson Amphitheatre Montreal, QC – Bell Centre Holmdel, NJ – PNC New York, NY – Madison Square Garden Pittsburgh, PA – First Niagra Pavilion Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center Detroit, MI – DTE Energy Music Theatre Chicago, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre Washington D.C. – Jiffy Lube Live |
See IronMaiden.com for full details.
by Mark
Don’t forget to check IronMaiden.com tomorrow, March 4th, at 20.00 GMT for what are sure to be the 2010 dates for Iron Maiden’s North American tour. Here’s hoping it is a full tour, and not a ‘hot spot’ tour as they’ve done previously.
Right now, Maiden’s site is down due to ‘too many connections’, but I have a feeling this is more a CMS issue rather than one of database stability, so I doubt they will have problems handling extra traffic tomorrow.
Interestingly, traffic here at Maiden Central has surged in the days following the announcement of the announcement (erm…), so it looks like 2010 is heating up for the Irons!
by Mark
Well, the news was released last night, and is as suspected:
Having established itself as the “Best New Festival” at the 2009 UK Festival Awards,SONISPHERE FESTIVAL KNEBWORTH moves from strength to strength with the announcement of our phenomenal 2010 headliners, as well as the first of many great bands for the three day event over July 30, 31 and Aug 1. With the power to rock the very foundations of Knebworth Hall itself, the weekend headliners, both renowned for sensational live shows, are British Metal titans IRON MAIDEN – for whom KNEBWORTH will be their only UK appearance of 2010 – and German industrial rock monsters RAMMSTEIN, who make their first – and only 2010 – UK Festival appearance. The legendary IRON MAIDEN, whose last UK concert was a sold out show to 50,000 fans at Twickenham Stadium in July 2008, are the biggest selling British Metal band of all time, with album sales in excess of 80 million based on a huge following around the planet built on extensive and spectacular World Tours and the sheer excitement of their live performances. Brit Award winners for BEST BRITISH LIVE ACT earlier this year, Maiden have been at the forefront of Metal for over twenty-five years and continue to go forward with ever increasing success both critically and commercially. Their last tour alone visited 38 countries and played to 2 million passionate fans, with the recent award winning DVD “Flight 666″ of this tour making it to No 1 in 25 countries including the UK and USA, where it is still the top selling music DVD so far this year. We are delighted to present a rare opportunity for Sonisphere fans to see one of the world’s truly unique and legendary bands in the magnificent setting of the grounds of Knebworth. Prior to playing a few selected dates next summer, Maiden are currently working on a new album expected to be released late next year. Iconic frontman Bruce Dickinson took time out to comment: “Knebworth has been the home of so many legendary concerts going back many years it really will be a privilege to play there. We enjoy the camaraderie of playing great festivals and are very much looking forward to getting back out to do some shows next summer and, as it will be over two years since we played the UK, we will certainly be looking to deliver a memorable and spectacular night for our fans!”
What this means for UK fans, of course, is that Maiden will return in 2011 for a UK tour – their ‘only UK date of 2010′ is the standard framing of it being simply part of their European festival calendar, with a further tour to be scheduled after North American and Asian/Australasian dates.
Also, I would imagine this also means their next LP will be scheduled for a September/October release.
by Mark
Blaze Bayley, the band and man himself, has stepped in at the last minute to perform at Hellfire II after Evile dropped out.
Hellfire II is on at the Birmingham NEC on November 6-8. Check out their site for ticket information.
by Mark
Maiden tribute act Higher-On Maiden (formerly Hi-On Maiden) will be appearing at the 10th anniversary Music Live show in Birmingham, on November 8, where they will be recreating Maiden’s 1988 Donnington Monsters Of Rock set.
Official site: www.higher-on-maiden.co.uk
by Mark
Adam Lambert, a runner-up on the last American Idol series, is apparently auctioning a jacket he wore on the Idols tour (cue the moistening of a million fangirls).
Anyway, not particularly interesting, but there is some news kicking around about it due to it having what looks like a couple of swastika designs. No real reason for us to care, except they’re drawn alongside what is most definitely a Somewhere-In-Time era Eddie, along with Derek Riggs’ famous signature.
by Mark
From The Metal Underground:
Former Iron Maiden front man and solo artist Paul Di’Anno has announced that Thunderbolt will be supporting him in November and Cheeno will be supporting him during the German tour dates in December
See TMU for the full European dates.
by Mark
From IronMaiden.com:
Yes, it’s almost that time of year again! As we’ve done in recent years, we’re throwing the design of the official Iron Maiden xmas card open to you guys. This is the card that gets sent to FC members and to friends of the band. Each year, the standard has been amazingly high and we’ve had a real challenge agreeing on a winner. This year, we’d like a card with a Flight 666 theme. We’ll leave it as vague as that – let your imagination run free! Send us your designs – conforming to the specifications below – and the winner will be picked by Rod, be printed and sent to thousands of people. The winner will get a credit on the card, an Iron Maiden football shirt signed by all the members of the band and some other goodies from the Official Iron Maiden Shop. We’ll also award prizes to any runners up we particularly like, and even if your card isn’t chosen to be printed we’ll be using our favourites on the homepage throughout December.
Read full details, and competition requirements, here.
by Mark
Speaking of Dennis Stratton, this bit of news bubbled up a week or so ago:
BUDDING musicians can enjoy a free taster session when a new music school opens in Sawbridgeworth this month. Clive’s Easylearn Pop Music School opens on Tuesday and former Iron Maiden guitarist, Dennis Stratton, will be the guest, signing autographs and giving advice. The Pop school will be at the Bullfields Centre, in Cutforth Road, every Tuesday from 6pm, teaching youngsters from the age of seven how to play guitar, drums, keyboard and bass. (read more)