Somewhere Back in Time World Tour

Somewhere Back in Time World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden in 2008 and 2009 to support the DVD release of their 1985 concert video Live After Death, as well as their 2008 greatest hits compilation CD Somewhere Back in Time. Being a re-creation of the band's 1985 World Slavery Tour, the stage is designed with an Ancient Egyptian theme and the set list primarily consists of songs from the 1984 album Powerslave. Songs from Iron Maiden (1980), Killers (1981), The Number of the Beast (1982), Piece of Mind (1983), Somewhere in Time (1986), Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988), and Fear of the Dark (1992) also comprise the set list.

Tour commentary


The first leg of Iron Maiden's Somewhere Back in Time World Tour opened in Mumbai, India on Feb 1st, and continued through Australia, Japan, Los Angeles and Mexico, followed by the band's first ever concerts in Costa Rica and Colombia, and then on to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico and New York, before finishing in Toronto, Canada, on March 16. Over the 45 day period the band played 23 concerts to over 500,000 fans in 11 countries, flying close to 50,000 miles in the specially refitted plane.

EMA Telstar announced that the Maiden tour will be the biggest rock tour that any band has ever undertaken in these Nordic regions. Comments tour promoter Thomas Johansson of EMA Telstar: "'We are all very proud to be making history by giving our rock fans the biggest Nordic Rock Tour there has ever been and certainly one of the most spectacular. Maiden is so hugely popular with the Nordic peoples that we wanted to ensure that as many fans as possible got the opportunity to see this very special show next year as we expect demand for tickets to be enormous.'"

Maiden had also announced that they would be returning to cities that they hadn't returned to for years. Western Canada is included, as their five city run through Western Canada had sold out the very day they went on sale. Calgary and Regina had sold out in just under an hour. Edmonton sold out completely in a few hours. Winnipeg and Vancouver sold out within two hours. Calgary also had the highest pre-sale ever for the band, in which they sold out half the tickets. Edmonton and Regina were not far behind. Says Dickinson about the results: "We are truly overwhelmed by this response, especially as some of these cities we haven't played in 20 years!! Being Brits we are always very comfortable with Canadians and it will be a great pleasure to get back on the prairies again. It was always a LOUD response there! We look forward to this immensely and hope to give you all a show to remember." Most recently they played at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Tickets to this show were sold out. During the performance of "Powerslave" the band's instruments lost power for a brief period of time and they passed time by playing english football on the stage. Once the equipment was fixed they returned and asked the audience if they should play the last verse of the song or do the next one. The band opted to play the next song which was "Heaven Can Wait". Rarely ever have Maiden been cancelling gigs in the past 2 years, but due to storm damage to the PA and lights at the Metalway Festival in Zaragoza, Spain, Maiden had to cancel their July 12 date.

Opening Bands
Opening bands for this tour are:
 * First Leg: Lauren Harris, Vanishing Point, Behind Crimson Eyes, Parikrama.
 * Second Leg: Lauren Harris, Anthrax (May 30 and 31 only) and Trivium (June 14 only).
 * Third Leg: Lauren Harris, Within Temptation (just at Twickenham Stadium and TT in Assen), Kamelot (only at TT in Assen), Avenged Sevenfold (not at every gig), Made Of Hate (Warsaw show only), Salamandra (Prague show only) and Slayer (Lisbon show).
 * Fourth Leg: Lauren Harris, Carcass, Atreyu, Morbid Angel, Anthrax (Bogota), Ágora (Mexico City) , IRA (Monterrey) , M.A.S.A.C.R.E. (Lima) , Witchblade (Chile)

2008 Setlist
Intro.Doctor Doctor/Transylvania/Churchill's Speech  "Aces High" (From Powerslave, 1984)  "2 Minutes to Midnight" (From Powerslave, 1984)  "Revelations" (From Piece of Mind, 1983)  "The Trooper" (From Piece of Mind, 1983)  "Wasted Years" (From Somewhere in Time, 1986)  "The Number of The Beast" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)  "Can I Play with Madness" (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988)  "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (From Powerslave, 1984)  "Powerslave" (From Powerslave, 1984)  "Heaven Can Wait" (From Somewhere in Time, 1986)  "Run to the Hills" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)  "Fear of The Dark" (From Fear of the Dark, 1992)  "Iron Maiden" (From Iron Maiden, 1980)  "Moonchild" (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988)  "The Clairvoyant" (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988) <li> "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982) </ol> (the last three being the encore)

2009 Setlist
<li>Intro.Doctor Doctor/Transylvania/Churchill's Speech <li> "Aces High" (From Powerslave, 1984) <li> "Wrathchild" (From Killers, 1988) <li> "2 Minutes to Midnight" (From Powerslave, 1984) <li> "Children of the Damned" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982) <li> "Phantom of the Opera" (From Iron Maiden, 1980) <li> "The Trooper" (From Piece of Mind, 1983) <li> "Wasted Years" (From Somewhere in Time, 1986) <li> "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (From Powerslave, 1984) <li> "Powerslave" (From Powerslave, 1984) <li> "Run to the Hills" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982) <li> "Fear of The Dark" (From Fear of the Dark, 1992) <li> "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982) <li> "Iron Maiden" (From Iron Maiden, 1980) <li> "The Number of The Beast" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982) <li> "The Evil That Men Do" (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988) <li> "Sanctuary" (From Iron Maiden, 1980) </ol> (the last three being the encore)

Personnel

 * Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals
 * Dave Murray – guitar
 * Adrian Smith – guitar, backing vocals
 * Janick Gers – guitar, backing vocals
 * Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals
 * Nicko McBrain – drums, percussion
 * Michael Kenney – keyboards