Apr. 16 - Sunrise, Florida - Bank Atlantic Center (presale 11/29)
Apr. 17 - Tampa, Florida - St Pete Times Forum (no on-sale info yet)
Here's the press release courtesy of Blabbermouth:
IRON MAIDEN, with their crew and many tons of equipment, will once again be boarding Ed Force One in February 2011 to fly 50,000 miles round the globe on their continuing mammoth "The Final Frontier World Tour", playing 29 shows and visiting 26 cities in thirteen countries across five continents with singer Bruce Dickinson again in the pilot's seat, and heading into more new frontiers of uncharted MAIDEN territory!!!
The first show will be on February 11 in Moscow's Olympic Stadium, after which the Boeing 757, which will have new designs to tie in with the new album and tour, will fly the band to Singapore and Indonesia for MAIDEN's first-ever shows there, before arriving in Australia to headline two arena dates and five Soundwave Festivals. Ed Force One then turns its attention briefly to the Northern hemisphere with a first show ever in South Korea and two shows in Tokyo, before heading all the way across the Pacific, a journey which (believe it or not!) is 6660 miles for two shows in Mexico. An extensive series of stadium shows through five South American countries follows, including a first visit to Belem, Northern Brazil, and, via Puerto Rico, the band will play the final show on this leg of the tour in Tampa, Florida, USA on April 17, exactly 66 days after Moscow!
Says Bruce, "We were taken aback by the fantastic reaction from everyone to Ed Force One during the 2008/09 world tour. As our fans all know from the 'Flight 666' film, which documented the trials and tribulations we underwent in order to get the whole project literally off the ground, the end result was well worth all the effort and complex logistics we had to deal with! The band and crew enjoyed themselves so much travelling that way, it seemed only logical to set up this part of 'The Final Frontier' tour in the same way so we could get to see as many fans as possible all over the world, only this time we're pushing the boundaries even further and going to more places MAIDEN has never been before... in true frontier style!! We very much look forward to playing in Singapore, Indonesia and South Korea for the first time, as well as revisiting our fans everywhere else.
"The set list will be different to this year's tour. Of course we will play more songs from the new album and some other recent material, but we will include a healthy dose of older fan favourites as we will be playing to so many new faces who we know will want to hear those songs live for the first time. We will cram into the plane as much of the production we used this year as is physically possible, including of course Eddie, and intend to replicate the spectacular light show in as many places as we are able. All in all it promises to be a fantastic trip for everyone!! So see you all soon."
"Hallowed Be Thy Name" (Beast Over Hammersmith, 1982)
"The Trooper" (Flight 666, 2009)
I was probably not the most impartial concert reviewer on April 2, 2009. When you wait half your life to cross a band off the number one slot on the concerts-to-see-before-I-die list, you get excited. I'm positive the rest of the Bank Atlantic Center crowd felt the same way as Iron Maiden pounded one classic metal anthem after another.
But before leaving the stage, Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson made a promise. Maiden would visit Florida again in 2011.
In fact, Florida will be the envy of every Iron Maiden fan in the U.S. and Canada. "The Final Frontier World Tour" will only make two stops each in Mexico and Florida on this continent.
Iron Maiden hits St. Pete Times Forum on April 17, 2011, for their first Tampa concert since 1988. Will the setlist be as good? Given how much I liked their latest album, The Final Frontier, probably not. But then again, the greatest test for Maiden's material has always been how the music sounds live. (Full tour details and some classic Maiden live clips after the jump)
