vocalist has played one of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal icons’ songs with his solo band for the first time in 22 years. The 65-year-old, who’s currently touring to promote his 2024 solo album , performed at a concert in Athens, Greece, on Sunday (July 21). Watch a clip of the abridged airing via the video player below.
was written by Iron Maiden’s bassist and principal composer/lyricist Steve Harris and originally appeared on Iron Maiden’s 1986 album . In a November 1986 interview with France’s , Harris said of the song: “My most ambitious composition [on ] is certainly , a story based on true facts. “When we started working on the LP, I was immersed in the story of Alexander The Great, a man who had a fantastic and incredible life.
“I fell in love with him and, quite naturally, I wrote the song and the lyrics, all this within two weeks. Sign up below to get the latest from Metal Hammer, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! “I must say that I’m very proud of this track.” Despite being a fan favourite, the song wasn’t debuted live until May 2023, when Iron Maiden started their ongoing tour.
The tour celebrates both and Iron Maiden’s most recent record, 2021’s . Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain that he had to alter how he plays another track, opener , for the tour. The change was a result of the drummer’s January 2023 mini-stroke.
“Now there’s a middle section, it’s all snare drum on the record. I can’t play it,” said McBrain. “As you probably noticed, those of you nerds that are in the audience that go, ‘He didn’t do the drum fill.
’ Well, that’s why, ’cause I fucking can’t do it.” Iron Maiden will continue their run in September with shows in Oceania and Asia. The band will then play a leg through North, Central and South America from October to December.
See the full list of upcoming Iron Maiden concerts and get tickets via . Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Prog and Metal Hammer, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster.
He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, NME, Guitar and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering. Japan’s post-hardcore dynamos Envy announce first album in four years, Eunoia “I have a fantastic therapist who helps me”: Jay Weinberg is in counselling to “process” Slipknot exit Peter Hammill announces Italian live dates for November.
