The heavy metal band Iron Maiden will be kicking off the fourth and final leg of their international tour in Dubai next year. The first stop of their 'Somewhere Back in Time World Tour 08' will be at Dubai's Media City Amphitheatre on Feb 13. "We had a terrific time in Dubai when we played at Desert Rock Festival a couple of years ago," said the band's founder Steve Harris. "It seemed there were fans there from all over the Middle East and even farther afield and it felt like a very special occasion. So when we decided to take out Ed Force One again early next year we all thought that Dubai would be a great place to start." The band will fly from concert to concert in their customised Boeing 757, christened Ed Force One by a fan, which will be flown by Astraeus Airlines Captain and Maiden vocalist, Bruce Dickinson. Iron Maiden, whose hits include 'Two Minutes to Midnight' and 'The Trooper, are taking twelve tons of stage equipment with them on their tour.
They will visit 19 cities in eleven countries on this leg, making it a staggering 37 countries in total visited on the tour, playing to almost two million fans. Taking off in early February, Iron Maiden will make their first appearances in New Zealand for 16 years via Dubai and Bangalore followed by the long haul up to Mexico and then finishing with an extended run through Latin America. They will play songs from the band's history by focusing almost entirely on the 80's.
For more information, go to www.aegliveme.com and www.boxofficeme.com, or Iron Maiden's official site www.ironmaiden.com.
* The National
