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

Iron Maiden's Boeing 757 tour plane, nicknamed "Ed Force One."

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)

Setlist varied

2008 Setlist

0. Intro.Doctor Doctor/Transylvania/Churchill's Speech
1. "Aces High" (From Powerslave, 1984)
2. "2 Minutes to Midnight" (From Powerslave, 1984)
3. "Revelations" (From Piece of Mind, 1983)
4. "The Trooper" (From Piece of Mind, 1983)
5. "Wasted Years" (From Somewhere in Time, 1986)
6. "The Number of The Beast" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)
7. "Can I Play with Madness" (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988)
8. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (From Powerslave, 1984)
9. "Powerslave" (From Powerslave, 1984)
10. "Heaven Can Wait" (From Somewhere in Time, 1986)
11. "Run to the Hills" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)
12. "Fear of The Dark" (From Fear of the Dark, 1992)
13. "Iron Maiden" (From Iron Maiden, 1980)
14. "Moonchild" (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988)
15. "The Clairvoyant" (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988)
16. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)

(the last three being the encore)

2009 Setlist

0. Intro.Doctor Doctor/Transylvania/Churchill's Speech
1. "Aces High" (From Powerslave, 1984)
2. "Wrathchild" (From Killers, 1988)
3. "2 Minutes to Midnight" (From Powerslave, 1984)
4. "Children of the Damned" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)
5. "Phantom of the Opera" (From Iron Maiden, 1980)
6. "The Trooper" (From Piece of Mind, 1983)
7. "Wasted Years" (From Somewhere in Time, 1986)
8. "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" (From Powerslave, 1984)
9. "Powerslave" (From Powerslave, 1984)
10. "Run to the Hills" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)
11. "Fear of The Dark" (From Fear of the Dark, 1992)
12. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)
13. "Iron Maiden" (From Iron Maiden, 1980)
14. "The Number of The Beast" (From The Number of the Beast, 1982)
15. "The Evil That Men Do" (From Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, 1988)
16. "Sanctuary" (From Iron Maiden, 1980)

(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

Tour Dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
				Tickets sold	Tickets on sale	Percentage sold
Leg #1 (Asia, Oceania, North America & South America)
1 February 2008	Mumbai	India	Bandra-Kurla complex	30,000	30,000	100%
4 February 2008	Perth	Australia	Burswood Dome	14,000	14,000	100%
6 February 2008	Melbourne		Rod Laver Arena	11,000	11,000	100%
7 February 2008				11,000	11,000	100%
9 February 2008	Sydney		Acer Arena	10,610	10,610	100%
10 February 2008				10,610	10,610	100%
12 February 2008	Brisbane		Entertainment Centre	13,500	13,500	100%
15 February 2008	Yokohama	Japan	Yokohama Pacifico	4,000	4,000	100%
16 February 2008	Tokyo		Makuhari Messe	10,000	10,000	100%
19 February 2008	Inglewood, CA	United States	The Forum	14,142	14,142	100%
21 February 2008	Guadalajara	Mexico	Telmex Auditorium	11,000	11,000	100%
22 February 2008	Monterrey		Monterrey Arena	12,000	12,000	100%
24 February 2008	Mexico City		Foro Sol	52,159	52,159	100%
26 February 2008	San José	Costa Rica	Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá	23,949	23,949	100%
28 February 2008	Bogotá	Colombia	Simón Bolívar Park	87,788	87,788	100%
2 March 2008	Sao Paulo	Brazil	Estádio Palestra Itália	37,812	37,812	100%
4 March 2008	Curitiba		Pedreira Paulo Leminski	20,000	20,000	100%
5 March 2008	Porto Alegre		Gigantinho	15,000	15,000	100%
7 March 2008	Buenos Aires	Argentina	Estadio Ricardo Etcheverry	25,000	25,000	100%
9 March 2008	Santiago	Chile	Pista Atletica	26,574	26,574	100%
12 March 2008	San Juan	Puerto Rico	Coliseo De Puerto Rico	11,548	13,626	85%
14 March 2008	East Rutherford, NJ	United States	Izod Center	14,154	14,154	100%
16 March 2008	Toronto	Canada	Air Canada Centre	13,766	13,766	100%
Leg #2 (North America)
21 May 2008	San Antonio, TX	United States	Verizon Wireless Amphitheater	13,667	19,982	68%
22 May 2008	The Woodlands, TX		Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion	11,108	15,861	70%
25 May 2008	Albuquerque, NM		Journal Pavilion	14,973	14,973	100%
26 May 2008	Phoenix, AZ		Cricket Wireless Pavilion	11,435	19,921	57%
28 May 2008	Concord, CA		Sleep Train Pavilion	12,500	12,500	100%
30 May 2008	Irvine, CA		Verizon Wireless Amphitheater	16,133	16,133	100%
31 May 2008				16,133	16,133	100%
2 June 2008	Auburn, WA		White River Amphitheatre	13,188	19,508	68%
3 June 2008	Vancouver	Canada	Pacific Coliseum	17,150	17,150	100%
5 June 2008	Calgary		Pengrowth Saddledome	12,000	12,000	100%
6 June 2008	Edmonton		Rexall Place	13,000	13,000	100%
8 June 2008	Regina		Brandt Centre	7,000	7,000	100%
9 June 2008	Winnipeg		MTS Centre	12,500	12,500	100%
11 June 2008	Rosemont, IL	United States	Allstate Arena	12,254	13,041	94%
12 June 2008	Cuyahoga Falls, OH		Blossom Music Center	10,028	21,340	47%
14 June 2008	Holmdel, NJ		PNC Bank Arts Center	11,340	16,996	67%
15 June 2008	New York City		Madison Square Garden	20,000	20,000	100%
17 June 2008	Camden, NJ		Susquehanna Bank Center	7,779	25,265	31%
18 June 2008	Columbia, MD		Merriweather Post Pavilion	9,211	15,000	61%
20 June 2008	Mansfield, MA		Comcast Center	19,900	19,900	100%
21 June 2008	Montréal	Canada	Parc Jean-Drapeau	22,500	90,000	56%
Leg #3 (Europe)
27 June 2008	Bologna	Italy	Gods of Metal	40,000	40,000	100%
29 June 2008	Dessel	Belgium	Graspop Metal Meeting	55,000	55,000	100%
1 July 2008	Paris	France	Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy	16,500	16,500	100%
2 July 2008				16,500	16,500	100%
5 July 2008	London	England	Twickenham Stadium	52,000	52,000	100%
9 July 2008	Lisbon	Portugal	Super Bock Super Rock	30,000	30,000	100%
11 July 2008	Mérida	Spain	Via de la Plata Festival	25,000	25,000	100%
12 July 2008	Zaragoza		Metalway Festival	(Cancelled)
16 July 2008	Stockholm	Sweden	Stockholms Olympiastadion	32,150	32,151	100%
18 July 2008	Helsinki	Finland	Helsinki Olympic Stadium	42,000	42,000	100%
19 July 2008	Tampere		Ratina Stadium	30,000	30,000	100%
22 July 2008	Trondheim	Norway	Lerkendal Stadium	24,000	24,000	100%
24 July 2008	Oslo		Valle Hovin	26,000	30,000	87%
26 July 2008	Gothenburg	Sweden	Ullevi Stadium	56 132	56 132	100%
27 July 2008	Horsens	Denmark	Horsens Gods Bane Pladsen	13,000	25,000	52%
31 July 2008	Wacken	Germany	Wacken Open Air	72,000	72,000	100%
2 August 2008	Athens	Greece	Terra Vibe Park	35,000	35,000	100%
4 August 2008	Bucharest	Romania	Cotroceni Stadium	25,000	25,000	100%
7 August 2008	Warsaw	Poland	Gwardia Stadium	29,000	29,000	100%
8 August 2008	Prague	Czech Republic	Slavia Stadium	35,000	35,000	100%
10 August 2008	Split	Croatia	Poljud City Stadium	27,650	30,000	92.16%
12 August 2008	Budapest	Hungary	Sziget Festival	40,000	40,000	100%
14 August 2008	Basel	Switzerland	St. Jakobshalle	9,000	9,000	100%
16 August 2008	Assen	Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen	25,000	25,000	100%
19 August 2008	Moscow	Russia	Olympic Arena	17,000	17,000	100%
Leg #4 (Europe, Asia, Oceania, North America & South America)
10 February 2009	Belgrade	Serbia	Belgrade Arena	13,850	15,000	96%
13 February 2009	Dubai	United Arab Emirates	Media City Amphitheatre
15 February 2009	Bangalore	India	Rock In India		60,000
20 February 2009	Auckland	New Zealand	Mount Smart Stadium		42,000
22 February 2009	Christchurch		Westpac Arena		10,000
25 February 2009	Monterrey	Mexico	Estadio Universitario	15,000	40,000	37%
26 February 2009	Guadalajara		Arena VFG	5,000	12,000	42%
28 February 2009	Mexico City		Foro Sol	25,000	50,000	50%
3 March 2009	Alajuela	Costa Rica	Estadio Alejandro Morera Soto	25,000	25,000	100%
5 March 2009	Caracas	Venezuela	Estadio Universitario	20,000	25,000	80%
7 March 2009	Bogota	Colombia	Simon Bolivar Park	70,000	87,000	90%
10 March 2009	Quito	Ecuador	Aucas Stadium	26,000	28,000	91%
12 March 2009	Manaus	Brazil	Sambodromo		15,000
14 March 2009	Rio de Janeiro		Praça da Apoteose		40,000
15 March 2009	Sao Paulo		Autodromo de Interlagos		400,000
18 March 2009	Belo Horizonte		Mineirinho		20,000
20 March 2009	Brasilia		Estádio Mané Garrincha		50,000
22 March 2009	Santiago	Chile	Club Hipico	65000	65,000	100%
26 March 2009	Lima	Peru	Estadio Nacional	32,000	40,000	80%
28 March 2009	Buenos Aires	Argentina	River Plate Stadium	41,000	65,000	63%
31 March 2009	Recife	Brazil	Jockey Club de Pernambuco		50,000
2 April 2009	Sunrise, FL	United States	BankAtlantic Center