Budapest is absolutely swarming with Iron Maiden shirts. Seriously, you can’t move for Eddies; a bemused American tourist even stops Hammer on our way to the Sports Arena to point at our Legacy Of The Beast tee and ask why he keeps seeing that grinning undead face everywhere. Maiden coming to town is always an event, but there’s something extra special in the air today. New tour, new setlist, new stage show and, for the first time in 35 years, even a brand new member (more on that later).
After the eras-mashing fun of the Future Past tour, which leaned heavily into Maiden’s 1986 sci fi epic Somewhere In Time and most recent studio album, 2021’s Senjutsu, this latest trek, titled Run For Your Lives, is all-guns-blazing nostalgia, promising cuts exclusively from the band’s first decade-and-a-bit. For old school fans, it’s pure heavy metal mana. For younger acolytes, it’s a chance to witness some songs they may well have resigned themselves to never seeing live.
