Iron Maiden Announces 2014 Tour Dates

The 2014 Tour will include dates in countries not visited during the 2013 leg and will be a much shorter run than is usual for a Maiden tour. Manager Rod Smallwood explains,

“The Maiden England 2013 Tour was incredibly well received everywhere and there is much demand from fans to see more and for the band to visit some places in Europe we couldn’t make it to this year so we thought we should play a few more shows. However this will be a relatively short tour in Maiden terms, starting towards the end of May and finishing at Sonisphere, Knebworth in early July. During 2014 we have something new we need to start thinking about, and on which we will be wholly and firmly focused going into 2015 and beyond!

As all our fans know, Maiden England is Part 3 in the History Trilogy of the 1980s video/DVD releases so this is likely to be the last time we will tour with a set list based on the ‘80s, and therefore the last time fans will EVER hear some of these songs played live. With this in mind, for the 2014 dates we plan to change the set list around a little, to make it more equally representative of the whole of the ‘80s period covered by those three DVDs – Early Days, Live After Death and of course Maiden England, along with one notable exception from the 90’s, the fans will know which song I’m talking about!

So for now, take care and look after yourselves and we’ll see you all next summer ”

Dates announced so far:

MAY 31 Fortarock Festival, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
JUNE 1 Rock In Idro, Bologna, Italy
JUNE 3 Budapest, Hungary
JUNE 5 – 9 Rock Am Ring / Rock Im Park, Germany
JUNE 8 Brno, Czech Republic
JUNE 11 Copenhell, Denmark
JUNE 12 – 14 Greenfield Festival, Interlaken, Switzerland
JUNE 13 – 15 Nova Rock Festival, Nickelsdorf, Austria
JUNE 16 Sofia, Bulgaria
JUNE 20 HellFest, France
JUNE 24 Poznan, Poland
JUNE 26 – 28 Bravalla Festival, Sweden
JUNE 28 Bergen Calling, Norway
JULY 1 Luxembourg Rockhal
JULY 3 Main Square Festival, Arras, France
JULY 4 – 6 Sonisphere Festival, Knebworth, UK

IRON MAIDEN Bassist Steve Harris’ House Was Robbed

Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris’ home in The Bahamas’ Cable Beach was robbed a few weeks ago with the bandits getting away with $8,000 in home electronics and severely injuring the house caretaker.

Harris, who splits his time between his Bahamas home and a home in LA was not at the property at the time of robbery. A report by Tribune 242 states that on November 29th, sometime between midnight and 2am, the robbers sawed through the chains of the front gate.

The house’s caretaker, Philip Pierre, who has worked there for 47 years had a knife put to his throat and the bandits “and left him in a pool of blood wrapped in duct tape.” He survived, but was left traumatized.

Two suspects are in custody for questioning but no charges have yet been filed. About $5,000 of the stolen electronics, which include TVs and other appliances, were recovered. Obviously, the value of the goods is pointless for Harris. If it’s anything like the opulent country house Harris was selling last year, he will barely feel the sting of the theft. The true tragedy in the situation is that somebody got harmed while this was happening.

Bruce Dickinson Reveals Plans For New IRON MAIDEN Record

Recently, IRON MAIDEN’s captain Bruce Dickinson revealed during an interview with the Swedish web site Talarforum (translation: Speakers’ Forum) that his band is planning to enter the studio to record a NEW album sometime in 2014. What is to be the bands 16th album, will be the follow up to ‘The Final Frontier’, which was released in 2010 and sold 63,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release, enough units for it to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 4.

Don’t forget that Maiden will be taking over Deutschland during the summer of 2014. The band will be headlining one of the nights at the massive Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park Festivals in Germany between Thursday June 5 and Monday June 9. The other headliners are METALLICA, Kings of Leon and Linkin Park. Tickets are on sale now!

ANTHRAX Has Seven New Songs Arranged Musically

According to a post on the official web site of ANTHRAX guitarist Scott Ian, drummer Charlie Benante, bassist Frank Bello and Ian are “working hard” on material for the next ANTHRAX album. Ian writes: “We’ve had a couple of writing sessions and things are moving along well — fast for us, actually. We’ve got seven songs arranged musically and we’re getting together again in a week and a half.”

He adds: “The new stuff is aggressive, fast, even riffier than the last record and some of it is difficult to play. Nothing like writing parts that are above my ability as a guitar player! When that happens, the drill sergeant in my brain yells, ‘PRACTICE, YOU LAZY FUCK!’ So I do. And I nail that shit.

“I’m just getting into lyrics, songtitles, nothing to talk about yet.”

Benante recently spent time recovering from surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome. He rejoined his bandmates for their September 13 performance at “The Battle Of San Bernardino” festival in San Bernardino, California alongside IRON MAIDEN, MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL and SABATON.

The first photo of the new ANTHRAX lineup — featuring the band’s latest addition, guitarist Jon Donais (SHADOWS FALL) — can be seen below (photo by Stephanie Cabral).

Donais has been touring with ANTHRAX since Rob Caggiano‘s departure in January, and will continue to play with ANTHRAX for the foreseeable future.

Speaking to Metal Hammer editor Alexander Milas for the “Metal Hammer” radio show on TeamRock Radio, Ian stated about the band’s current second-guitarist situation: “Jon‘s been with us since February, and I think I can safely say he’s passed the audition… [laughs]. I know we haven’t said anything official yet, but in my mind, he’s the guy. I’m sure some type of official announcement… because in this world, people apparently need that kind of information so they can sleep well at night. But as far as I’m concerned, Jon is the guitar player in ANTHRAX.”

Donais previously stated about playing with ANTHRAX: “I grew up on ANTHRAX, they’re the thrash scene, they’re one of the ‘Big Four,’ I’d be crazy to not want to play with them. Initially, Rob called and told me he was leaving the band, and asked if I’d be interested in filling in. Then Scott called me and everything fell into place.”

ANTHRAX‘s latest studio album, “Worship Music”, has sold more than 100,000 copies in the United States since its September 2011 release.

METALLICA’s LARS ULRICH: ‘Another Frontier’ Announcement Coming This Week

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich told the San Francisco radio station 107.7 The Bone in an interview last month that the band has something coming up in December that will surprise fans. Asked what the group had in store for the immediate future, Ulrich explained, “There’s a very interesting thing coming our way in December . . . There’s another frontier heading in METALLICA‘s direction in December. Which, if anybody (at the band’s management) even knew that I just said what I just said, they would hunt me down and silence me. But there is another frontier coming in December, which we’re very excited about.”

During a roundtable with a group of journalists in London, England last week, Ulrich was asked for more clues as to what this “frontier” might be. “‘Lulu Part 2’ — just to piss everybody off!” he jokingly replied before adding, “I believe that there’s an announcement on October 8. But don’t hold me to that, I’ve been a little caught up in [the new METALLICA movie, ‘Metallica Through The Never’]. It’s not anything of that magnitude… There may be a few of you that would be disappointed; it’s not anything quite at that level.”

He continued: “I found myself telling one of your colleagues earlier, there’s an IRON MAIDEN album called ‘The Final Frontier’. So I’ll borrow that from my interview an hour ago, and say, ‘My clue will be the IRON MAIDEN album ‘The Final Frontier’. There you go.”

During The Bone interview, Ulrich was also asked if the group planned to stage a third installment of its Orion Music + More festival in Detroit next year, after bringing the show’s second edition there last June.

The drummer replied, “Detroit was a great experience. We’d love to bring this thing back to Detroit. We’ve gotta sit down and look at the practical parts of it. And our good friends at (promoters) C3 (Presents) have gotta sit down and probably get their calculators out and all that stuff that we try to stay out of . . . It’s not an easy thing to launch a festival, but we’ve had a lot of fun the last two years doing it, and we hope to bring it back to Detroit.”

Last June’s Orion event drew at least 20,000 people per day over the course of two days to see METALLICA, RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, DEFTONES, SILVERSUN PICKUPS, RISE AGAINST and more.

“Metallica Through The Never” opened on 308 IMAX screens last weekend and earned $1.7 million, making it the biggest IMAX opening for a concert film ever. The movie, which expanded to more theaters on Friday (October 4), ranked 13th on the overall box office chart.

IRON MAIDEN Guitarist Says Band’s Plans For Next Year Are ‘Up In The Air’

During a brand new interview with Chile’s Radio Futuro, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Dave Murray was asked if there are any plans for the band to return to the studio to begin work on material for the follow-up to 2010’s “The Final Frontier”.

“We’ve been out on tour quite a few months this year,” Dave explained. “So when we finish, we’re actually going to go and head back and take a break, really.”

He continued: “We haven’t got any plans, as such, really, what’s gonna happen next year. Basically, we’re just gonna wait and see. [laughs] But there’s things that are going on in the meantime. I mean, we just had a beer come out — it’s like the Trooper beer — and that’s actually doing really well. So we’ll just let the Trooper beer go on tour for us. [laughs] And then we’re just gonna spend some time off recuperating. So I’m not quite sure what’s gonna be happening next year. It’s all up in the air.”

IRON MAIDEN last month landed at position No. 1 on Billboard.com‘s “Hot Tours” list of top-grossing tours with $8.5 million in ticket sales from six performances on their summer tour of Europe. The shows were attended by a total of 121,280 fans, including a two-night, sold-out stand on August 3-4 at the O2 Arena in Lonon, England, where the band played to 27,000 fans. With totals added from this summer’s Europe dates, overall ticket sales from the tour top $42 million from 45 reported concerts.

MAIDEN‘s 15th studio CD, “The Final Frontier”, featured 10 tracks that had an average running time of seven minutes and 40 seconds, with the shortest song, “The Alchemist”, clocking in at four minutes and 29 seconds, and the longest, “When The Wild Wind Blows”, lasting ten minutes and 59 seconds.

“The Final Frontier” sold 63,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to enter The Billboard 200 chart at position No. 4.

IRON MAIDEN‘s previous album, 2006’s “A Matter Of Life And Death”, opened with 56,000 units to land at No. 9. This was a notable increase from the 40,000 first-week tally registered by its predecessor, 2003’s “Dance of Death” (which debuted at No. 18 on The Billboard 200 chart), and that of “Brave New World”, which moved 38,000 copies in June 2000 to land at No. 39 on The Billboard 200 chart.

“The Final Frontier” was IRON MAIDEN‘s fourth U.K. No. 1 album. The band previously topped the chart in 1982 with “The Number of the Beast”, in 1988 with “Seventh Son of a Seventh Son” and in 1992 with “Fear of the Dark”.

ANTHRAX Begins Writing New Album

ANTHRAX has officially commenced the songwriting process for the band’s next studio album, tentatively due in 2014. Guitarist Scott Ian tweeted this past Saturday: “Today [drummer Charlie Benante] and [bassist Frank Bello] are coming over to start writing for the next record. The few skeletons that are rattling around sound vicious!” Benante recently spent time recovering from surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome. He rejoined his bandmates for their September 13 performance at “The Battle Of San Bernardino” festival in San Bernardino, California alongside IRON MAIDEN, MEGADETH, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL and SABATON. The first photo of the new ANTHRAX lineup — featuring the band’s latest addition, guitarist Jon Donais (SHADOWS FALL) — can be seen below (photo by Stephanie Cabral). Donais has been touring with ANTHRAX since Rob Caggiano’s departure in January, and will continue to play with ANTHRAX for the foreseeable future. Speaking to Metal Hammer editor Alexander Milas for the “Metal Hammer” radio show on TeamRock Radio, Scott Ian stated about the band’s current second-guitarist situation: “Jon’s been with us since February, and I think I can safely say he’s passed the audition… [laughs]. I know we haven’t said anything official yet, but in my mind, he’s the guy. I’m sure some type of official announcement… because in this world, people apparently need that kind of information so they can sleep well at night. But as far as I’m concerned, Jon is the guitar player in ANTHRAX.” Donais previously stated about playing with ANTHRAX: “I grew up on ANTHRAX, they’re the thrash scene, they’re one of the ‘Big Four,’ I’d be crazy to not want to play with them. Initially, Rob called and told me he was leaving the band, and asked if I’d be interested in filling in. Then Scott called me and everything fell into place.” ANTHRAX’s latest studio album, “Worship Music”, has sold 109,000 copies in the United States since its September 2011 release.

FOZZY To Enter Studio In January, Says Singer

Jason Price of Icon Vs. Icon recently conducted an interview with FOZZY singer and WWE wrestling superstar Chris Jericho. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Icon Vs. Icon: Is there musical ground you are anxious to cover?

Chris: We have already started writing songs for the next record. We will be focusing in even more on what we do best — the groove, the space, the heaviness and the melodies. As much as we love IRON MAIDEN, JUDAS PRIEST, DIO and a lot of new bands like STONE SOUR, AVENGED SEVENFOLD and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, we also have a big appreciation for JOURNEY, FOREIGNER, STYX, QUEEN and THE BEATLES; bands who used a lot of harmony. We like the days where every guy in the band sang! We really want to continue those days. I think one of the reasons we have been doing so well because FOZZY is a little bit different than the norm and that has helped us get to the next level.

Icon Vs. Icon: Where are you in process of creating this new material for a new FOZZY album?

Chris: We are going to go back into the studio starting in January. We are writing now and we want to have this thing released for the summertime. It is would be perfect timing for putting out a record, where we can go tour with at all the summer festivals and tours. We are getting everything sorted out and organized right now. Like I keep saying, there is just so much momentum from “Sin And Bones”, we want to keep that rolling and the elevation continuing along!

Icon Vs. Icon: Speaking of new music, where do you find yourself looking for inspiration as a songwriter?

Chris: I just go by songtitles. If I see an interesting phrase, something that piques my interest, I will write it down and work my way backwards from there. Obviously, there are a lot of different places you can derive lyrics from. Personally, I like imagery lyrics. If you look at “Sandpaper” or “Spider In My Mouth”, they are more imagery driven, rather than literal, visceral meanings. I also like relationship-type songs like “In My Head” or “Shine Forever” or “Feed My Addiction”. Then you have the more fantastic ones like “What Happens”, “Past Life” or “Dark Passenger”, which was loosely based on ‘Dexter”, or storm — “Storm The Beaches” is about being in World War II. It is just whatever catches my eye, but it typically starts off with the song title.

Icon Vs. Icon: Last time we spoke, you had been giving some thought on doing a live DVD release to capture the live show. Any movement on that front?

Chris: Yeah, we just filmed a set at Bloodstock, which is a big festival we played in England a few weeks ago. Once we have that all organized and ready, I am sure it will be released before the new record or if nothing else, with the new record as a bonus disc.

Icon Vs. Icon: Last time we spoke, you had signed a book deal for a third autobiography. You had mentioned wanting to start chipping away at it while on tour. Where do you stand in that process?

Chris: I did actually start it. A couple of weeks ago we were in Austria and I finally bit the bullet and started working on it. I am about 85 pages in. Once you kind of crack the seal and get to work on it, it becomes addictive. That is what you need to write a book because it is a huge project that takes a lot of effort. I have a couple of great books to live up to, so I have a certain level of quality to meet as well. All of those factors lead you to waiting for the right time. Once you get started, it is hard to stop. That is where I am at right now, so hopefully it will be out next year. I am not sure exactly if it is supposed to be out in the fall or winter. I know what my deadline is and I am late! Fire it up!

PAUL DI’ANNO Lands New U.S. Booking Agent, Plans To Embark On North American Tour In January

Less than a week after the announcement of Paul Di’Anno‘s canceled U.S. tour, Nashville-based Mind’s I Entertainment has reached an agreement to represent the former IRON MAIDEN vocalist in the U.S. and Canada. Included are plans for a U.S. and Canadian tour.

“I’m a big fan of Paul‘s and I hated to hear his tour was canceled,” statedMark Warner, Mind’s I Entertainment owner. “I hated it so much, I decided to do something about it. Paul is a great musician, a great guy and one of the great metal voices of our time. I won’t let fans be disappointed by poor decisions made by others.”

Initial plans are for Paul Di’Anno‘s tour to kick off in Nashville in late January 2014, covering the U.S., then into Canada by late February. Additionally, Paul will be making a substantial number of personal appearances, interviews and surprise performances with other musicians while on tour.

Di’Anno completed his first North American tour in early 2010, 17 years after he was deported following a prison term for guns and drug offenses.

On August 27, 2011, Di’Anno played his first show since serving time in a U.K. prison after he falsely collected U.K. government benefits by claiming he suffered nerve damage to his back that prevented him from working.

Due to a number of health issues, including a knee problem which will require surgery soon, Di’Anno announced in July 2012 that he would stop touring in 2013.

Michael Salenius, Di’Anno‘s Swedish booking manager and tour manager, told BLABBERMOUTH.NET that 2013 would be “a big, fantastic” last touring year for Paul, with a lot of solo shows, festival appearances andDi’Anno vs. Blaze Bayley concerts. You will also see various guest musicians joining Paul on stage.”

Fan-filmed video footage of Paul Di’Anno‘s July 10 performance at Lilla Torg in Malmö, Sweden can be seen below.

Di’Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN before being fired and replaced by Bruce Dickinson. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS and BATTLEZONE, and released several solo records.