Iron Maiden are the first rockers to fly their own aeroplane โ complete with all their crew and equipment โ on a 19 world city tour, with trained commercial pilot, and the bandโs singer Bruce Dickinson as pilot.
The plane, christened โEd Force Oneโ by fans, after Iron Maidenโs mascot Eddie is a specially customised Boeing 757 which will transport the band and crew 50,000 miles in the next few months.
Iron Maiden [pictured above at the Mumbai press conference yesterday]will play 45-dates on this world tour, kicking off proceedings tonight (February 1) in Mumbai, India. Itโs the second time the longstanding rock band have played the city โ after holding the capitalโs first ever metal all-dayer concert last year.
Band manager Rod Smallwood loves the speed of the single aeroplane, despite the complications of how to fit everything together. He says โIt is pretty complex to do this. Youโve got 12 tons of equipment, youโve got 60-70 crew and youโve got the band and their families. But with this plane, we can move quickly. On one leg of the tour weโre doing four major stadium shows in four different countries in one week. You just couldnโt do that the normal way.โ
Maidenโs โSomewhere Back In Timeโ world tour harks back to the bandโs Powerslave days. Dickinson describes the mammoth stage set up saying โWeโre bringing a Monster of a show with us โ pyramids, cyborgs, special effects and a setlist to blow every Maiden fanโs mind.
The tour arrives in the UK, when Iron Maiden play their first ever stadium show at Twickenham Statium on July 5.
Click here for more details about the tour and for the full list of Iron Maiden tour dates in 2008
Pic credit: PA Photos