A new feature from Metal Hammer takes you inside the mischief and mayhem of Iron Maiden's Future Past tour as they join the band in Prague. The following is an excerpt from the feature...
Whether it’s Steve Harris making tough calls or the band being prepared to challenge their fans’ expectations, Maiden’s steadfast refusal to let any outside influence permeate their world has consolidated them as metal’s - maybe all of music’s - most single-minded success story.
Be it producers, critics, peers or their own followers, over their near-50-year lifespan, they’ve caved to no one. They’ve never tried to court the mainstream. They don’t chase critical respect. They certainly don’t care about awards or industry recognition; their absence from the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame continues to outrage the metal community, but talking to Steve, it’s clear the band themselves couldn’t care less.
“I’ve never been worried about it,” shrugs Steve. “If people get recognised there, that’s fine, but we’ve never done music to be in some ‘Hall Of Fame’. If it was a thing that was voted by fans, that’d be OK, but the way it works… it doesn’t really represent anything. I don’t know how I’d feel about it if we did actually get in.”
It’s getting toasty as we pull up to the football ground, with temperatures sailing towards 25˚C. A handful of ex-pros are in attendance, including former Manchester United winger Karel Poborský, ex-Liverpool midfielder Patrik Berger and one-time Scotland international – and longtime Maiden fan – Colin Hendry. Steve bids us farewell as he heads towards the changing rooms to pow-wow with his teammates; he’ll go on to score a cracking goal in an emphatic 10-6 win.
The bassist looks like he’s barely broken a sweat as we climb back into the minibus, and, despite tonight’s concert looming, he still takes the time to snap more photos with the fresh batch of fans that are waiting as we arrive back at the hotel. There’s a whiff of Beatlemania whenever Maiden come to town, but like most things, it doesn’t faze them much.
You might not know it from the elated reactions the Future Past setlist has been getting, but even when it comes to picking which songs to play on tour, Maiden listen to one voice and one voice only: their own.
“This might be blunt and brutal, but we don’t do it for the audience,” Steve notes. “We do it for our own thing. We’ve gotta feel comfortable with what we’re playing and enjoy it, and then, hopefully, they’ll like it. That’s always been our stance. All the way through.”
Read the complete feature here.
Iron Maiden's The Future Past Tour features previously unperformed songs from Senjutsu, along with a focus on 1986’s iconic Somewhere In Time record, plus other classic cuts.
The tour lands at Estadio Enrique Roca in Murcia, Spain tonight, Thursday, July 20. You can find the band's complete tour itinerary here.
