Exploring Songs on Iron Maiden's Legacy of the Beast Tour Setlist

Up the irons! Iron Maiden are taking over.

Featuring members Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Janick Gers, Dave Murray and Adrian Smith on guitars, Nicko McBrain on drums and the legendary Steve Harris on bass, the band is tearing up North America on their Legacy of the Beast Tour!

The metal heavyweights kicked of their massive, 33-city North American trek July 18 in Sunrise, Florida, and are scheduled to wrap up on September 25 in San Antonio, Texas with support from The Raven Age along the way. The first leg of the Legacy of the Beast Tour opened in Europe last year to critical acclaim.

Inspired by Maiden's mobile game and comic book of the same name, the Legacy of the Beast Tour features an 80s-heavy setlist, a set design that includes numerous different but interlocking "worlds" and a Supermarine Spitfire aircraft replica flying around the stage during "Aces High." The spectacle is definitely enough to make you "Run to the Hills!"

Want to know which songs Iron Maiden are playing? Keep reading for a closer look at some of the songs on the setlist, cue up our Legacy of the Beast Setlist Playlist on Spotify and prepare rock with us.

"The Trooper"

Ahh, the song behind Iron Maiden's brand of beer! "The Trooper" was the second single off of 1983's Piece of Mind and has become the band's most notable work to date.

The story revolves around a soldier's heroism at The Charge of the Light Brigade, a failed military action involving the British light cavalry against Russian forces during the 1854 Battle of Balaclava in the midst of the Crimean War, most likely inspired by the famous Tennyson poem.

Steve Harris, the badass he is, actually has the bald and lobotomized Eddie trooper from the single's cover photo tattooed on his arm.

Iron Maiden, "The Trooper" cover

"The Wicker Man"

With Maiden's Brave New World record nearing its 20th birthday, this song just feels a little more special.

The bolstering opening track and lead single of their 2000 album was inspired by the 1973 British cult movie of the same name (not the Nick Cage one, don't worry) and started off as a riff Adrian Smith was playing around with.

The lyrics aren't exactly a linear retelling of the story like Bruce Dickinson's "Wicker Man" song he'd recorded in his solo days; instead, the song focuses on society's indifference to the world until something happens that makes you "watch the world exploding every single night."

Iron Maiden, "The Wicker Man"

"Hallowed Be Thy Name"

This song off of 1982's The Number of the Beast is arguably the best heavy metal song OF ALL TIME (don't @ me).

"Hallowed Be Thy Name" is a first-hand account of a prisoner contemplating his life and beliefs the day of his death sentence. If that isn't metal enough for you, its title stems from the Christian Lord's Prayer, better known as "Our Father."

It was the first song recorded with Bruce Dickinson and a few band members have noted that the song is one of their favorites. "That song," Dickinson said, "and the whole album took Maiden to a different level."

Since its release, it's only been removed from the setlist TWICE: once during their 2012-24 Maiden England World Tour and another time during the second leg of their 2017 Book of Souls World Tour following a lawsuit spurred by British rock band Beckett, who'd claimed Maiden copied words and music from their 1974 song "Life's Shadow."

While the connection of the two songs wasn't really news to Maiden die-hards, it was a bummer that it had to be removed from the setlist for a while. But lucky for you, it's back and it rocks.

"Run to the Hills"

This 1982 track documents the perspectives of both European settlers in The New World and indigenous people in America during the days of westward expansion. It was released as a single a little over a month before The Number of the Beast dropped and has become another fan-favorite.

The intro comes from the perspective of a native person:

"White man come across the sea/ he brought us pain and misery/ he killed our tribes, killed our creed/ he took our game for his own need/ We fought him hard, we fought him well/ Out on the plains we gave him hell/ But many came too much for Cree/ oh will we ever be set free?"

In the U.S., Cree people historically lived from Lake Superior westward. Today, they live mostly in Montana, sharing the Rocky Boy Indian Reservation with Ojibwe– Chippewa– people.

Iron Maiden, "Run to the Hills"

Maiden picks things back up tomorrow, July 26, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Head to Live Nation to get your tickets and check out the band's full list of North American dates below!

Legacy of the Beast North American Tour dates:

07/26 – Brooklyn, NY @ Barclays Center

07/30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Wells Fargo Center

08/01 – Boston, MA @ Xfinity Center

08/03 – Hartford, CT @ Xfinity Theatre

08/05 – Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre

08/07 – Quebec, QC @ Videotron Centre

08/09 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage

08/10 – Toronto, ON @ Budweiser Stage

08/13 – Buffalo, NY @ KeyBank Center

08/15 – Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center

08/17 – Pittsburgh, PA, @ PPG Paints Arena

08/19 – Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena

08/22 – Chicago, IL @ Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre

08/24 – Indianapolis, IL @ Ruoff Home Mortgage Music Center

08/26 – St Paul, MN @ Xcel Energy Center

08/28 – Winnipeg, MB @ Bell MTS Place

08/30 – Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place

08/31 – Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome

09/03 – Vancouver, BC @ Pepsi Live at Rogers Arena

09/05 – Tacoma, WA @ Tacoma Dome

09/06 – Portland, OR @ Moda Center

09/09 – Sacramento, CA @ Golden 1 Center

09/10 – Oakland, CA @ Oracle Arena

09/13 – Las Vegas, NV @ MGM Grand Garden Arena

09/14 – Los Angeles, CA @ Banc of California Stadium

09/17 – Phoenix, AZ @ Talking Stick Resort Arena

09/19 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheater

09/21 – Dallas, TX @ Dos Equis Pavilion

09/22 – Houston, TX @ The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

09/25 – San Antonio, TX @ AT&T Center

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Last updated: 19 Mar 2024, 07:01 Etc/UTC