When asked about what is going on with IRON MAIDEN at the moment, Nicko replied, “Well, we’re taking some time off. And we’re gonna go back out on tour sometime this year. We’re not sure yet when. It’s in the words of a very famous British singer from the Second World War called Vera Lynn. And she had a song and it went something like, ‘We’ll meet again. Don’t know where. Don’t know when.’ So that’s in the line of Vera Lynn. We’re doing a Vera Lynn. We don’t know where, we don’t know when. . . [But] IRON MAIDEN is touring sometime this year, yeah. I don’t think [it will be a world tour this time]. Next year, maybe. But this year, it’s just gonna be a little tour — short run.”

EMI has set a March 26 release date for “En Vivo!”, the new concert Blu-Ray, two-DVD set and double soundtrack album from legendary British metallers IRON MAIDEN.

“En Vivo!” was filmed on April 10, 2011 in front of over 50,000 ecstatic fans at the Estadio Nacional, Santiago during the “Round The World In 66 Days” leg of “The Final Frontier World Tour”, and captures a magnificent performance by the band, ardently embraced by the legendary Latino passion and energy of their Chilean fans. With spectacular stage backdrops, dynamic musicianship and a literally jaw-dropping appearance by Eddie, this live show encapsulates to perfection the heart and soul of IRON MAIDEN 2011.

In addition to the Blu-Ray, the two-DVD will initially be available as a limited-edition double DVD in collectors’ steel book case and double vinyl picture disc. As well as a traditional two-CD soundtrack album, “En Vivo!” will be available as a digital download CD soundtrack album and digital download video.

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

According to a press release, PRIMAL ROCK REBELLION’s CD “fuses together two very different approaches to music — Mikee’s unique vocal tones and dark-yet-colorful lyrics, and Adrian’s instantly recognizable guitar melodies and song writing prowess. Adrian also plays bass throughout the album. All songs were co-written by Adrian and Mikee as individual pieces of work and recorded in creative windows of opportunity.”

Comments Adrian: “It was interesting doing this album with Mikee, not least because we have quite different influences. I was really pleased with the way it turned out. It has a really fresh feel to it.”

Adds Mikee: “This album takes you on a really deep and colourful journey, lyrically and musically. Adrian and I were both very open to experimenting with each others’ musical styles and influences, which we feel created something new and exciting.”

Session musicians who also contributed to PRIMAL ROCK REBELLION’s debut album include Abi Fry of BAT FOR LASHES and original SIKTH member Dan “Lord” Foord on drums.

A PRIMAL ROCK REBELLION track called “I See Lights” can be streamed using the SoundCloud player below.

PRIMAL ROCK REBELLION was originally scheduled to play a “one-off, under-the-radar” gig on January 15, 2011 at the Wycombe Bucks Student Union, but the gig ended up being canceled after it was inadvertently advertised via the Internet.

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

“Something of primal interest to all MAIDEN fans … Monday, January 2nd at 9 p.m. GMT [4 p.m. EST].”

The band added on Twitter, “It’s not a tour announcement and it’s not a DVD announcement either. It will be something brought to you by the letter H….”

IRON MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickinson told Daily Star last summer that the band will make “at least one more album” to follow 2010’s acclaimed “The Final Frontier”.

Dickinson revealed that the bandmembers often struggle during the songwriting process, explaining: “We try to keep things on an even keel. Being English, we still have some reserve when we’re communicating ideas to each other.

“[In the old days] we’d have a stand-up knock-down fight about anything. But we know each other better now and people do mellow.”

He added, “[When it's time to write an album] we go off on our own, scribble ideas into our notebooks and come back to throw everything into the melting pot.

“We know the boundaries of what we can do musically.

“We’re not the kind of band who could say, ‘Hey, let’s do an album with Kanye West,’ because that wouldn’t interest MAIDEN fans at all.

“Things have been going a bit more prog-rock on our recent albums and the fans seem to love that.”

“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”.

“The Final Frontier” was released in North America on August 17, 2010 via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). The effort was made available in a unique limited-edition collectors’ “Mission Edition” CD case and features access to extra bonus content, including the director’s cut of a video for the edited version of the opening song on the album, entitled “Satellite 15… The Final Frontier”; band “Mission Debrief” interview footage; wallpapers; photos; and the exclusive game “Mission II : Rescue & Revenge”. MAIDEN also for the first time made the album available as an iTunes LP with bonus content as well as the traditional digital format. There is also a limited-edition double picture disc.

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

Astraeus, which leases aircraft and cabin crew to airlines, has blamed “lower-than-expected levels of business” during the summer a lack of contracts for winter 2011-2012, and “some extremely bad luck with a number of technical issues,” for the failure.

The company’s chief executive, Hugh Parry, praised the team of pilots and behind-the-scenes staff who had worked for the airline. He said, “We battled hard to save Astraeus, but lower-than-expected levels of business during the summer of 2011, a lack of contracts for winter 2011-2012, and some extremely bad luck with a number of technical issues mean that we have no option but to cease all operations and put Astraeus Airlines in the hands of the administrators.

“Every effort has been made to ensure that any passengers affected already have or will be able to complete their journey.

“It is small comfort to those affected and impacted, I realise, but Astraeus comprised a fantastic team who did a fantastic job – quite possibly the best team in their aviation business sector.”

Dickinson flew IRON MAIDEN, its 60-member crew and 12 tons of equipment around the world on the band’s own customized Boeing 757, Ed Force One.

Ed Force One is named after MAIDEN’s infamous mummy mascot “Eddie.”

Dickinson told CNN.com in a 2007 interview, “Aviation’s been kicking around my family for as long as I can remember; my uncle was in the RAF. But I always thought I was too stupid. I was useless at maths and majored in history at university, so I thought history majors don’t become pilots, let alone rock stars. And then our drummer learned to fly so I said if a drummer can learn to fly then anyone can.”

He added, “I never dreamed I would end up flying an airliner. I ended up flying IRON MAIDEN around on tour in a little eight-seat, pressurized, twin-engine plane. Basically we were flying round all the world’s major airports, flew across the Atlantic and back, which was quite an adventure. At the end I thought I really want to fly something bigger, but I can’t afford it — I can’t buy my own 707. If I’m going to do that I have to get a job.”

On how the thrill of piloting a 757 compares to taking to the stage with MAIDEN:

“It’s a different kind of buzz. Obviously you aren’t leaping around the flight deck yelling and screaming, but you have to manage situations… Flying at 35,000 feet is an internal thing, really. Whereas 35,000 people, that’s just showing off.”

On whether he will be hanging up his leopard-skin spandex forever:

“I could never contemplate giving up music. I have to say I’ve always been interested in planes, the only difference is I started to fly the darn things 15 years ago. I don’t see why I should give up either of them. People say ‘Why do you need a second job?’ I say ‘Why do you need to breathe?’”

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

IRON MAIDEN’s latest album, “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”.

“The Final Frontier” was released in North America on August 17, 2010 via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). The effort was made available in a unique limited-edition collectors’ “Mission Edition” CD case and features access to extra bonus content, including the director’s cut of a video for the edited version of the opening song on the album, entitled “Satellite 15… The Final Frontier”; band “Mission Debrief” interview footage; wallpapers; photos; and the exclusive game “Mission II : Rescue & Revenge”. MAIDEN also for the first time made the album available as an iTunes LP with bonus content as well as the traditional digital format. There is also a limited-edition double picture disc.

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

Commented the band: “The terrific support from our fans has resulted in over £36,000 [approximately $57,000] being raised in proceeds from the sales of the Japanese event shirt through the IRON MAIDEN shop and a retail version of the shirt which was sold in the USA. The band have channeled all their profits and royalties into the fund, which has been donated to the Japanese Red Cross charity.

“We’d like to thank everyone who took part in this initiative in support of our fellow MAIDEN fans in Japan and the many others affected by the tsunami.”

The members of IRON MAIDEN and their crew were flying into Tokyo from Seoul, South Korea. On approaching Narita airport in Tokyo, IRON MAIDEN’s specially chartered plane Ed Force One was advised to re-route to Nagoya as the earthquake/tsunami had just become apparent. The bandmembers stayed the night in Nagoya and, following the announcement of the cancelation, flew out of the country.

“Honestly, it was really no big drama, because they shut the airport ten minutes before we were gonna land,” Dickinson told the Argentinian web site Vorterix.com. “So there was a lot of quite frightened-sounding people on the radio because they are used to earthquakes in Japan. So when they come on and they say, ‘There has been a massive earthquake,’ you think, ‘Wow, this is really big.’ So we made the decision to divert to our diversion airport, which was about a half an hour away in Nagoya. We landed in Nagoya where the weather was lovely and there was no earthquake. Our biggest problem was finding accommodation, because everybody was diverting there. But we got that sorted out. And, actually, we really didn’t have any idea how serious it was until we saw the news in Japan that day. We got off without no problem at all. We had our airplane, we had our equipment on the airplane. . . [When we found out both shows in Japan were canceled], we said, ‘Well, there’s no point in staying here in Japan. We might as well go to Mexico, which was where our next concert was.”

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

After serving his jail term this past spring, Di’Anno issued a short statement in which he thanked his fans for their support and claimed that he “managed not to drop the soap” during his stint behind bars.

Di’Anno, 53, was sentenced to nine months for swindling £45,000 (approximately $72,000) in benefits. He was told he would serve at least four and a half months of the sentence behind bars before being released on conditional bail.

D’Anno was reportedly busted when investigators at Department Of Work And Pensions (DWP) received an anonymous tip that he was still singing. They then found videos and pictures on YouTube and the rocker’s own web site of Di’Anno “energetically leaping around on stage, singing to fans around the world.”

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.

“In 1991 I did a couple of stints in jail for guns and drugs,” Di’Anno explained in a 2010 interview. “I was stupid. But after I’d done my stretch they still treated me like a criminal. And I was — but I wasn’t that bad. So I didn’t feel good about America. The government, not the people.

“Prison was tough, but I’m tougher. I was nobody’s bitch, put it that way. You’ve got to do it; otherwise people will walk all over you.”

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

Last year Ian Anderson and friends performed a Christmas show with special guest Greg Lake, and it was a resounding success, and this year, Dickinson has been invited to perform along with Hayward.

The 900-year-old Canterbury Cathedral, which is said to be one of the most important sites in Britain’s Christian heritage, remains in need of urgent repairs, particularly to its 235-foot-high central tower, known as Bell Harry tower, its medieval stained glass windows, and its 19th-century lead roof tiles. More than £10 million has been raised in recent years but another £3 million a year must be found over the next decade.

Having spent over forty successful years in the rock industry, Ian Anderson is the frontman, flautist and voice of the legendary band JETHRO TULL, who have some 30-odd albums to their credit and sales worldwide totaling more than 60 million.

Considered widely as the man who introduced the flute to rock music, Anderson has also received recognition as an accomplished solo artist with four diverse albums under his belt along with acoustic and orchestral concerts throughout the world.

Speaking about why he had chosen to play last year’s Christmas gig, Ian Anderson spoke of the importance of supporting Canterbury Cathedral. “If our generation and the future generations don’t do it, then it will be lost,” he said. “There is a real parallel regarding the preservation of our great buildings, and the greater sense of conserving our world. We need a huge change of thinking about the stewardship of our planet and all it contains, both natural and man-made.

“Canterbury Cathedral is a place for life today. But it is also a place for the future and, whether you are a Christian or not, it is a place which should remain forever close to our hearts.”

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

According to Juras, the Smith book will “surpass” his previously published book on IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris and will be made available no earlier than on Smith’s birthday in February 2012. Those who order the Smith book will get it in a personalized form, with their name printed on one of the first pages, just like the fan book.

For more information, go to this location.

IRON MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickinson told U.K.’s Daily Star that the band will make “at least one more album” to follow last year’s acclaimed “The Final Frontier”.

“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.

Source: www.blabbermouth.net

Breivik, a white native Norwegian, was described by the Guardian as “a Christian fundamentalist with a deep hatred of multiculturalism, of the left, and of Muslims.”

During IRON MAIDEN’s concert last night (Friday, August 5) at the O2 Arena in London, England, Dickinson introduced the song “Blood Brothers” by saying, “[IRON] MAIDEN is not just about [playing in places like] this now — MAIDEN is about everywhere in the world.

“There’s something [in our music and message] that unites people, and it doesn’t matter what color they are or what religion they are, or whether they are male or female or somewhere in between.

“We were in Belfast the other night [where you hear] all the bullshit about Protestant, Catholic, this and that and the other. And I just said, ‘Look, this is a safe house, this is our house, this is MAIDEN’s house, everybody’s fucking welcome and we don’t turn anybody away, no matter who they are. Except maybe… We were in Oslo the other week [where] the most recent, bullshit, appalling atrocity wasn’t committed by a Muslim, it was committed by somebody who called themselves a Christian — the asshole over there, really. Unbelievable.”

Fan-filmed video footage of Bruce’s speech can be seen below.

IRON MAIDEN’s set included five songs from the band’s latest album, “The Final Frontier”, sandwiched between classics from the group’s back catalogue.

IRON MAIDEN’s setlist was as follows:

01. Satellite 15… The Final Frontier
02. El Dorado
03. 2 Minutes To Midnight
04. The Talisman
05. Coming Home
06. Dance Of Death
07. The Trooper
08. The Wicker Man
09. Blood Brothers
10. When The Wild Wind Blows
11. The Evil That Men Do
12. Fear Of The Dark
13. Iron Maiden

Encore:

14. The Number of the Beast
15. Hallowed Be Thy Name
16. Running Free

As previously reported, IRON MAIDEN did not perform its classic song “The Trooper” during its headlining concert in Belfast, Northern Ireland on August 3. Although no official explanation was given by the group for its decision to omit the track from the setlist, MAIDEN fans are speculating that this is because the band’s mascot, Eddie, has been an inspiration for several Irish loyalist paramilitaries who have used its image from “The Trooper” single on wall murals throughout the North of Ireland (Photo#1, Photo#2, Photo#3).

Back in 2003, MAIDEN’s Irish fans erupted in fury when Dickinson provocatively waved two giant Union Jacks during the band’s first concert in Ireland in almost 10 years.

In addition to Dickinson, 52, MAIDEN features guitarists Adrian Smith, Janick Gers and Dave Murray, all 54, plus bassist Steve Harris, 55, and drummer Nicko McBrain, 57.

Source: www.blabbermouth.net