Iron Maiden Loads 2025 Tour Opener With Setlist Surprises

Iron Maiden kicked off the Run For Your Lives World Tour on Tuesday with a concert at Papp Laszlo Sportarena in Budapest, Hungary. The legendary metal band went heavy on material they haven’t performed in a long time, as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of their formation.

Frontman Bruce Dickinson promised a “setlist for the ages” in a New Year’s Eve post on social media. He also added, “We’re gonna be doing stuff we’ve never, ever done before.” The band held true as they focused on songs from their first nine albums.

The trek marks the band’s first in 43 years without drummer Nicko McBrain, who retired from touring last year. Iron Maiden tapped British Lion’s Simon Dawson as their touring drummer.

Iron Maiden opened with a three-song run of songs from 1981’s Killers: “Murders In The Rue Morgue,” “Wrathchild” and “Killers,” which hadn’t been performed since 2005, 2017 and 1999 respectively as per Setlist.FM. Next came the return of “Phantom Of The Opera,” a tune from the band’s self-titled 1980 debut album last played in 2014.

After staple “The Number Of The Beast,” the group returned to break outs with “The Clairvoyant” (last played in 2013), “Powerslave” (last played in 2017), “2 Minutes To Midnight” (last played in 2019) and “Rime Of The Ancient Mariner” (last played in 2009). From there, Maiden performed “Run To The Hills” and offered the first “Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son” since 2014 before devoting the rest of the set to classics “The Trooper,” “Hallowed Be Thy Name” and “Iron Maiden.”

The British band punctuated the concert with a three-song encore of “Aces High,” “Fear Of The Dark” and “Wasted Years.” The title track from 1992’s Fear Of The Dark had never been performed during an encore before last night.

Watch full-show audience-shot video of Iron Maiden’s tour opener in Budapest below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlS9btqelL4&ab_channel=Sa%C5%A1aJuri%C5%A1i%C4%87

Iron Maiden brings the tour to stadiums and arenas across Europe and the United Kingdom through August 2. The Run For Your Lives World Tour is expected to continue into 2026.