The English heavy metal band Iron Maiden played the song Alexander the Great live for the first time ever on Sunday during the Future Past tour in Slovenia.
The song was first released back in 1986 as the closer to the lauded Somewhere in Time album but had never been heard by fans of the band live until now.
The band’s Future Past tour kicked off on Sunday, May 28 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and will conclude on Friday, October 6, in Indio, California. Greek fans of Iron Maiden, however, will have to travel to another country if they wish to see the band, as the tour will not feature any venues in Greece.
Iron Maiden plays Alexander the Great for first time
Alexander the Great is the eighth song in the Somewhere in Time Album, the sixth studio album released by Iron Maiden. Despite releasing the song in the eighties, the English heavy metal band has never performed it live in front of an audience.
The band has previously explained that they have not played the popular song live due to certain complexities which make it difficult to replicate live. During an interview a few years ago, singer Bruce Dickinson said that when the song was written, they had used music technology that was at the time very advanced and could not find the right time signature to play it live.
On Sunday, however, Iron Maiden finally treated fans to a very long-awaited live performance of Alexander the Great during the first day of their international tour.
The song’s lyrics retell the life of the eponymous Macedonian king and conqueror, Alexander the Great, including many key historical moments such as his defeat of the Persian King Darius, the cutting of the Gordian Knot, and his death in Babylon.
Tours in Greece
The Future Past tour will not be coming to Greece but Iron Maiden has performed in the country on previous occasions.
The most recent time Greek fans were able to enjoy a live Iron Maiden performance in their own country was in July last year when the band performed at the Olympic Athletic Centre of Athens (OAKA).
The stadium was packed-out with thousands of fans, many of whom had arrived in coaches from all over Greece.
The show, part of the band’s Legacy Of The Beast World Tour, was Iron Maiden’s first concert in Greece since 2018, and the audience gave them a warm welcome back as the band members entered the stage.
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