Iron Maiden kick off The Future Past tour: live debuts for five songs

Iron Maiden onstage in Ljubljana, Slovenia
(Image credit: Capnharris/YouTube)

Iron Maiden have played the first show of this year's The Future Past Tour. The band performed a 15-song set at the 12,000-capacity Arena Stožice in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The set for the tour is centred around two albums, and features previously unperformed songs from the 2021's Senjutsu alongside a focus on 1986’s Somewhere In Time collection.

The set included live debuts for Days Of Future Past, The Time Machine, Death Of The Celts and Hell On Earth from Senjestsu, and one for Alexander The Great, from Somewhere in Time. The set opened with two songs the band haven't performed this century, Caught Somewhere in Time (last performed on the Somewhere On Tour tour in 1987), and Stranger in a Strange Land, a fixture on 1999's The Ed Hunter Tour setlist.  

Iron Maiden's previous live show was the concluding show of the Legacy Of The Beast tour at the Amalie Arena, Tampa, FL, USA, and a number of classic Maiden songs performed that night have been dropped for the rejigged 2023 set, including Hallowed Be Thy Name, The Number Of The Beast, Run To The Hills, Flight Of Icarus and Aces High

Full setlist and fan-shot videos below.

Iron Maiden's The Future Past tour continues with a pair of shows at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic, on May 30 and 31. Full dates below.  

Iron Maiden setlist: 

Caught Somewhere in Time
Stranger in a Strange Land
The Writing on the Wall
Days of Future Past
The Time Machine
The Prisoner
Death of the Celts
Can I Play With Madness
Heaven Can Wait
Alexander the Great
Fear of the Dark
Iron Maiden

Encore
Hell on Earth
The Trooper
Wasted Years

Iron Maiden: The Future Past Tour 2023 

May 30: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic
May 31: Prague O2 Arena, Czech Republic
Jun 03: Tampere Nokia Arena, Finland
Jun 04: Tampere Nokia Arena, Finland
Jun 07: Bergen Koengen, Norway
Jun 09: Solvesborg Sweden Rock Festival, Sweden
Jun 11: Leipzig Quarterback Immobilien Arena, Germany
Jun 13: Krakow Tauron Arena, Poland
Jun 14: Krakow Tauron Arena, Poland
Jun 17: Clisson Hellfest, France
Jun 19: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
Jun 21: Hannover Zag Arena, Germany
Jun 24: Dublin 3 Arena, Ireland
Jun 26: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK
Jun 28: Leeds, First Direct Arena, UK
Jun 30: Manchester AO Arena, UK
Jul 03: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena, UK
Jul 04: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK
Jul 07: London O2 Arena, UK
Jul 08: London O2 Arena, UK
Jul 11: Amsterdam Ziggo Dome, Holland
Jul 13: Antwerp Sportpaleis, Belgium
Jul 15: Milan, The Return of The Gods Festival, Italy
Jul 18: Palau Sant Jordi, Barcelona, Spain
Jul 20: Estadio Enrique Roca, Murcia, Spain
Jul 22: Bizkaia Arena Bec! Bilbao, Spain
Jul 25 Dortmund Westfalenhalle, Germany
Jul 26 Dortmund Westfalenhalle, Germany
Jul 29: Frankfurt,Festhalle, Germany
Jul 31: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Aug 01: Munich Olympiahalle, Germany
Aug 02: Wacken Open Air, Germany

Tickets are on sale now

Fraser Lewry

Online Editor at Louder/Classic Rock magazine since 2014. 38 years in music industry, online for 25. Also bylines for: Metal Hammer, Prog Magazine, The Word Magazine, The Guardian, The New Statesman, Saga, Music365. Former Head of Music at Xfm Radio, A&R at Fiction Records, early blogger, ex-roadie, published author. Once appeared in a Cure video dressed as a cowboy, and thinks any situation can be improved by the introduction of cats. Favourite Serbian trumpeter: Dejan Petrović.