Iron Maiden release statement on last-minute show cancellation: "we sympathise with the frustration"

Iron Maiden were forced to cancel last night's Legacy Of The Beast show in Bologna, Italy at short notice, with the official announcement of the gig's cancellation coming from the stage to fans that had already entered the venue.

The heavy metal legends were due to play Sonic Park as part of the latest leg of the Legacy Of The Beast tour, which is midway through its European run. Unfortunately, due to severe weather conditions in the area, the band were advised to cancel the show at the last minute.

"The Iron Maiden concert in Bologna had to be cancelled for the safety of the fans, band, crews and all concerned due to very bad and dangerous weather conditions including extensive lightning and high winds," Maiden confirmed in a statement on their social media channels.

Iron Maiden's longtime manager Rod Smallwood added an additional statement, which read:

“The band and l are so sorry we were unable to play for our fans in Bologna last night. As the weather conditions worsened the promoters came to us concerned about the safety of everyone and the viability of doing the show. They made further enquiries and decided that the event should be cancelled for safety reasons and announced this from onstage. I have to say I fully agreed with this decision and that it was the responsible thing to do considering the amount and scale of surrounding lightning and high winds and having been told what was expected to follow. We love playing to audiences here and the last thing we wanted to do was not play and we feel very sorry for our fans who were there, and we fully understand and sympathise with the frustration. It is not possible to reschedule this show, but we promise our fans in Italy that we will return next year.”

Iron Maiden are due to continue the Legacy Of The Beast tour in Stuttgart, Germany tomorrow, before heading through more dates in Europe, North and South America by the end of the year.

Merlin was promoted to Executive Editor of Louder in early 2022, following over ten years working at Metal Hammer. While there, he served as Online Editor and Deputy Editor, before being promoted to Editor in 2016. Before joining Metal Hammer, Merlin worked as Associate Editor at Terrorizer Magazine and has written for Classic Rock, Rock Sound, eFestivals and others. Across his career he has interviewed legends including Ozzy Osbourne, Lemmy, Metallica, Iron Maiden (including getting a trip on Ed Force One courtesy of Bruce Dickinson), Guns N' Roses, KISS, Slipknot, System Of A Down and Meat Loaf. He has also presented and produced the Metal Hammer Podcast, presented the Metal Hammer Radio Show and is probably responsible for 90% of all nu metal-related content making it onto the site.