ADRIAN SMITH On IRON MAIDEN's Change From Physical Backdrops To Digital Screens On 'Run For Your Lives' Tour: 'It Was A Conscious Thing'

In a new interview with Spain's El Jevilongo, IRON MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith was asked about the fact that the band's production for the ongoing "Run For Your Lives" 50th-anniversary tour includes digital screens instead of physical backdrops and props which characterized MAIDEN's previous shows. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "I think we were always very traditional in our production. With the backdrops, it was like you were going to see a play in the theater. I think our [longtime] manager Rod Smallwood usually has a vision for the shows and he gets together with Steve [Harris, IRON MAIDEN's founding bassist]. Bruce [Dickinson, IRON MAIDEN singer] has a lot to do with the visuals. Bruce, he's getting more and more and more involved in stuff going on stage, like the gun battle with [MAIDEN's mascot] Eddie and all that. I don't get involved in that, to be honest. But I think it was a conscious thing to maybe sort of just change it up a little bit, just to give a different look…I mean, I like it."

IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain, who retired from touring with the band a year ago, addressed the change in MAIDEN's production from physical backdrops and props to digital screens this past July during a Clearwater, Florida concert with his TITANIUM TART project. He launched into the discussion by asking the crowd, "What do you guys think about the screens that they've got? Hands up who thinks they're great. Hands up, those people that prefer the old way." After a few people in the audience expressed their preference for the physical backdrops and props, Nicko continued: "I know, and I spoke to Rod about this last year. 'Cause I saw the sketch with these screens, and I said to him, 'Hey, I don't think we should be [changing the way we do things].' He said, 'We've gotta move into the 21st century, Nick.' He said, 'This is the 50th-anniversary tour. We've gotta have something special.' I said, 'Well, then put more drapes up. More drapes. Instead of The Trooper just having Eddie on the horse with his sword out, have him firing the gun off the… whatever. You put another one halfway through the song. But that's what they went with."

Nicko added: "I'm old school. I would've liked to see the drapes and the screens on the side."

Less than two months ago, IRON MAIDEN announced the North American dates of the "Run For Your Lives" world tour. In celebration of its 50th anniversary, the band will perform at stadiums and major amphitheaters across the United States and Canada, allowing fans the chance to witness the brand new, state-of-the-art production, on the scale it is intended for — huge stages in outdoor venues, to accompany the once-in-a-lifetime setlist of songs from the band's groundbreaking first nine albums. The 16-stop trek opens at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, and includes performances at TD Garden in Boston, Credit Union 1 Amphitheatre just outside of Chicago, Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, and more before concluding Saturday, October 2 at Estadio GNP Seguros in Mexico City. Joining MAIDEN on tour are thrash metal pioneers MEGADETH and ANTHRAX, depending on the date.

These upcoming tour dates will mark 45 years since IRON MAIDEN first visited Canada and the USA on the 1981 "Killer" world tour, and feature some of the biggest shows the band has ever played there. The return to BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on September 25 and September 26 will be the 25th and 26th time the band has played in the City of Angels.

The first European leg of "Run For Your Lives" took place this past summer. A second European leg will run from May through July 2026.

For MAIDEN's European tour in 2025, the band requested that fans "severely limit their use of phones at our concerts, ideally just keeping it in their pockets the whole time, especially in those standing areas in front of the stage."

"Our fans' understanding and cooperation made a colossal difference to the atmosphere of every show and increased the enjoyment enormously for the band and fans alike," Smallwood said in a statement.

"So for all our North American shows we are once again requesting that fans keep their phones in their pockets and enjoy the show 'in the moment', rather than raise their phone in the air trying to film sections and thus inconveniencing those around them and annoying the band. So if a so-called fan near you thinks they are special and filming what they selfishly want, please just ask them, very politely of course, to put their phone somewhere the sun doesn't shine!"