British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN opened the European leg of their stunning "The Book Of Souls" world tour in Germany last week to rave reviews. The band will play at the U.K. Download festival on Sunday, June 12, flying in on Ed Force One, piloted by singer Bruce Dickinson, on Saturday, June 11, landing at East Midlands Airport at approximately 2:00 p.m. from Paris CDG carrying band, crew and over 20 tons of equipment, including their full Maya-themed arena stage show. This will be the IRON MAIDEN's sixth headline appearance at Castle Donington, having first performed there in 1988 at the legendary Monsters Of Rock festival, drawing a record-breaking crowd of 107,000 fans and again in 1992. The band then headlined the inaugural Download festival on the site in 2003 and have also headlined the festival in 2007 and 2013. This performance at Download 2016 will be IRON MAIDEN's only U.K. performance this year. The band is now over halfway through "The Book Of Souls" world tour on a journey which included first-ever visits to China and El Salvador, the latter being officially named by the El Salvador government as the biggest event ever to have taken place in that country, with over 25,000 fans in attendance. In total, Ed Force One will travel over 75,000 miles and to date the tour has visited 43 cities, crossed 6 continents and band, crew and entourage consumed well over 10,000 bottles of Trooper beer and occupied over 6000 hotel rooms! IRON MAIDEN manager Rod Smallwood comments: "The show is truly spectacular and the band are on top form so everything is going just great so far. Well over half a million fans have already seen the show and reactions and reviews everywhere have been phenomenal. "This is not a rock show anyone should miss. Because we have the space on Ed Force One, we are able to bring to the fans everywhere the same full stadium and arena show we would put on in London or L.A., including Eddie in his latest guises. At 10 feet tall, he certainly makes his presence felt on the stage, as anyone coming to the show will see for themselves! "High points to date have to include the two concerts in China, which clearly demonstrated the similarities of fans all around the planet. They knew every word and, even more amazingly, the Ministry of Culture allowed us to present our entire show with only a couple of very minor alterations, which I don't think anyone expected would happen to this degree. We thought maybe Bruce ripping Eddie's heart out on stage may pose an issue to them, but no, not at all. And the fans were terrific. "The stadium shows around South and Central America and Mexico were as spectacularly vibrant as always, as were the two sold-out shows at the L.A. Forum. In New Zealand many of us caught some local culture — rugby! — and right across Australasia the fans were as passionate as ever. Add a couple of terrific shows in Tokyo and our first visit to South Africa in 21 years for two concerts, and it all adds up to a very special tour experience for everybody; fans, band and crew alike. "We really have had a blast with our fans and expect that to continue at Download in front of our home fans and then across the rest of Europe. Make sure you don't miss this!!" Photo courtesy of Wilful Publicity
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