Text by: Gabriela Marqueti and Vitor Melo
Iron Maiden returns to Brazil in October with the Run For Your Lives Tour. The band will perform at Allianz Parque on October 25th and 27th, with Alter Bridge – tickets are on sale at the Livepass website.
This is nothing less than Iron Maiden's 16th visit to the country. In 2023, a survey conducted by the Iron Maiden 666 concluded that Brazil is in the Top 10 countries that have hosted the band's most concerts throughout its history, appearing in ninth position and being the only South American country to be included in the ranking.
Among so many stories and historical moments, we've compiled a list of 4 of Iron Maiden's most memorable visits to Brazil.
1985 – Historic debut at Rock in Rio
January 11, 1985, marks not only the debut of Rock in Rio, but also the iconic first performance of Iron Maiden in Brazil, beginning one of the greatest relationships between bands and fans ever seen in music history. At the peak of their popularity with the release of Powerslave (1984), the Iron Maiden brought the complete production of the World Slavery Tour to perform what would be their only show in the country that year, a return that took seven long years to happen with the tour for the album Fear of the Dark (1992).
With an audience of approximately 300,000 people, the band – described as "satanic" by the media at the time – drove fans wild, who had been eagerly waiting to finally see "Eddie the Monster" in the country. Timeless, the show was marked by capturing the group at their best, even with a series of technical problems and the fateful scene in which vocalist Bruce Dickinson, raising his guitar over his face, cut his forehead during the performance of "Revelations," a moment that continues to be remembered four decades later. Despite all the problems, the then-quintet made history with one of the best shows of the festival and paved the way for a beautiful story that began to be written there and would still yield many memorable moments from that date onward.
1996 – Monsters of Rock with Blaze Bayley on vocals
On August 24, 1996, Iron Maiden returned to Brazil with Blaze Bayley on vocals for the first time. The band brought the X-Factor tour, promoting the album The X Factor (1995), their first without Bruce Dickinson. This phase was marked by mixed reviews from both fans and specialized media. Most of the criticism concerned Bayley's live performance, who, according to fans at the time, performed well on the new songs but had difficulty sustaining those of his predecessor.
The performance took place at Pacaembu Stadium in São Paulo, as part of the Philips Monsters of Rock festival, which also featured Héroes del Silencio, Mercyful Fate, King Diamond, Helloween, Raimundos, Biohazard, Motörhead and Skid Row. Although it is said that Bayley's live performance deteriorated as the tour progressed, accounts from fans present at the 1996 show claim that the vocalist performed well, although he seemed clearly more comfortable with his own songs.
2009 – Show in Manaus and pre-premiere of the documentary Flight 666
In 2009, Iron Maiden performed for the first – and so far only – time at the Manaus Sambadrome. On that occasion, the band took a boat trip, visited riverside communities, and sampled Amazonian cuisine. The show, which drew approximately 25,000 people, is considered by manager Rod Smallwood to be one of the most important in Iron Maiden's history.
With Bruce Dickinson back on vocals, the group performed their greatest hits and sang "Happy Birthday" to bassist Steve Harris, who was turning 53.
Also in 2009, Iron Maiden chose Brazil for the official premiere of the documentary Flight 666.The special screening brought dozens of fans to the door of the Cine Odeon in Rio de Janeiro, and was attended by the band members themselves.
2024 – Nicko McBrain's farewell to the stage
Just as their performance at the first edition of Rock in Rio went down in the band's history, their most recent appearance also left its mark, this time an emotional one. On December 7, 2024, at the closing show of The Future Past World Tour at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, drummer Nicko McBrain gave his last performance with the band, after announcing that same morning that he would be retiring from the stage. The main reason for the musician's decision was a stroke suffered in January 2023 that left his entire right side paralyzed from the shoulder down, and even with treatments and physiotherapy, he experienced a noticeable drop in performance, needing to simplify fills and change his playing style.
Regarding the show itself, the most moving moment occurred during Bruce Dickinson's speech before the song "The Time Machine": "This night is very special, as some of you, I think probably all of you already know, because this morning we announced, and Nicko announced, that he is stepping away from playing live drums with Iron Maiden." The drummer's reaction moved everyone: he put both hands to his chest in a gesture of gratitude and said nothing, but in his eyes it was possible to see how emotional he was, marking the performance as a "celebration of him and the joy he brought to everyone.".
Less than 24 hours after the show, the band announced Simon Dawson (British Lion) as his replacement, the timing of which left the drummer "upset," as he told Drum Talk TV: "The only thing that bothered me a little was that I asked them not to announce Simon until Monday. On Sunday I was traveling from São Paulo to Florida. And they were going to make the announcement almost immediately, and I said, 'Give them a day or two.' Well, they gave me 24 hours. Not even that, they announced the next morning that he was going to be my replacement. It doesn't really matter when they did it. But I asked them to leave another day. I must admit I was a little bothered by that. I thought, 'Oh, they could have waited another 24 hours.'"
READ ALSO: Poll: Which Iron Maiden song do you most want to hear on the 'Run For Your Lives Tour'?
