Opinion: IRON MAIDEN Could Be Playing More, Actual Deep Cuts On Their Current Tour

British heavy metal veterans Iron Maiden launched their Run For Your Lives world tour on May 27 at the Papp László Sportaréna in Budapest, Hungary. It was a night of celebration and transition — their first performance with new drummer Simon Dawson, who stepped in following Nicko McBrain‘s departure last December.

The tour commemorates a milestone: “The Run For Your Lives world tour marks 50 years since bassist Steve Harris formed Maiden in late 1975 and to celebrate this, fans are promised a very special setlist spanning the nine studio albums from Iron Maiden to Fear Of The Dark, with the band’s most spectacular and elaborate show ever,” stated the band when the tour was first announced.

On paper, that sounds like the ideal way to honor half a century of groundbreaking metal. But once the lights dimmed and the amps hummed to life in Budapest, what unfolded was far less revolutionary than advertised.

Here was the full setlist performed in Hungary:

1. Murders In The Rue Morgue (first performance since 2005)
2. Wrathchild (first since 2017)
3. Killers (first since 1999)
4. Phantom Of The Opera (first since 2014)
5. The Number Of The Beast
6. The Clairvoyant (first since 2013)
7. Powerslave (first since 2017)
8. 2 Minutes To Midnight (first since 2019)
9. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner (first since 2009)
10. Run To The Hills
11. Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (first since 2014)
12. The Trooper
13. Hallowed Be Thy Name
14. Iron Maiden

Encore:

15. Aces High
16. Fear Of The Dark
17. Wasted Years

There’s no doubt this setlist is laced with nostalgia. Some tracks made their first return in over a decade, satisfying long-time fans with flashbacks to the band’s earlier eras. But was it really the “very special” and deep retrospective promised? Where are the tracks from No Prayer For The Dying? Did they not release that album in 1990?

It depends on how you define “special.” For many fans, seeing “The Number Of The Beast” (played 1,999 times), “2 Minutes To Midnight” (1,389 times), “Run To The Hills” (1,491 times), “The Trooper” (1,704 times), “Hallowed Be Thy Name” (1,900 times), and “Iron Maiden” (a staggering 2,403 times) hardly counts as rare or surprising. These are staples — iconic, yes, but also relentlessly toured and arguably overplayed. Honestly, this setlist feels like a rebranding of their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, to almost 80% degree.

If Iron Maiden truly wanted to unearth their legacy’s hidden gems and honor their first nine albums with depth, a different setlist would have been more fitting. Imagine a set featuring songs like:

• Deja-Vu (never played live)
• Judas Be My Guide (never played live)
• Sun And Steel (never played live)
• Flash Of The Blade (never played live)
• The Prophecy (never played live)
• Only The Good Die Young (never played live)
• Fates Warning (never played live)
• Chains of Misery (never played live)
• Run Silent Run Deep (never played live)
• Back In The Village (only played twice, last in 1984)
• Burning Ambition (last played in 1979)
• Still Life (last played in 1988)
• Hooks In You (last played in 1991)
• Sea Of Madness (last played in 1987)
• Infinite Dreams (last played in 1988)
• To Tame A Land (last played in 1983)
• Tailgunner (last played in 1992)

Now that would be a bold celebration — a night of true rediscovery and homage to the lesser-heard corners of their discography.

Instead, Iron Maiden opted for familiarity. While this may satisfy the casual fans or those seeing the band live for the first time, it falls short of delivering the “very special setlist” they teased. The spectacle may have been elaborate, but the musical curation leaned heavily on the safe and the expected. Check out the official recap video of the inaugural night below.