The ''Killer World Tour'' was a

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific to ...

by the heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

from 17 February 1981 to 15 November 1981. This would be the band's first world tour, including their debut shows in North America (where they supported Judas Priest on their

World Wide Blitz Tour The ''World Wide Blitz Tour'' was a 1981 concert tour by English heavy metal band Judas Priest where the band toured in Europe and North America from 13 February to 14 December 1981 in support of the album '' Point of Entry.'' Overview Europe ...

and UFO on select dates) and Japan where they recorded the live release, ''

Maiden Japan ''Maiden Japan'', released as ''Heavy Metal Army'' in Japan, is a live EP by the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The title is a pun of Deep Purple's live album '' Made in Japan''. Release There are at least two different versions of ...

''. On top of this, the band moved into larger venues in the United Kingdom, including the

Hammersmith Odeon The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ha ...

, London. This would be Iron Maiden's last tour with singer

Paul Di'Anno Paul Andrews (born 17 May 1958), better known by his stage name Paul Di'Anno, is a British/Brazilian heavy metal singer who was the lead vocalist for Iron Maiden from 1978 to 1981. In his post-Maiden career, Di'Anno has issued numerous albu ...

, who was dismissed due to his unreliability. He was replaced with Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson, with whom the band undertook a short series of concerts in Italy and the UK before they set about writing and recording their next album, '' The Number of the Beast''.

Setlist

# (Intro) "The Ides of March" (from '' Killers'', 1981) # "Wrathchild" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # "

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # "

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

" (from ''

'', 1980) # "Remember Tomorrow" (from ''Iron Maiden'', 1980) # "Another Life" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # "Genghis Khan" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # "Killers" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # "Innocent Exile" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # "Murders in the Rue Morgue" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # " Twilight Zone" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # "Phantom of the Opera" (from ''Iron Maiden'', 1980) # "Iron Maiden" (from ''Iron Maiden'', 1980) # "

Running Free Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...

" (from ''Iron Maiden'', 1980) # "Transylvania" (from ''Iron Maiden'', 1980) # Guitar solo # "Drifter" (from ''Killers'', 1981) # "Prowler" (from ''Iron Maiden'', 1980) Notes: * "Strange World" (from ''Iron Maiden'', 1980) was performed on 23 May 1981 and 24 May 1981. * "I've Got the Fire" ( Montrose cover) was performed on 24 May, 26 October, 27 October, and 15 November 1981. * "22 Acacia Avenue" and "Children of the Damned" were played at the 15 November Rainbow show as a preview for '' The Number of the Beast'' album. The intro solo on "Children of the Damned" is different from the final studio version. * "The Prisoner" and "

Run to the Hills "Run to the Hills" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as their sixth single and the first from the band's third studio album, '' The Number of the Beast'' (1982). It is their first single with Bruce Dickinson ...

" were played at the "secret" show at the Ruskin Arms on 23 December. "The Prisoner" had slightly different lyrics in the second verse and final chorus.

Tour dates

Reference ;Festivals and other miscellaneous performances :Iron Maiden performed a matinée and an evening concert :This show was in support of Judas Priest :This concert was a part of

Summerfest Summerfest is an annual music festival held in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. First held in 1968, Summerfest is located at Henry Maier Festival Park, adjacent to Lake Michigan and Milwaukee's central business district. Summerfest attracts app ...

:This show was in support of

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

;Cancelled and rescheduled dates The tour was subject to a number of cancellations due to problems with Paul Di'Anno's voice, causing four German dates to be cancelled and several Scandinavian dates to be rescheduled. According to band manager

Rod Smallwood Roderick Charles Smallwood (born 17 February 1950) is an English music manager, best known as the co-manager of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. With his business partner, Andy Taylor, whom he met while studying at Trinity College, C ...

, the reason for the vocal issues were brought about by adopting a "rock star" lifestyle, which Di'Anno states was because he "couldn't see isway to the end of" the band's heavy schedule and that he believed that this was "what you were supposed to do in a big, successful rock band." On the other hand, Steve Harris, the band's bassist, has since said that he did not "know whether he was seeking attention or what", arguing that having to cancel shows because of personal problems was intolerable and ultimately cemented Di'Anno's dismissal. The full list of cancelled dates are as follows: * 27 April 1981:

Winschoten Winschoten (; gos, Winschoot) is a city with a population of 18,518 in the municipality of Oldambt in the northeast of the Netherlands. It is the largest city in the region of Oldambt in the province of Groningen which has 38,213 inhabitants. ...

, Netherlands, De Klinker (Poor ticket sales.) * 30 April 1981: Offenbach am Main, West Germany,

Stadthalle Offenbach Stadthalle Offenbach is a convention center that opened in 1966 in Offenbach am Main, Germany. It hosts concerts, sporting events, cabaret and variety performances. There are 3,000 seats. Notable past performers include Frank Zappa, Bob Dylan, The ...

* 1 May 1981:

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, West Germany * 2 May 1981: Dortmund, West Germany * 3 May 1981:

West Berlin West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...

Neue Welt The Neue Welt is a sub-district of Münchenstein, in the canton of Basel-Country in Switzerland. Geographical location The geographical area called the ''Neue Welt'' (new world) evolved in the 17th century as the industry started establishing ...

* 7 May 1981: Lund, Sweden, Olympen; (Rescheduled to 9 September.) * 8 May 1981: Stockholm, Sweden,

Göta Lejon Göta Lejon is a theatre located at 55 Götgatan in the district of Södermalm in Stockholm, Sweden. History Göta Lejon was built in the years 1926–1928 according to drawings by architect Birger Borgström. (1890–1964). Architecturally, th ...

; (Rescheduled to 8 September.) * 9 May 1981:

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

, Norway * 10 May 1981:

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, Denmark, Odd Fellows Mansion; (Rescheduled to 10 September.)

References

External links

Official website

Killer World Tour Dates
{{IronMaiden Iron Maiden concert tours 1981 concert tours