Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour

Background

In May, the group set out on a Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour in which they performed to more than two million people worldwide over seven months. After the blockbuster tour in North America, Iron Maiden were headliners of Monsters of Rock festivals in Europe for the very first time. They headlined stadiums and festivals in UK, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Czechoslovakia and Hungary. On 20 August 1988, the band headlined the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park for the first time before a crowd of 107,000, the largest in Donington's history, and their concerts at the NEC in Birmingham on 27–28 November were released in audio and video formats in 1989; on the home video Maiden England, while the live version of "Infinite Dreams" from the same concerts was released as a single to promote the VHS. Stage set and equipment which has been taken by band was transported in dozen of trucks and was the most elaborate to date and one of the biggest in the world including over 200.000 watts of PA and over 1500 spot lamps.

To recreate the album's keyboards onstage, the group recruited Michael Kenney, Steve Harris's bass technician, to play the keys throughout the tour, during which he performed the song "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" on a forklift truck under the alias of "The Count" (for which he wore a black cape and mask). Iron Maiden was apparently included in the Guinness Book of World Records Museum in Las Vegas. According to The Guinness Book of Records: "Largest PA system: On Aug 20th 1988 at the Castle Donington 'Monsters of Rock' Festival a total of 360 Turbosound cabinets offering a potential 523kW of programme power, formed the largest front-of-house PA. The average Sound Pressure Level at the mixing tower was 118dB, peaking at a maximum of 124dB during Iron Maiden's set. It took five days to set up the system."

Opening bands included Frehley's Comet.

References

References

1. Wall, Mick. (2004). "Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography". Sanctuary Publishing.
2. Wall, Mick. (2004). "Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography". Sanctuary Publishing.
3. Gennet, Robbie. (3 October 2010). "Michael Kenney – the Man Behind the Maiden". [[Keyboard (magazine).
4. Wall, Mick. (2004). "Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography". Sanctuary Publishing.
5. Wall, Mick. (16 April 1988). "Plucky Seven". [[Kerrang!]].
6. (2021-05-31). "Seventh Tour". ironmaiden.com.
7. Wall, Mick. (2004). "Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography". Sanctuary Publishing.
8. Wall, Mick. (2004). "Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography". Sanctuary Publishing.
9. "Michael Kenney – the Man Behind the Maiden". [[Keyboard (magazine).
10. Johnson, Howard. (20 August 1988). "Waiting for the (Seventh) Son". [[Kerrang!]].
11. "Michael Kenney – the Man Behind the Maiden". [[Keyboard (magazine).
12. Johnson, Howard. (20 August 1988). "Waiting for the (Seventh) Son". [[Kerrang!]].
13. (1990). "[[Guinness Book of Records]]".
14. (2021-05-28). "Music bands – Iron Maiden". stason.org.
15. (2011). "No Regrets: A Rock 'N' Roll Memoir". Simon and Schuster.
16. "Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour programme". [[EMI]].