IRON MAIDEN recently announced that their forthcoming new studio album will be called The Final Frontier, and that a North American Tour with DREAM THEATER as special guests was ready to roll. Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy comments on the upcoming tour via a press release found on his official website:

“It is a bit of a dream come true for us. After 25 years together, at this stage in our career, there's honestly only three bands Dream Theater would consider opening for and Maiden is one of them. It is an absolute honor. Through the years, we've done many one-off shows with Maiden and they've almost all been overseas. It is very exciting to finally be doing a full tour with them and on our side of the pond no less. These are gonna be amazing shows that the fans won't want to miss. Up the f***ing irons!”

Playing MSG for the first time is also a huge accomplishment for the band and they are thrilled about the prospect. “Dream Theater has achieved so many dreams through the years, from playing the Budokan in Tokyo to Wembley Arena in London to Radio City Music Hall in NYC,” Portnoy recalled. “But the one remaining dream that has eluded us through all of these years was to play at Madison Square Garden. Well, on July 12, along with Iron Maiden, that dream will finally be fulfilled.”

Guitarist John Petrucci was equally stoked about the MSG play, saying, “I am unbelievably excited to be finally playing Madison Square Garden, and with the almighty Maiden to boot! They have been heroes to the band since the beginning and are iconic in our eyes. There is nothing like achieving success and recognition in your own country, in your own city. It's going to be an incredible night for sure.”

Portnoy has proof of this career-long dream, saying, “About a month ago my family and I were watching a video of my first band Intruder from back in 1983, and in the video before the show, I was interviewed and asked what my dream goal was. I responded ‘to play the Garden.’It took almost 30 years, but it’s surreal that I will now be able to check it off the list.”

Dream Theater’s Black Clouds & Silver Linings was released in 2009 and debuted at #6 on the Billboard Top 200 Sales chart.

Tour dates for the Iron Maiden/Dream Theater run are as follows:

June

9 - Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center
11 - Houston, TX - The Woodlands
12 - San Antonio, TX - AT&T; Center
14 - Denver, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheater
16 - Albuquerque, NM - Journal Pavilion
17 - Phoenix, AZ - Cricket Pavilion
19 - San Bernardino, CA - San Manuel Amphitheater
20 - Concord, CA - Sleep Train Pavilion
22 - Auburn, WA - White River Amphitheater
24 - Vancouver, BC - GM Place
26 - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place
29 - Saskatoon, SK - Credit Union Centre

July

3 - Toronto, ON - Molson Amphitheater
6 - Ottawa, ON - Blues Fest
7 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
9 - Quebec City, QC - International Summer Festival
11 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
12 - New York City - Madison Square Garden
14 - Pittsburgh, PA - Post Gazette Pavilion
15 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center
17 - Detroit, MI - DTE Music Theatre
18 - Chicago, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
20 - Washington DC - Nissan Pavilion

An exclusive pre-sale allowing members of the Iron Maiden fan club first access to tickets to the North American Maiden Shows will be made available two days prior to them being available to the public.

Tickets for the Canadian shows will go on sale to the public on Saturday, March 13th at 10 AM (PST) (10 AM, EST for Toronto and 12 noon EST Montreal).

Exclusive first access to the tickets will be available to IM fan club members on Wednesday, March 10th at 10 AM (PST) through to Thursday, March 11th at 6 PM (PST) (EST for Toronto).

Regretfully due to technical reasons an exclusive Pre-Sale in Montreal is not possible.

Tickets for the US Shows will go on sale to the public on Saturday, March 20th at 10 AM (EST).

Exclusive first access to the tickets will be available to IM fan club members on Wednesday, March 17th at 10 AM (EST) through to Thursday, March 18th at 6 PM (EST).