BW&BK; has received the following press release:

EMA Telstar are delighted to announce the return of IRON MAIDEN to the Nordic countries next year with what will be the biggest Rock Tour that any band has EVER undertaken there. Following their record breaking and massively popular sell outs at Ullevi Stadium in 2005, and the many multiple arena shows around the region in 2006, EMA and Iron Maiden have put together a concert schedule which will allow the band to play to 250,000 fans in the six stadium shows in the summer of 2008. The full schedule is:

July

16 - Stockholm, Sweden - Stockholm Stadium
18 - Helsinki, Finland - Helsinki Olympic Stadium
22 - Trondheim, Norway - Lerkendalstadium
24 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hovin
26 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium
27 - Horsens, Denmark - Horsens Gods Bane Pladsen

To tie in with forthcoming 2008 release on DVD of the classic Live After Death concert video (full details available soon on www.ironmaiden.com) this tour, aptly entitled the Somewhere Back In Time World Tour 08, will revisit the band's history by focusing almost entirely on the 80's in both choice of songs played and the stage set, which will be based around the legendary Egyptian Production of the 1984-85 Powerslave Tour. This will arguably be the most elaborate and spectacular show the band have ever presented, and will include some key elements of their Somewhere In Time tour of 1986/7, such as the Cyborg Eddie.

Comments Tour Promoter Thomas Johansson of EMA Telstar "Everyone at EMA is very proud to be making history by giving our rock fans the biggest Nordic Rock Tour there has ever been and certainly one of the most spectacular. Maiden is so hugely popular with the Nordic peoples that we wanted to ensure that as many fans as possible got the opportunity to see this very special show next year as we expect demand for tickets to be enormous."

Steve Harris adds "There is a very special bond between Maiden and the Nordic people and we always feel very at home there. Perhaps Eddie really does have some Viking blood in his veins!!

"On the last tour we opened the show by playing our new album 'A Matter of Life and Death' in its 80 minute entirety. We thought we needed the challenge and it proved the right thing to do. However, it can be hard on the fans playing so much new material and we really appreciated the superb support they gave us. So now l guess it's payback time. It's tremendous to be able to use the profile of the 'Live After Death' DVD to do what is effectively an 80's show. It will be enormous fun and changing the approach to the songs we play tour by tour keeps it fresh and interesting for both the band and the fans alike. l think 'Powerslave' was an incredible show with the Egyptian theme and look forward to seeing it all again myself "As always we look forward to spending a good amount of time in the Nordic countries and enjoying, as usual, some great nights out! "

The Somewhere Back In Time World Tour is in three sections, the travel for the first of which being by very unique means with the group customising a Boeing 757 aircraft, which will carry the band, their crew and over 12 tons of equipment from city to city. This first section of the tour opens in Mumbai India on Feb 1st, continuing through Australia and Japan before arriving in Los Angeles. The entourage then fly to Mexico then onto Maiden's first ever visit to Costa Rica and Columbia, then on to Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rica and New York, before finishing in Toronto, Canada, on March 16th. Over the 45 day period on this leg alone the band is anticipated to play to well over 400,000 fans in 21 cities in 10 countries, flying close to 50,000 miles in this refitted 757 which will be flown largely by vocalist and Astraeus Airline Captain Bruce Dickinson.

Comments Bruce Dickinson, "Looking at the list of places we would like to play we have always had problems joining up the dots. But without having sea containers all over the place slowing down the whole touring process and by having our own plane it has made it far easier to tour distant places like Australia for the first time in15 years. We have already had a great reaction from fans there, where the arenas in Melbourne and Sydney sold out in 15 and 25 minutes respectively!"

On the subject of returning to Scandinavia and Finland, Bruce enthused,

"If his is going to be the biggest Rock tour in Nordic History we will just have to pull out all the stops to make it one of our best ever and make it truly record breaking in every sense. This is truly a great statement for Heavy Metal music.

I just wish it was happening next week!"

The second leg of the tour will be in mid-May to mid -June in North America, a final third leg which will include the Nordic dates, will take place in July and August in stadiums and major festivals around Europe. In total the band are expected to play to well in excess of one and a half million fans during the whole tour.

Tickets go on sale to the public 9am Monday 12th November, but members of the Iron Maiden fan club will get special and exclusive first access to purchase tickets from 9am -- 6pm on Thursday 8th November. Go to www.ironmaiden.com for further information.

To allow Iron Maiden fans in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway to get right up close to the band, The Iron Maiden fan club are running a special draw for members whereby 60 winners and a friend at each show will be given first access to the venue and be first to the stage barrier. Full details can be found on www.ironmaiden.com.

Full schedule for the first leg of Somewhere Back In Time World Tour 2008

February

1 - Mumbai, India - Bandra Kurla Complex
4 - Perth, Australia - Burswood Dome
6 - Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena
7 - Melbourne, Australia - Rod Laver Arena
9 - Sydney, Australia - Acer Arena
10 - Sydney, Australia - Acer Arena
12 - Brisbane, Australia - Entertainment Centre
15 - Yokohama, Japan - Pacifico Yokohama
16 - Tokyo, Japan - Messe
19 - Los Angeles, CA - The Forum
21 - Guadalajara, Mexico - Auditoria Telmex
22 - Monterrey, Mexico - Monterrey Arena
24 - Mexico City, Mexico - Sports Palace
26 - San Jose, Costa Rica - Saprisa Stadium
28 - Bogota, Columbia - Simon Bolivar Park

March

2 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Skol Arena Anhembi
5 - Porto Allegre, Brazil - Gigantinho
7 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Ferrofcarril Oeste Stadium
9 - Santiago, Chile - Pista Atletica
12 - Puerto Rico - San Juan Coliseo
14 - New Jersey, USA - Izod Center (formerly Continental Airlines Arena)
16 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre

July

16 - Stockholm, Sweden - Stockholm Stadium
18 - Helsinki, Finland - Helsinki Olympic Stadium
22 - Trondheim, Norway - Lerkendalstadium
24 - Oslo, Norway - Valle Hovin
26 - Gothenburg, Sweden - Ullevi Stadium
27 - Horsens, Denmark - Horsens Gods Bane Pladsen