During last night’s Iron Maiden show in Manchester, UK, singer Bruce Dickinson almost took a fall offstage during the performance of “2 Minutes To Midnight”. Dickinson lost his footing when on-top a riser and tumbled towards the front of the stage.

“The things you do to suffer for your fucking art,” joked Dickinson after the song’s end.

Iron Maiden's dates begin with a Spitfire buzzing the stage during the opening number "Aces High". The plane is a 90% sized replica of an actual Supermarine Spitfire Mk Vb registration number AA 853 from 302 Squadron that saw active duty in 1941.

Says singer Bruce Dickinson,“ We would have made it actual size but we had to cut it down by 10% to fit on some of the festival stages, otherwise it’s an exact replica of arguably the greatest plane design ever, in fact one of the best designed machines ever!"

Since the opening night in Tallinn, Estonia at the end of May, the band has already played to around 750,000 fans in sold-out stadium, arena and festival shows across Europe including selling out the prestigious Atletico Madrid football stadium in Spain.

Launching the show with crowd favourite, "Aces High", the Spitfire is seen propelling above the stage. But this is certainly not the only show-stopping effect in this theatrical performance with the band then proceeding to race through a spectacular two hours of music, pyrotechnics, special effects and ever-evolving stage sets, including new incarnations of mascot Eddie, and showcasing many of the most beloved songs in their revered career alongside rarely-played classics from their extensive back catalogue. The production and set list were inspired by the Maiden free to play mobile game Legacy Of The Beast which is available on iOS and Android platforms.

The UK tour continues in arenas in Belfast, Aberdeen, Manchester and Birmingham finishing with two nights at The O2 in London on 10th/11th August. Special guests at all UK shows are Killswitch Engage.

August
7 - Genting Arena - Birmingham, United Kingdom
10 - The O2 - London, United Kingdom
11 - The O2 - London, United Kingdom

In case paperless ticketing has got you all in a twist, here's a very brief guide to how it works. The video features animation by Val Andrade.

Paperless ticketing information can be found here.