Romania’s Rock FM recently interviewed Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain and an excerpt about the how the band chooses their setlist for their tours can be read below.

McBrain says, "My feeling is that when you make a masterpiece like The Book Of Souls, I said to Steve (Harris, Iron Maiden bassist), 'We should do the lot. We should play every song off that record.' And, obviously, that would have been a bit of a push, 'cause it's ninety-two minutes long. That's your show gone, just your record; you can't [play] anything [else] like 'Iron Maiden', 'Hallowed', 'Number Of The Beast'… maybe 'Run To The Hills' or whatever. But it was a silly suggestion that was blown out. But the point being, it's such a great album, and, yeah, why not do six songs off it?

"The beautiful thing is, you've got longevity. The band's been around over thirty-five, thirty-six years plus… right? Forty years in 2019, so that's a long, long span with a lot of songs that have been written, and a lot of favorites that people have. And, unfortunately, we physically can't play a three- or four-hour se, which still wouldn't cover everything that everybody would wanna hear. So we have to be a little bit selfish in our motivation what we wanna play live, what makes us tick, what makes us feel happy when we go on stage and do these older songs.

"[People complain], 'You always do that one. You always do that.' 'Cause we like it. We love playing 'Number Of The Beast'. We love playing… Oh, well, 'Iron Maiden' will always, always close the set, no matter what.

"So, yeah, it's a great problem to have, if you wanna call it a problem."

As Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls 2016 tour draws to a close, the band look back at the fun they had with Ed Force One, their customized B747 Jumbo Jet, which was captained by lead singer, Bruce Dickinson. Check out the new video feature below:

Iron Maiden’s The Book Of Souls World Tour has been on the road since late February, playing to over 1.5 million fans with 72 shows in 36 counties and six continents. They will play the final show on Thursday, August 4th in Germany at the 2016 edition of the Wacken Open Air festival. ARTE Concert is going to feature the entire iconic performance on Livestream. The spectacular gig will get lavish camera attention and can be accessed anywhere in the world - a sensational experience for anyone who cannot get to show.

Iron Maiden Manager Rod Smallwood says: “We decided to finish the tour at Wacken as it is the ideal way to end this magical tour playing to 80,000 core metal fans at this legendary metal festival. Wacken has become such as international event with many thousands of fans from many other countries around the world joining and celebrating with the German fans so it is perfect for the final show of a memorable tour. Everywhere we’ve played the fans have been amazing and the reaction to the new songs and stage show has been phenomenal. The band has loved every minute on stage.

“So when Wacken and ARTE asked us to consider a live stream of our performance there we jumped at the chance to give our fans an end of tour gift. Streaming this final show live globally allows us to thank the many fans we played to so far, and, for those who couldn’t get to see us this time round, a chance to see just how spectacular the live concert is and what they missed!”

Wolfgang Bergmann (ARTE): “The festival summer by ARTE concert is heading for an exceptional highlight, showing a live stream of British legends Iron Maiden performing their final show of an incredible tour at the Wacken Open Air. An audience of millions, in Europe and for the first time worldwide, know by now that ARTE is taking the festivals to anywhere you are.”

Holger Hübner/Thomas Jensen (ICS/Wacken): “We are incredibly happy to be able to give all these Iron Maiden and Wacken Open Air fans, worldwide, this highlight at the close of the spectacular Book Of Souls Tour. Heavy metal fans are the best fans in the world, and Iron Maiden fans are unparalleled. It is so brilliant that everybody who could not get a ticket for the W:O:A, will be able to enjoy this ‘Night To Remember’.”

Iron Maiden at Wacken Open Air with The Book Of Souls World Tour 2016 on Thursday, August 4th, from 9:30 PM, CET. Exclusive and worldwide on Livestream at concert.arte.tv/de/wacken and wacken.com.