Iron Maiden have played the first show of their Run For Your Lives world tour in Athens, Greece, giving Australian fans their clearest picture yet of what to expect when the band returns in November 2026. The opening night leaned heavily on the earliest chapters of the band’s catalogue and restored several classics absent from their previous Australian visit.
by Paul Cashmere
Iron Maiden launched the Run For Your Lives tour on 23 May 2026 in Athens, Greece, delivering the first complete setlist of their 50th anniversary run and confirming that Australian audiences will be getting a show built almost entirely around the band’s classic era. The opening night performance drew heavily from the first nine studio albums and immediately reinforced the band’s commitment to revisiting the material that established Iron Maiden as one of heavy metal’s defining acts.
For Australian fans, the Athens setlist offers a sneak peek of what is to come. The Australian leg of the world tour in is November, meaning audiences here are likely to see a production and song selection already tested across Europe and North America.
The significance sits in the structure of the set itself. Maiden began the show with three consecutive songs from Killers, before moving backwards to the debut album and then into The Number Of The Beast. It places unusual emphasis on the formative years and reflects the stated intention of the tour, which is to celebrate the band’s first nine albums.
The contrast with the band’s previous Australian visit is also notable. During The Future Past Tour, Maiden balanced newer material from Senjutsu with songs from Somewhere In Time. The 2026 set shifts sharply in the opposite direction. Material recorded after 1992 has been excluded entirely. Even the most recent song in the show, Fear Of The Dark, is now 34 years old.
That decision aligns with the band’s broader anniversary narrative. Earlier this year Iron Maiden: Burning Ambition examined the group’s five decades through archival material and fan stories, reinforcing the idea that the band’s legacy has become increasingly linked to endurance and catalogue depth rather than reinvention.
The Athens set also corrected one omission that some Australian fans noticed during previous touring cycles. Run To The Hills has returned to the show after being absent from the last Australian tour. Alongside staples such as The Trooper, Hallowed Be Thy Name and The Number Of The Beast, it restores one of the songs most closely associated with Maiden’s rise in the early 1980s.
Long-form material also remains central to the performance. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, one of the band’s most ambitious recordings, again appears in the set alongside the title track Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son. Both songs underline Steve Harris’ long-standing preference for progressive structures and literary themes.
The sequencing itself is notable because it avoids relying entirely on familiar singles. Opening with Murders In The Rue Morgue, Wrathchild and Killers gives substantial weight to the Paul Di’Anno era before Bruce Dickinson’s breakthrough period. While Dickinson has long become the definitive voice of Iron Maiden, the inclusion of early material reconnects the live show with the band’s pre-stadium identity.
There is still room for audience expectation to shift. Australian dates arrive at the very end of the global run and Maiden have adjusted setlists during previous tours. However, the Athens show suggests that the framework is now in place and the band’s message is clear. This tour is designed as a historical document as much as a concert event.
For Australia, it means the final chapter of the Run For Your Lives world tour could become one of the most catalogue-focused Maiden shows seen here in decades.
Rather than revisiting recent releases, the emphasis falls squarely on the songs that built the band from East London clubs into one of heavy music’s largest touring acts.
Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives Tour Opening Night Setlist, Athens, Greece, 23 May 2026
Murders In The Rue Morgue, from Killers (1981)
Wrathchild, from Killers (1981)
Killers, from Killers (1981)
Phantom Of The Opera, from Iron Maiden (1980)
The Number Of The Beast, from The Number Of The Beast (1982)
Infinite Dreams, from Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (1988)
Powerslave, from Powerslave (1984)
2 Minutes To Midnight, from Powerslave (1984)
Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, from Powerslave (1984)
Run To The Hills, from The Number Of The Beast (1982)
Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, from Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son (1988)
The Trooper, from Piece Of Mind (1983)
Hallowed Be Thy Name, from The Number Of The Beast (1982)
Iron Maiden, from Iron Maiden (1980)
Encore:
Aces High, from Powerslave (1984)
Fear Of The Dark, from Fear Of The Dark (1992)
Wasted Years, from Somewhere In Time (1986)
Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives New Zealand and Australia 2026
Saturday and Sunday 7 and 8 November, Auckland,
Wednesday 11 November, Adelaide, Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Friday 13 November, Melbourne, AAMI Park
Sunday 15 November, Sydney, Allianz Stadium
Wednesday 18 November, Brisbane, Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives Japan 2026
Tuesday and Wednesday 24 and 25 November Yokohama, K-Arena
https://www.ironmaiden.com/tour/run-for-your-lives-world-tour-2026/
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