Iron Maiden are pleased to announce they will be beginning their 2006 World Tour with eight dates across the USA and three dates in Canada starting October 4th in Hartford, CT.

Tickets for the shows will start going on to the general public from the weekend of August 12th, with details of local box office and on-sale times at www.ironmaiden.com. Iron Maiden has also arranged for a special fan club pre-order for all shows beginning August 1 and running through to the public on-sale date. Details of this will be sent directly to them beforehand.

This follows the recent announcement that their highly anticipated new studio album ‘A Matter Of Life And Death’ will be released on September 5th on Sanctuary records.

Says Bruce Dickinson ‘This is the first time we’ve started a tour in the States for many, many years. It’s going to be great to get out there so the fans can get to hear the new material and see the new show first for a change. We’re all incredibly pleased with the album, and the tremendous response of those people who have had the chance to hear it so far. Their reaction has been phenomenal and we expect to play a lot of it on tour.’

‘We will be bringing the full show to America, which we are currently putting the final touches to, and we fully intend to make it as spectacular and memorable as we can. And of course, our mate Eddie has already booked a place on the plane with us’

On the topic of “A Matter of Life and Death,” Bruce comments, “This album has to be our best since working with Kevin Shirley (Producer). There is such a wide scope of musicianship on this album. Every one of us has put everything into this record and it’s really paid off.’

The upcoming North American dates represent the beginning of the “A Matter of Life and Death World Tour,’ which will continue into Japan and then travel through to Europe, finishing with 2 shows at London’s Earls Court Arena just before Christmas. All the shows on the European leg have been on sale since March and reaction to the dates has been incredible, with the majority of shows already sold out months in advance.

Accompanying Iron Maiden on the USA tour (excluding Los Angeles) are new UK metal sensation, Bullet for My Valentine, who have been receiving rave reviews while on tour with Guns N’ Roses throughout Europe.
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The full tour dates are –

4 OCT – USA – New England Dodge Music Center – Hartford, CT
6 OCT – USA – Agganis Arena – Boston, MA
7 OCT – USA – Tweeter Center At the Waterfront – Camden, NJ
9 OCT – CANADA – Colisee Pepsi Arena – Quebec City, QC
10 OCT – CANADA – Bell Centre – Montreal, QC
12 OCT – USA – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – Uniondale, NY
13 OCT – USA – Continental Airlines Arena – East Rutherford, NJ
16 OCT – CANADA – Air Canada Centre – Toronto, ON
17 OCT – USA – Palace of Auburn Hills – Auburn Hills, MI
18 OCT – USA – Allstate Arena – Rosemont, IL
21 OCT – USA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre – Irvine, CA

Full details of the new album, tour and links on where to get tickets can be found on www.ironmaiden.com.