Iron Maiden, Britain’s biggest heavy metal band, bring their sold-out Final Frontier tour to the NIA in Birmingham on Sunday (July 31, 2011).

Fronted by wildfire lead singer Bruce Dickinson, the tour has seen the band play to some 2,500,000 fans at almost 100 arena and stadium shows across the globe, including Maiden’s first visits to Indonesia and Transylvania.

Having concentrated on massive stadium tours and festivals over the past few years – with qualified pilot Dickinson flying the group’s own jet ‘Ed Force One’ around the world – this is the first time in five years that Iron Maiden have played in Birmingham.

With record sales of 85 million and having secured a Grammy this year for Best Metal Performance with the song El Dorado, Iron Maiden have come a long way from their humble roots in the East End of London, where bassist Steve Harris formed the band in 1975.

Following the success of the band’s self-recorded EP The Soundhouse Tapes in 1979, Iron Maiden were signed to EMI and released their self-titled debut album in 1980.

At that time fronted by singer Paul Di’Anno, the band saw the album debut at number four and Maiden were soon hailed as among the leaders of the ‘New Wave of British Heavy Metal’.

But following the release of second album Killers, Di’Anno’s on and off-stage behaviour was becoming a concern to the band and in 1981 he was replaced by Bruce Dickinson. Dickinson’s first album with the band, The Number Of The Beast, was their first UK number one, and that lit the touch paper for the incredible success Iron Maiden were to enjoy for the next three decades.

Up until Dickinson left the band in 1993 to pursue a solo career, Iron Maiden enjoyed massive success and an ever-growing fanbase, releasing classic albums including Somewhere In Time, Powerslave, Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son and Fear Of The Dark. Maiden recruited Tamworth-based Blaze Bayley to fill Dickinson’s shoes but the resulting albums, The X Factor and Virtual XI, sold relatively poorly and by 1999 Dickinson was back fronting the band, releasing Brave New World in 2000.

Since then, Iron Maiden have gone on to release a further three albums, Dance Of Death, A Matter Of Life And Death and 2010’s critically acclaimed The Final Frontier. Their shows have become the stuff of heavy metal legend, with the band now featuring three lead guitarists, Dave Murray, Janick Gers and Adrian Smith as well as Harris, Dickinson and drummer Nicko McBrain.

The honorary “seventh member” of Iron Maiden is their zombie mascot, Eddie, who appears on album and single releases as well a making an appearance on stage during the band’s extravagant concerts – no doubt including Birmingham this weekend.

Ian Harvey