WATCH: Iron Maiden open 2017 tour, make setlist changes & unleash intro video

Iron Maiden opened the 2017 leg of their Book of Souls World Tour with a triumphant show in Belgium on Saturday night (22nd April).

The 23,000 capacity gig at Antwerps Sportpaleis was Maiden’s first full live show since they headlined Wacken Open Air last August and their first in Antwerp since the ‘Killers’ tour way back in 1981.

Entering the stage shortly after UFO’s ‘Doctor Doctor’ played through the PA system, Bruce, Steve, Dave, Adrian, Nicko and Janick played a scintillating 15 song show that featured some setlist changes from the 2016 leg of the tour.

‘Tears of a Clown’ and ‘The Number of the Beast’ classic ‘Hallowed Be Thy Name’ were both omitted from the set with ‘Wrathchild’ getting its first outing since Switzerland’s Greenfield Festival in June 2014 and ‘The Great Unknown’ making its live debut.

Watch fan-filmed footage of ‘The Great Unknown’ here:

The setlist as a whole was dominated by The Book of Souls with six tracks making the cut, while The Number of the Beast had two songs featured. Brave New World, Fear of the Dark, Iron Maiden, Killers, Piece of Mind, Powerslave and Somewhere in Time were represented by a song apiece.

Iron Maiden continue the European leg of the Book of Souls World Tour with two nights at König-Pilsener Arena in Oberhausen, Germany tonight and tomorrow before playing dates in Frankfurt and Hamburg.

Supported by Shinedown, they open the UK leg at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena on Thursday 4th May. Select tickets to the UK shows are still on sale from Kerrang! Radio Tickets** **now.

Coinciding with the start of the tour, Iron Maiden have unleashed a tour intro video that sees the camera stalk Eddie The Head through a Mayan temple. It culminates with a gargantuan heart pumping out blood in the temple before Eddie’s giant claw clutches it.

The setlist in Antwerp was as follows:

• If Eternity Should Fail
• Speed Of Light
• Wrathchild
• Children Of The Damned
• Death Or Glory
• The Red And The Black
• The Trooper
• Powerslave
• The Great Unknown (live debut)
• The Book Of Souls
• Fear Of The Dark
• Iron Maiden

Encore:

• The Number Of The Beast
• Blood Brothers
• Wasted Years

• Iron Maiden