Veteran British Rockers Iron Maiden have announced a gig in Bucharest's Piata Constitutiei this summer. The band have included Bucharest in the European leg of their Maiden England World Tour, and are scheduled to appear on July 24. Metal act Anthrax, who've been around for nearly as long as Iron Maiden, will appear as special guests and Voodoo Six will provide support. Tickets for the event go on sale tomorrow (March 19 ).

The band finished a North American tour last year and are looking forward to playing in cities across Europe. “We all can’t wait to bring this show to our European fans,” said lead singer Bruce Dickinson. The show is based on the group's 1988 Seventh Son of Seventh Son tour but, according to the band, has been pepped up with some modern technology. “We’ve been able to update and improve on the original production. We will be bringing a huge new lightshow, stage set, various incarnations of Eddie, plenty of pyro and all kinds of other exciting stuff for the fans,” said founding member, song writer and bass player Steve Harris. For the uninitiated, 'Eddie' is the band's death's head mascot, who appears on most of the group's album covers, as well as appearing in various “incarnations” during live sets.

Iron Maiden got going in the UK in the mid to late 70s. They hit the big time towards the end of the decade and during the 80s, when they became one of the world's biggest heavy metal acts. The 90s was a decade of upheaval and mixed fortunes for the group and over the years, a bewildering number of band members have come and gone. Then in 1999, what could be considered the classic Maiden line-up reformed and went on to tour extensively. They've also recorded more albums and had commercial and critical success with their 2010 release The Final Frontier. The line-up has remained the same since 1999 and includes Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Steve Harris on bass, Nicko McBrain on drums and Adrian Smith, Dave Murray and Janick Gers - on guitar.

Iron Maiden promise a mixture of old favorites, songs from the 1988 tour and newer material on their European tour. Tickets for the Bucharest show are available from the Eventim network, in Orange and Vodafone shops, as well in Domo branches and the Humanitas and Carturesti bookstores. For online sales, go to the eventim.ro site. Tickets on sale from March 19 at 10:00.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

photo source: Iron Maiden on Facebook