The Killer World Tour was a concert tour by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 17 February 1981 to 15 November 1981. This was the band's first world tour, including their debut shows in North America (where they supported Judas Priest on their World Wide Blitz Tour, and UFO on select dates) and Japan where they recorded the live release, Maiden Japan. On top of this, the band moved into larger venues in the United Kingdom, including the Hammersmith Odeon, in London.
This would be Iron Maiden's last tour with singer Paul Di'Anno, who was dismissed due to his unreliability. He was replaced by Samson vocalist Bruce Dickinson, with whom the band undertook a short series of concerts in Italy and the UK from 26 October to 23 December, before they set about writing and recording their next album, The Number of the Beast.
Tour dates + List of 1981 concerts Date City Country Venue17 February 1981IpswichEnglandGaumont Theatre18 February 1981NorwichUniversity of East Anglia19 February 1981OxfordNew Theatre Oxford20 February 1981LancasterLancaster University 21 February 1981DerbyAssembly Rooms22 February 1981ManchesterManchester Apollo23 February 1981HanleyVictoria Hall24 February 1981DunstableQueensway Hall26 February 1981GuildfordGuildford Civic Hall27 February 1981BristolColston Hall 28 February 1981TauntonTaunton Odeon1 March 1981BournemouthWinter Gardens2 March 1981SouthamptonGaumont Theatre4 March 1981BradfordSt George's Hall 5 March 1981LiverpoolRoyal Court Theatre 6 March 1981MiddlesbroughMiddlesbrough Town Hall7 March 1981Newcastle upon TyneNewcastle City Hall8 March 1981GlasgowScotlandThe Apollo 9 March 1981EdinburghOdeon Theatre10 March 1981SheffieldEnglandSheffield City Hall12 March 1981BirminghamBirmingham Odeon13 March 1981CambridgeCorn Exchange 14 March 1981BracknellBracknell Sports Centre15 March 1981LondonHammersmith Odeon18 March 1981LilleFrancePalais St. Sauveur19 March 1981HagondageSalle de Fetes20 March 1981ReimsMaison des Sports21 March 1981ParisBataclan22 March 198123 March 1981LyonPalais d'Hiver24 March 1981MiramasSalle des Fêtes25 March 1981ToulonPatinoire Vert Côteau26 March 1981NiceThéâtre de Verdure de Nice27 March 1981MontpellierPalais des Sports de Montpellier30 March 1981MilanItalyRolling Stone31 March 1981Reggio EmiliaPalasport di Reggio Emilia1 April 1981BresciaPalasport di Brescia2 April 1981GoriziaPalasport di Gorizia3 April 1981TurinPalaRuffini5 April 1981ZürichSwitzerlandVolkshaus6 April 1981ErlangenWest GermanyStadhalle Erlagen7 April 1981DüsseldorfPhillipshalle8 April 1981CologneSporthalle9 April 1981KasselStadthalle Kassel10 April 1981West BerlinNeue Welt11 April 1981BremenStadthalle Bremen12 April 1981WertheimMain-Tauber-Halle13 April 1981MunichSchwabinger Brau14 April 1981KarlsruheGartenhalle15 April 1981StuttgartAusstellungshalle16 April 1981MannheimRosengarten17 April 1981StrasbourgFranceTivoli Hall18 April 1981MulhousePalais des Fêtes19 April 1981DouvaineSalle de la Bulle21 April 1981ToulouseColomiers Hall22 April 1981BordeauxSalle du Grand Parc23 April 1981OrléansRothonde24 April 1981GenkBelgiumLimburghal25 April 1981AntwerpCine Roma26 April 1981LeidenNetherlandsStadsgehoorzaal27 April 1981Winschoten28 April 1981NijmegenConcertgebouw de Vereeniging29 April 1981OffenbachWest GermanyStadthalle Offenbach30 April 1981HanoverKurhaus Friednstal1 May 1981HamburgMarkthalle2 May 1981DortmundWestfallenhalle3 May 1981West BerlinNeue Welt5 May 1981OsloNorwayUnknown7 May 1981LundSwedenOlympen8 May 1981StockholmGöta Lejon10 May 1981CopenhagenDenmarkOdd Fellow21 May 1981TokyoJapanKōsei Nenkin Kaikan22 May 1981OsakaFestival Hall23 May 1981NagoyaAichi Kōsei Nenkin Kaikan24 May 1981TokyoNakano Sun Plaza3 June 1981ParadiseUnited StatesAladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts4 June 1981PhoenixArizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum5 June 1981El PasoEl Paso County Coliseum6 June 1981OdessaEctor County Coliseum7 June 1981LubbockLubbock Municipal Coliseum8 June 1981McAllenVilla Real9 June 1981LaredoLaredo Civic Center10 June 1981San AntonioConvention Center Arena11 June 1981University ParkMoody Coliseum13 June 1981HoustonSam Houston Coliseum14 June 1981DetroitHarpos Concert Theatre19 June 1981TorontoCanadaThe Concert Hall21 June 1981MontrealLe Club22 June 1981MilwaukeeUnited StatesHenry Maier Festival Park26 June 1981LynwoodPoint East27 June 1981ClevelandAgora Theater28 June 1981LandoverCapital Centre1 July 1981Asbury ParkAsbury Park Convention Hall2 July 1981SalisburyWicomico Youth and Civic Center3 July 1981NorfolkScope Arena4 July 1981PittsburghStanley Theatre7 July 1981Myrtle BeachMyrtle Beach Convention Center9 July 1981AtlantaFox Theatre10 July 1981Johnson CityFreedom Hall11 July 1981MemphisMid-South Coliseum12 July 1981TrotwoodHara Arena15 July 1981JohnstownCambria County War Memorial Arena16 July 1981BuffaloShea's Buffalo17 July 1981RochesterAuditorium Theatre18 July 1981SyracuseLandmark Theatre19 July 1981AlbanyPalace Theatre21 July 1981New York CityPalladium22 July 198123 July 198124 July 198125 July 1981New HavenNew Haven Coliseum26 July 1981AllentownAllentown Fairgrounds28 July 1981BostonOrpheum Theatre29 July 1981BaltimoreBaltimore Civic Center30 July 1981Upper Darby TownshipTower Theater1 August 1981San BernardinoSwing Auditorium4 August 1981Long BeachLong Beach Arena15 August 1981StuttgartWest GermanyCannstatter Wasen16 August 1981NurembergZeppelinfeld22 August 1981BaarloNetherlands23 August 1981DarmstadtWest GermanyStadion am Böllenfalltor26 August 1981FréjusFranceArènes de Fréjus27 August 1981Cap d'AgdeCap d'Agde Arena29 August 1981Bayonne31 August 1981AnnecyParc des Sports1 September 1981OrangeRoman Theatre of Orange6 September 1981BelgradeYugoslaviaBelgrade Hippodrome8 September 1981StockholmSwedenGöta Lejon9 September 1981LundOlympen10 September 1981CopenhagenDenmarkOdd Fellows Mansion26 October 1981BolognaItalyPalazzo dello Sport27 October 1981Rome28 October 1981FlorenceTeatro Tenda29 October 1981PaduaPalasport San Lazzaro30 October 1981MilanPalaLido15 November 1981LondonEnglandRainbow Theatre23 December 1981The Ruskin Arms
Reference
Festivals and other miscellaneous performances Five songs from this show, namely "Running Free", "Remember Tomorrow", "Killers", "Innocent Exile" and "Wrathchild" were recorded and released in the Maiden Japan EP This show was in support of Judas Priest This concert was a part of Summerfest This show was in support of UFO This concert was a part of The 4th Golden Summernight Concert (Sunrise Festival) This concert was a secret show under the name "Genghis Khan"
Cancelled and rescheduled dates The tour was subject to a number of cancellations due to problems with Paul Di'Anno's voice, causing four German dates to be cancelled and several Scandinavian dates to be rescheduled. According to band manager Rod Smallwood, the reason for the vocal issues were brought about by adopting a "rock star" lifestyle, which Di'Anno states was because he "couldn't see [his] way to the end of" the band's heavy schedule and that he believed that this was "what you were supposed to do in a big, successful rock band." On the other hand, Steve Harris, the band's bassist, has since said that he did not "know whether he was seeking attention or what", arguing that having to cancel shows because of personal problems was intolerable and ultimately cemented Di'Anno's dismissal. The full list of cancelled dates are as follows:
27 April 1981: Winschoten, Netherlands, (Poor ticket sales) 30 April 1981: Offenbach am Main, West Germany, Stadthalle Offenbach 1 May 1981: Hamburg, West Germany 2 May 1981: Dortmund, West Germany 3 May 1981: West Berlin, Neue Welt 7 May 1981: Lund, Sweden, Olympen (Rescheduled to 9 September) 8 May 1981: Stockholm, Sweden, Göta Lejon (Rescheduled to 8 September) 9 May 1981: Oslo, Norway 10 May 1981: Copenhagen, Denmark, Odd Fellows Mansion (Rescheduled to 10 September) 22 August 1981: Baarlo, Netherlands,
References Citations
Sources
External links Killer World Tour dates