Iron Maiden kicks off North American tour in Toronto with a dig at Trump

Iron Maiden opened the North American leg of their Run for Your Lives world tour last weekend with two sold out nights at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada. The shows mark a milestone: it has been 45 years since the band first set foot on Canadian and American soil, during the Killer world tour of 1981. This year the British heavy metal band celebrates its 50th anniversary, and the production has reportedly been scaled to match, with massive stages filling stadiums and large amphitheaters across North America.

The seventeen song setlist was identical both nights and drew from eight of the first nine studio albums, with only No Prayer for the Dying left unrepresented. Powerslave was the most prominent with four songs, followed by three each from Killers and The Number of the Beast. The set opened with Murders in the Rue Morgue and closed with an encore of Aces High, Fear of the Dark, and Wasted Years. A notable addition compared to the earlier 2025 dates on the same tour was Infinite Dreams, taken from the seventh studio album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. It was the first time the song had been played in Canada since 1988, when the band performed it during the original tour supporting that record. Both shows ran well over two hours.

Megadeth served as support act, currently wrapping up their own farewell tour. Dave Mustaine's band played a nine song set each night, with a few small variations between Saturday and Sunday. Megadeth will remain paired with Iron Maiden for the entire North American run, while Anthrax will join on a selection of dates. The tour continues through August 29 in San Antonio, and on September 17, 2026, Iron Maiden will headline the Louder Than Life rock festival in Kentucky.

Partly due to the current political tensions between Canada and the United States, the Toronto shows took on an extra edge. Vocalist Bruce Dickinson used his stage time to poke fun at Donald Trump's recent executive order to rename Lake Ontario to Lake America. Dickinson told the crowd: "We got here, we crossed Lake Ontario and later this year we will be crossing the Gulf of Mexico. But apart from the ridiculous state of the world, how the fuck are you lot tonight? Alright?" The remark landed well with the sold out audience. Trump signed the renaming order as part of a package of measures that also included a 50 percent tariff on various Canadian goods, after trade talks between the two countries broke down.

Christopher Cross also made his presence felt that night. The American singer songwriter wrapped up his own North American tour alongside Toto and The Romantics in the same city, at the RBC Amphitheatre in Toronto. Cross opened his set with the 2011 song Dreamers, which features a clip from Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream speech. He explained to the audience where the clip comes from and what it means. "It represents a very dark time in my country, which is happening again," he said. He then addressed the Canadians in the crowd directly: "I want to tell you that we love your country and appreciate your country very much. I'm just very sorry and embarrassed that we have an asshole for a president. But don't give up on us. We have an election coming up, and we're going to do our best to fix it. And then we'll be buying all your shit again, and you'll be buying all our shit again. We can be victims of corporate greed together."

For Dutch music fans the news is relevant first of all because Iron Maiden already completed the European dates of their Run for Your Lives tour and remain active outside North America throughout this anniversary year. Beyond that, the incidents highlight how international political tensions are increasingly finding their way onto the stage, from heavy metal to pop. One interesting detail on the edges of the tour: new drummer Simon Dawson, who replaced Nicko McBrain following his departure in 2024, is a former session musician and has been the rhythm section partner of bassist Steve Harris in his side project British Lion for fourteen years.