Will Iron Maiden’s “Empire Of The Clouds” Become a Theatrical Event?

While I was generally a huge fan of Iron Maiden’s latest, The Book of Souls, I didn’t love “Empire of the Clouds,” the record’s epic eighteen-minute closer about a giant airship and the perils faced by its crew. It’s a cool story, and nicely showcases frontman Bruce Dickinson’s love of aviation, but it felt a little tedious to me.

However, it appears that the fans love it, and in a recent interview with Loudwire, the band discussed the idea of playing it live. At first, Dickinson mentioned that he thought performing the massive track live would be too much:

“It is such an overwhelming song to do for everybody…That, just is going to be too unwieldy in the context of a big, hairy rock and roll show.”

However, Bruce then went on to describe one idea he had for the performance:

“I’d love to actually do a one-off — or who knows what it might turn into — a project with an orchestra and a narrative and a couple of actors to tell the story in between the pieces and film it and extend it to 35-40 minutes.”

So, look, I’m not crazy about “Empire of the Clouds,” but you bet your fucking ass I would go see Iron Maiden perform the song with an orchestra, actors, and a narrative storyline. Watching Maiden play atop a huge faux airship that sails across a stage covered with fake clouds spewing lightning and thunder? My GOD, yes. Maiden do theatricality better than any other metal band, so if anyone was going to do something like this, it should be them.

You can watch the interview below. Anyone who wants to get a petition going, send it our way — we’ll sign it.