Bruce Dickinson, the voice of Iron Maiden, is pretty much the embodiment of the modern day rock star. He isn’t happy with just being the front man of one of the genre’s biggest bands, mind you, he’s set to show off a few more strings to his bow when he flies the entire band over next May.

The legends will perform two shows, May 18 at the Grand Arena and May 21 at the Johannesburg Carnival City Festival Lawns.

Along with the band Bruce will also ferry the crew, stage production and equipment – meaning he needs a rather large plane to do so. Enter the Boeing 747-400 Jumbo Jet Ed Force One, which should just about do the trick. This should give you some sense of size:

Bruce had this to say about the upcoming tour, quoted here on IOL:

We cannot wait to get back out on tour. When we start in the USA in late February it will be 19 months since our last show at Sonisphere in the UK so we are raring to go. Maiden thrive on touring and getting out to our fans, it’s what we do best, so it will be a great feeling to board our new Jumbo Ed Force One with the crew and the gear and head round the globe and get back on stage for you guys. I’m especially delighted to be coming to South Africa, as although the band has played here before, it’ll be the first time that Adrian Smith and myself will be touring here as part of Iron Maiden, so we’re really looking forward to seeing all our fans!

Of course we haven’t decided on the set list as yet and won’t until we start rehearsing but we really look forward to playing a number of new songs live, especially as the recording was so much live. However, as it’s been a while since we saw you all, I am sure we will include plenty of older fan favourites, too. I think the fans will be delighted by what we have in mind. We are also in the middle of creating the new show and rest assured we are working hard to bring you all something spectacular, something with a lot of heart! You certainly deserve it for your patience.

Should be one hell of a show, and having seen Bruce and the rest of the crew tear it up a few years back I’m pretty sure we’re in for a treat.

[source:iol]