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British rock royalty Iron Maiden just can’t keep away, returning to New Zealand two years on from their last show for a one-off celebration of the band’s 50th anniversary.
The heavy metal band will be flanked by Grammy-winning, LA-born thrash metallists Megadeth, a line-up pitched to make “an absolute powerhousenight of metal”, promoter Paul Dainty says.
Formed in 1975, Iron Maiden has marked 50 years together by launching a four-continent tour titled, “Run for Your Lives”.
Having run the tour since May last year with shows across the European continent, and plenty more planned in the Americas this year, the latest suite of announcements has seen Australia, New Zealand and Japan added to their final list of stops in 2026.
Scheduled to play at Auckland’s Spark Arena on November 11, Iron Maiden’s one-show stopover will mark their fifth time playing to a New Zealand audience.
Dainty described the Australasian leg, which also includes four stops across the Tasman, as the band’s largest tour of the continent ever.
“With Megadeth also joining the New Zealand leg, this is going to be an absolute powerhouse night of metal – two giants of the genre, one colossal production, and a show New Zealand fans won’t know what hit them," Dainty said.
Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood said the crew is amped to make their way back to the Antipodes, saying that it’s “always a great experience playing to our fans there” who “appreciate seeing us whenever we can visit”.
“The band have been loving revisiting this era and especially enjoy playing these songs with the state-of-the-art visuals we’ve created to accompany them,” Smallwood said.
Iron Maiden’s ‘Run For Your Lives’ Tour
Where: Spark Arena, Auckland.
When: November 11, 2026.
Tickets: Pre-sales begin next Monday, March 2, with general public tickets on sale from Friday, March 6.
