{"id":79528,"date":"2025-09-22T21:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T21:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/79528\/"},"modified":"2025-09-22T21:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T21:16:08","slug":"iron-maiden-announce-knebworth-show-for-summer-2026-with-the-darkness-the-hu-and-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/79528\/","title":{"rendered":"Iron Maiden announce Knebworth show for summer 2026 with The Darkness, The Hu and more"},"content":{"rendered":"

Iron Maiden<\/a> have announced a huge Knebworth headline show for the summer of 2026, with support from The Darkness<\/a>, The Hu<\/a> and others.<\/p>\n

Last week, the band shared details of a European stadium headline tour for next year<\/a>, an extension of their two-year, 50th anniversary \u2018Run For Your Lives\u2019 tour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That announcement included a tease of a major UK show, and now they have confirmed that they will top a bill at the legendary outdoor venue in Hertfordshire on Saturday 11 July, with a hand-picked set of opening acts made up of The Darkness, The Hu, Airbourne and The Almighty.<\/p>\n

The \u201cweekend event\u201d will include the biggest Eddie\u2019s Dive Bar ever, as well as Maiden-themed food and other specialised stalls, with proceedings kicking off on Friday 10 July for fans with camping tickets.<\/p>\n

Tickets go on sale at 10am on Saturday (September 27) and you can find yours here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood has said: \u201cWe knew that we had to bring the \u2018Run For Your Lives\u2019 show back to the UK again next summer as there was such a phenomenal demand for tickets this year but we wanted to do something a bit different especially as it would be hard to top the show at London Stadium!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, we think that Knebworth is the solution \u2013 besides being a legendary venue for historic concerts over the years going right back to Led Zeppelin<\/a>, Pink Floyd<\/a>, the Stones<\/a> and Queen<\/a> \u2013 it also gives us the outdoor space and control to create something very special for our fans! Of course, we also have history there too with our headline appearances at Sonisphere some years ago, who could forget that World War I Centenary dog fight over the park\u2019s tree line with Bruce full guns blazing in his own Fokker triplane?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, this time we will be taking over the whole of the grounds ourselves and turning it into as much of a \u2018Maiden World\u2019 as we can for all our fans to enjoy!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Justin Hawkins<\/a>, frontman of The Darkness, has said: \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to announce that The Darkness are to appear LIVE in support of the legendary Iron Maiden at Knebworth! Iron Maiden are among our favourite all-time bands and what\u2019s more, they are named after my second favourite medieval torture device. My favourite would be the Pear of Anguish. So those in attendance can expect us to force our music into them, whereupon the catchiness of our tuneage will expand until they tell us everything. Yay!!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, Iron Maiden shared a message with fans, urging them to \u201cseverely limit the use of their phone cameras out of respect for the band and their fellow fans\u201d<\/a> during their \u2018Run For Your Lives\u2019 shows.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s run of shows were the first with\u00a0new touring drummer Simon Dawson,<\/a>\u00a0who was appointed following\u00a0the touring retirement of long-term sticksman Nicko McBrain.<\/a>\u00a0McBrain announced he would be\u00a0\u201ctaking a step back\u201d from touring<\/a>\u00a0last year due to\u00a0suffering a minor stroke in 2023,<\/a>\u00a0which left him partially paralysed on his right side from the shoulder down.<\/p>\n