Run to the hills! This one has been swirling around the rumour mill for a while now but it really does look as though British heavy metal legends Iron Maiden are set to perform in Shanghai this spring.
And it could be a huge season of metal for the city with Metallica reportedly due to return, plus an AC/DC show rumoured to be in the works. Holy moly.
Trustworthy chatter on Weibo and elsewhere has put Iron Maiden's Shanghai date as April 26 (that's a Tuesday) and the venue as Mercedes-Benz Arena. Although we're still waiting for 100 percent official confirmation that the long-running 'will they won't they' is over, all signs are that Steve Harris and co will be making their Shanghai debut in a few months time as part of their Book of Souls world tour. Their proposed China dates make sense given their current tour schedule, with the band also likely to be playing Beijing on April 24.
Hopes that one of the biggest names in heavy metal would be hitting town this year were first raised back in August 2015 when Iron Maiden's official site named China as one of the destinations for the band's Book of Souls world tour. (Side note: that post also states that vocalist Bruce Dickinson will be captaining a jumbo jet to deliver the band to their tour dates.)
Late last year, photos were leaked on Weibo purportedly showing the official application for Iron Maiden to play in China, and permission now seems to have been granted. Interestingly, that same Weibo post also shows an application to bring Metallica back to Shanghai in May 2016.
And as if that wasn't enough, rumours persist that AC/DC will be landing in Shanghai later this year on their own China tour. With all these old-school acts coming to town and with Guns N' Roses having recently announced that they'll be headlining this year's Coachella with Slash back in the fold, is it too much to hope that they'll also rock up in Shanghai before too long?