IRON MAIDEN opened the 2026 leg of their "Run For Your Lives" world tour on May 23 at the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens (OAKA), Greece — and made history in the process. For the first time in 38 years, the band performed "Infinite Dreams" from their 1988 masterpiece Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, delivering one of the most extraordinary setlist surprises of their legendary career.
Before launching into the song, frontman Bruce Dickinson addressed the capacity crowd with characteristic warmth and showmanship: "We couldn't think of a better place in Europe to start this tour… We thought we'd just do a little bit of something different, just for this next song, because it's a song that we have not played for many, many years."
The last confirmed live performance of "Infinite Dreams" took place during the 1988 "Seventh Tour of a Seventh Tour." Its return after nearly four decades marks a genuinely historic moment — the kind of unexpected deep cut that only a band with IRON MAIDEN's extraordinary catalog can produce. The Athens crowd, clearly unprepared for the moment, responded with the kind of intensity that made the footage spread across metal social media within hours.
American thrash legends ANTHRAX provided main support for the evening — a pairing that had the Olympic stadium in a state of sustained euphoria from the opening note. The full 17-song setlist drew heavily from the first nine studio albums that define the "Run For Your Lives" concept, including "Murders In The Rue Morgue," "Phantom Of The Opera," "The Number Of The Beast," "Powerslave," "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner," "Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son," "Hallowed Be Thy Name," "Fear Of The Dark," and "Aces High."
The "Run For Your Lives" world tour celebrates IRON MAIDEN's extraordinary 50-year history since their formation in London in 1975. The 2026 leg includes North American stadium and amphitheater dates, as well as a headline slot at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, Kentucky on September 17.
The Athens show was also the first significant outing for new drummer Simon Dawson, who joined IRON MAIDEN following Nicko McBrain's retirement after the final "Future Past Tour" show in December 2024. An official video recap of the Athens performance was shared on May 31, and by any measure, the transition appears seamless — both technically and in terms of the energy Dawson brings to the iconic drum kit.
Fifty years in, IRON MAIDEN are not merely coasting on legacy. They are reminding a new generation why they earned it.