It was the last tour which featured lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson before his return to the band in 1999, leaving to pursue a solo career,[1] his final shows taking place at Pinewood Studios and filmed for the live video, Raising Hell.[2]
As he had already announced his plans to leave before the tour began, Dickinson states that the concerts were extremely challenging, explaining that "we walked out onstage and it was like a morgue. The Maiden fans knew I'd quit, they knew these were the last gigs, and I suddenly realised that, as the frontman, you're in an almost impossible situation. If you're like, 'Wow, this is really fucking cool tonight, man,' they're all gonna sit there going, 'What a wanker. He's leaving. How can it be cool?' Or do you go on and say, 'Look, I'm really sorry I'm leaving – not to put a damper on the evening, but I am quitting'? I mean, what do you do?"[3] Bassist Steve Harris claims that, during the less high-profile shows, Dickinson would deliberately underperform, sometimes just mumbling into the microphone, although Dickinson has since denied the allegations.[4] On 1 May 1993 the band performed at Primo Maggio Free Festival in Rome, Piazza San Giovanni. According to different sources, the crowd was estimated at 500,000 to one million people in attendance. Iron Maiden toured an extensive Italian leg and visited Russia for the very first time, playing three consecutive nights at Moscow's Olympic Stadium.[5][6]
