IRON MAIDEN Issues Statement After Cancelling Concert In Bologna

Iron Maiden 2021

IRON MAIDEN were forced to cancel their concert in Bologna, Italy Thursday night (July 7) “due to very bad and dangerous weather conditions, including extensive lightning and high winds,” according to a post on the Bologna Sonic Park Facebook page.

Earlier this week, the Italian government declared a state of emergency in five regions because of a drought caused by lack of rain and rising temperatures. To help the regions that have been especially hard hit, Italy is sending $37.5 million in relief funds distributed to several regions, including Emilia-Romagna, where Bologna is located.

IRON MAIDEN manager Rod Smallwood has now issued the following statement regarding the Bologna cancelation, which reads: “The band and l are so sorry we were unable to play for our fans in Bologna last night. As the weather conditions worsened, the promoters came to us concerned about the safety of everyone and the viability of doing the show. They made further enquiries and decided that the event should be cancelled for safety reasons and announced this from onstage. I have to say I fully agreed with this decision and that it was the responsible thing to do considering the amount and scale of surrounding lightning and high winds and having been told what was expected to follow.

“We love playing to audiences here and the last thing we wanted to do was not play and we feel very sorry for our fans who were there, and we fully understand and sympathise with the frustration. It is not possible to reschedule this show, but we promise our fans in Italy that we will return next year.”

IRON MAIDEN‘s latest studio album, Senjutsu, was released in September 2021.

For Senjutsu — loosely translated as “tactics and strategy” — the band once again enlisted the services of Mark Wilkinson to create the spectacular Samurai-themed cover artwork, based on an idea by Harris.