Scott Ian says his whole life has been leading up to flying in Iron Maiden’s private plane.
Anthrax will jet across South America with Maiden next month on the metal band’s The Book Of Souls World tour.
Despite knowing about the plan for months, guitarist Ian says that reality only hit him after he watched a video of Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson landing Ed Force One in Florida.
Ian tells TeamRock: “We’re actually flying on a Boeing 747 that says Iron Maiden on the side – with Iron Maiden. I finally understand what I’ve been doing all this time. It’s all been leading up to this.
“I saw Maiden support Priest on the Killers tour in 1981 in New York, and 35 years later I’m flying on a jet with them.”
Ian’s looking forward to playing in front of 75,000 people in Santiago, Chile, in March, but says seeing Iron Maiden perform will be an amazing experience.
He adds: “I’ve always wanted to do that as a fan, see Maiden in South America. Ask any band where their best gig is, and they’ll say Chile, Argentina or Brazil. It’s so insane down there.
“From a fan’s point of view, you get to see Maiden in front of those crowds. Even if I wasn’t playing the gigs, just to be a fly on the wall on the plane and get to go to the shows would be enough for me. I’m very excited.”
Maiden are currently on tour in support of 2015 album The Book Of Souls in North America. Anthrax will join them in South America to promote their latest record, For All Kings – out on February 26.
IRON MAIDEN BOOK OF SOULS WORLD TOUR 2016
Feb 26: Tulsa BOK Center, OK
Feb 28: Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center, NV
Mar 01: Monterrey Teatro Banamex, Mexico
Mar 03: Mexico City Sports Palace, Mexico
Mar 04: Mexico City Sports Palace, Mexico
Mar 06: San Salvador Estadio Jorge Magico Gonzalez, El Salvador
Mar 08: San Jose Estadio Ricardo Saprissa, Costa Rica
Mar 11: Santiago Estadio Nacional, Chile
Mar 13: Cordoba Estadio Mario Kempes, Argentina
Mar 15: Buenos Aires Estadio Velez Sarsfield, Argentina
Mar 17: Rio De Janeiro HSBC Arena, Brazil
Mar 19: Belo Horizonte Esplanada Do Mineirao, Brazil
Mar 22: Brasilia Nilson Nelson Arena, Brazil
Mar 24: Fortaleza Ginasio Olimpico, Brazil
Mar 26: Sao Paulo Allianz Parque, Brazil
Mar 30: New York Madison Square Garden, NY
Apr 01: Montreal Bell Centre, QC
Apr 03: Toronto Air Canada Center, ON
Apr 05: Detroit Palace of Auburn Hills, MI
Apr 06: Chicago United Center, IL
Apr 08: Edmonton Rexall Place, AB
Apr 10: Vancouver Rogers Arena, BC
Apr 11: Tacoma Dome, WA
Apr 13: Denver Pepsi Center, CO
Apr 15: Los Angeles Forum, CA
Apr 16: LA Forum, CA
Apr 20: Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, Japan
Apr 21: Tokyo Ryogoku Kokugikan, Japan
Apr 24: Beijing LeSports Center, China
Apr 26: Shanghai Mercedes Benz Arena, China
Apr 29: Christchurch Horncastle Arena, New Zealand
May 01: Aucklane Vector Arena, New Zealand
May 04: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Australia
May 06: Sydney Allphones Arena, Australia
May 09: Melbourne Rod Laver Arena, Australia
May 12: Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Australia
May 14: Perth Arena, Australia
May 18: Cape Town Grand Arena, South Africa
May 21: Johannesburg Carnival City Festival Lawns, South Africa
May 27: Dortmund Rock Im Revier Festival, Germany
May 29: Munich Rockavaria Festival, Germany
May 31: Berlin The Waldbuehne, Germany
Jun 03: Lucerne Sonisphere Allmend Rockt, Switzerland
Jun 05: Rock In Vienna Festival, Austria
Jun 08: Arnhem Gelredome, Netherlands
Jun 10:Paris Download Festival, France
Jun 12:Donington Download Festival, UK
Jun 15:Oslo Telenor Arena, Norway
Jun 17: Gothenburg Ullevi Stadium, Sweden
Jun 19: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Jun 21: Herning Jyske Bank Boxen, Denmark
Jun 23: Kaunas Zalgirio Arena, Lithuania
Jun 25: Moscow Olimpiyskiy, Russia
Jun 29: Hameenlinna Kantolan Tapahtumapuisto, Finland
Jul 01: Sopron Volt Festival, Hungary
Jul 03:Wroclaw Stadium, Poland
Jul 05: Prague Eden Arena, Czech Republic
Jul 06: Zilina Airport, Slovakia
Jul 09: Viveiro Resurrection Festival, Spain
Jul 11: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal
Jul 13: Madrid Barclaycard Center, Spain
Jul 16: Barcelona Rock Fest
Jul 22: Milan Mediolanum Forum, Italy
Jul 24: Rome Rock in Rome Sonisphere, Italy
Jul 26: trieste Piazza dell’Unita D’Italia, Italy
Jul 27: Split Spaladium Arena, Croatia
Aug 02: Esch-sur-Alzette Rockhal, Luxembourg
Aug 04: Wacken Open Air, Germany
