FANS OF THE BEAST

Fans

From the first concerts, the band attracted the interest of heavy rock fans. They showed their sympathy, among others. by independently making posters advertising events, T-shirts and gadgets. All Iron Maiden collaborators who formed the band "The Killer Krew" at that time were recruited from the community of fans who accompanied the band. These included the future head of Iron Maiden FC Keith Wilfort, lighting engineer Dave Lights and sound engineer Doug Hall. As their career progressed, the group's fan base around the world grew in proportion to their successes, reaching its apogee in the mid-1980s, when supporters of Iron Maiden's music were united by networks of fan clubs covering the entire world.

The "Chicago Mutants" organization was founded in Chicago and in the 1980s, it followed the band throughout North America to reach as many concerts as possible on a specific tour. The head of the Danish FC Iron Maiden, Rasmus Stavnsborg has the world's largest collection of gadgets related to the band, which occupies a multi-room, two-story house and other FC premises. His collection was entered into the Guinness Book of Records twice - in 2012 and 2013, when it turned out that the number of Iron Maiden memorabilia exceeded 4,500 pieces.

Another world-famous fan of the group is the evangelical pastor Marcos Motolo, called "Frater Iron Maiden" in Brazil. His body is decorated with over 170 tattoos dedicated to the team, and for years he has been the president of the Brazilian FC "Pieces Of Maiden", which has a membership of approximately 560,000. people. In 2013, Motolo was immortalized in the Guinness Book of Records as the person who has the largest number of tattoos dedicated to one artist. Marco Motolo also baptized his son after the band's leader, bassist Steve Harris. The pastor's descendant's name is Steve Harris Motolo.

One of the best informed people regarding the history of the group, including the prolegomena accompanying individual events in its history, is Stjepan Juras - the head of the Croatian FC Iron Maiden - Firma. He is the author of several dozen articles and books detailing a number of aspects in the history of the band's activity: from comprehensive biographies dedicated to the band members, through the phenomenon of the band's popularity in various parts of the world, to the analysis of individual audio and visual releases and subsequent stages of their career. Books published by Croatian appear, among others, in limited, collector's editions, and the information contained therein became the starting point and inspiration for many articles about the group's history, published in popular music magazines. As the head of the local FC, he participated in the organization of numerous fan rallies and trips abroad to selected concerts of the group. Stjepan Juras had an invaluable influence on popularizing the band's work, especially in the Balkans.

The activity of the band's fans is also reflected in the creation of thematic websites, forums and blogs, as well as FB profiles dedicated to the British band and its members. The most popular of them include: Iron Maiden Brasil, Iron Maiden 666, Maiden Fans Spain, Maiden France, Iron Maiden Bulgaria, Maiden Fans, Maiden Denmark. In Poland, the largest portal for fans of the group and a related forum, with over 5,000 users, is SANKTUARIUM FC.

The official Iron Maiden fan club, operating since 1979, brings together the group's supporters from all over the world and periodically publishes a magazine, reporting on events related to the band on an ongoing basis. The official forum has 160,000 members. users, which enables the exchange of information and sharing of experiences between fans scattered around the globe.

Since the 1980s, fans of the group, called "Troopers", "Maiden Heads" or "Killers", have greeted each other with the slogan "Up The Irons!" printed on album covers and in Iron Maiden merchandise. Since 2008, banners with the words "Iron Maiden Is My Religion!" have also appeared at concerts, a tradition initiated by Brazilian fans. Moreover, the mascot of the Brazilian football fan club FC FORZA has for years been Eddie , who often appears on banners and flags flying during football matches.

Another common practice is to ask people to change their own or family members' names to something synonymous with the name "Iron Maiden" or referring to the group's mascot, Eddie. One of many examples is Kalil Silva, who presented his ID card with the newly registered name Iron Maiden Silva. The band's fans also created hundreds of so-called cover bands, i.e. groups that play in tribute to famous Britons, record albums and regularly give concerts around the world. Some of the most popular formations of this type include the female The Iron Maidens, Hi-On Maiden, Bloodbrothers, Made In Iron, The Powerslaves, Up The Irons, Prowlers, Iron Maidnem, Iron Maiden Revival.

The band appreciates the role that fans have played in building their success, often organizing rallies, conventions, meetings related to the publication of subsequent releases especially for them, answering questions and giving interviews to the editors of fan club magazines or organizing competitions, as a result of which winners are selected from among the audience people who could be on stage at the designated moment (usually the song "Heaven Can Wait"). Management also organized raffles in which you could win VIP tickets to prestigious concerts, gadgets signed by musicians, and gold and platinum records. There are also flights to concerts on the Ed Force One plane organized for fan club members. After the journey, fans receive souvenir gadgets and gifts. In exceptional cases, competition winners can participate in individual stages of the tours, watching Iron Maiden's work from behind the scenes.

In July 2022, a special train was launched to transport selected 300 fans to the concert in Gothenburg. The carriages were decorated with graphics with the band's logo and an illustration known from the Senjutsu album, and special gifts were distributed to the participants of the trip. Train line TRAIN666 was supposed to run only on the day of the concert, but eventually it became a permanent attraction used by all travelers.

Dominic Lawson, editor of the British "Metal Hammer", as a fourteen-year-old youth participated in a series of seven concerts at the Hammersmith Odeon , which took place during the British stage of the "Somewhere on Tour" tour in 1986. Years later, the backstage of this event was recalled in the pages of "Metal Hammer". According to popular opinion, the band's fans are among the most loyal and devoted in the history of the genre; according to the group's management, the group's loyal supporters were its best PR agents. The fascination with the group's activities and characteristic graphic design, which has accompanied the British since 1979, has translated into the incredible creative involvement of thousands of fans who publish countless artistic works, clips, films, installations, gadgets for general use, illustrations and even musical and literary works featuring the band. and Eddie The Head. Over time, Iron Maiden fans have become the best PR agents the band could ever dream of. The group's impressive career was the result of grassroots involvement and loyalty of the audience, and not promotional activities aimed at mainstream music audiences, opportunistic tricks of creative marketing managers or "scandals" arranged for the needs of the media.

In November 2022, German television giant ARD broadcast a series of documentaries titled "How Heavy Metal Saved My Life", about the role of music in the lives of fans. One of the episodes was dedicated to Iron Maiden fans.