The first tour was unique, as the set list primarily consisted of the band's most recent release, A Matter of Life and Death, in its entirety, although this got a mixed response from audiences.

[1] Unusually, the first leg did not include "The Number of the Beast", a song which Iron Maiden had previously played on every tour since its inception.

[2] Throughout the tour, the stage would be decorated to look like a First World War trench, with the wall canvases featuring painted sandbags and barbed wire, the stage floor decorated with barbed wire and mud as well as actual sandbags placed in front of the monitors.

The podiums at the end of each runway came with actual barbed wire and searchlights (operated by Dickinson) and the bodies of two parachutists would appear from the lighting rig during "The Longest Day" (during "Iron Maiden" in 2007).

As with previous tours, Nicko McBrain's drumkit featured a Sooty puppet, this time dressed in army attire.