Atreyu’s bassist has reflected on the chaotic time the band supported Iron Maiden in 2009.
The metalcore act supported the UK metal giants in Monterrey, Mexico, on February 25, as part of a package that also included Carcass, Morbid Angel, Lauren Harris (daughter of Maiden bassist Steve Harris) and Ira.
According to Marc McKnight in a new interview with El Planeta Del Rock, Atreyu were main support and faced the wrath of an audience impatient to see the venerated headliner. He says “a lot of stuff” was thrown at them, including a coin which caught him beneath the eye and dented his skull.
“The first 5,000 people at that show did not want fucking anything to do with any band but Iron Maiden,” the bassist begins (via Blabbermouth). “And because we were right before Iron Maiden, they hated us the most. Or maybe because we had tight pants and weren’t as heavy.”
Moving on to the injury he sustained while onstage that night, McKnight continues: “They threw a lot of stuff at us. There was a lot of physical violence. There were pesos being thrown at us. I actually got hit right here below my right eye.”
He claims the attack “almost put my eye out” and that he has “a dent in my skull” because of it. “I was headbanging really fast. And it hit me right below the eye. I was bleeding everywhere. It was fucking wild,” he remembers.
Nonetheless, McKnight insists the night was still a good one for Atreyu on the whole. “That show was difficult, but past those 5,000 people that were ravenous for Iron Maiden, we had circle pits, people singing along, we sold all of our merch – they fucking loved us. We had a blast.”
Iron Maiden will tour once again next year, when they hit the road on the European leg of the Run For Your Lives run. The dates will see the band play songs from their first nine albums, Iron Maiden (1980) through to Fear Of The Dark (1992), to celebrate their 50th anniversary. Support across the various dates will come from Halestorm, Avatar and The Raven Age. Please do not throw coins at them.
See details of every announced Run For Your Lives gig below.
Iron Maiden Run For Your Lives 2025 tour dates:
May 27: Budapest Aréna, Hungary *
May 31: Prague Letnany Airport, Czech Republic *
Jun 01: Bratislava TIPOS Arena, Slovakia *
Jun 05: Trondheim Rocks, Norway ≠
Jun 07: Stavanger SR-Bank Arena, Norway *
Jun 09: Copenhagen Royal Arena, Denmark *
Jun 12: Stockholm 3Arena, Sweden *
Jun 13: Stockholm 3Arena, Sweden *
Jun 16: Helsinki Olympic Stadium, Finland *
Jun 19: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium ≠
Jun 21: Birmingham Utilita Arena, UK ^
Jun 22: Manchester Co-op Live, UK ^
Jun 25: Dublin Malahide Castle, Ireland *^
Jun 28: London Stadium, UK *^
Jun 30: Glasgow OVO Hydro, UK ^
Jul 03: Belfort Eurockéennes, France ≠
Jul 05: Madrid Estadio Cívitas Metropolitano, Spain **
Jul 06: Lisbon MEO Arena, Portugal **
Jul 09: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland **
Jul 11: Gelsenkirchen Veltins-Arena, Germany **
Jul 13: Padova Stadio Euganeo, Italy **
Jul 15: Bremen Bürgerweide, Germany **
Jul 17: Vienna Ernst Happel Stadium, Austria **
Jul 19: Paris Paris La Défense Arena, France **
Jul 23: Arnhem GelreDome, Netherlands **
Jul 25: Frankfurt Deutsche Bank Park, Germany **
Jul 26: Stuttgart Cannstatter Wasen, Germany **
Jul 29: Berlin Waldbühne, Germany **
Aug 02: Warsaw PGE Narodowy, Poland **
* = Halestorm support
^ = The Raven Age support
** = Avatar support
≠ = Festival date
