Support acts announced for Iron Maiden NZ concerts

The support acts have been announced for the highly anticipated New Zealand leg of the IRON MAIDEN ‘Somewhere Back in Time’ World Tour which will see the band play shows in Auckland and Christchurch.

Chuganaut has taken out the top spot to support Iron Maiden for their Auckland show with southern stalwarts ‘Tainted’ scooping the Christchurch support gig. The Rock Radio Station ran a competition throughout December and January to find two bands that could rock the stage in true Iron Maiden style – one for the Auckland concert and one for the Christchurch concert. The competition attracted an incredibly high standard of entries making it a tough decision for the judges.

CHUGANAUT is an unstoppable heavy sound machine on a mission. Alternative Rock with a twist of Metal, Chuganaut are an explosive mix of spontaneity and monstrous musicianship. With the release of various singles, an EP ‘Wolf’, music videos, and the debut album ‘11:11 One’, along with subsequent tours nationwide and overseas ventures, Chuganaut has evolved in stage performance, lyrical and rhythmical stance, and their fan base has grown and growled along with them.

TAINTED make no bones about being one of NZ’s best live heavy metal bands, with the release of their album in October 2008 “Carved and Created” and their performance at Southern Amp 08. This Christchurch 5 piece continues to unleash their own brand of solid, rapid and melodic metal. This single minded commitment to forging a new path has seen them come a long way since their early beginnings with numerous national tours and recent endorsements from Jackson® Guitars USA and Shure. Tainted will bring their hallmark thunderous wave of metal to Christchurch’s Westpac Arena and put on one hell of a show!

UK artist Lauren Harris and her band has also been announced as the opening international act for both IRON MAIDEN dates. Twenty one year old Lauren Harris is the oldest daughter of IRON MAIDEN founder and bassist Steve Harris. Laura literally grew up on music and Maiden tours so it was only natural that she wanted to make her own mark as an artist. She had just started singing in London's pubs when legendary British producer writer-artist Russ Ballard noticed her one night and hired her as the female voice for the new material he was writing. With the confidence this boost gave her she put a band together and over the last couple of years she has been touring extensively. Lauren played to over two million people worldwide when she supported Iron Maiden on the first leg of their ‘Somewhere Back In Time’ world tour and has supported a number of other bands including Within Temptation and Thunder. More info is available at http://www.myspace.com/laurenharrisuk

SOMEWHERE BACK IN TIME 2009 – FOURTH AND FINAL LEG

New Zealand Tour Dates:

Friday 20 February 2009 – Mt Smart Stadium AUCKLAND
Sunday 22 February 2009 – Westpac Arena CHRISTCHURCH

Tickets are on sale now at www.ticketek.co.nz or 0800 TICKETEK

For further information go to www.ironmaiden.com