Shinedown: Touring with Iron Maiden is something that will live with us forever

Shinedown's guitarist Zach Meyers talks about their tour with Iron Maiden, read the statement below:

Not but a few hours removed from what, without a doubt was the best and most memorable European and United Kingdom tour we have ever done in our career. . . Touring with Iron Maiden is something that will live with us forever . . . For me from the day this tour was announced I had trepidation going into it . . .Only because I knew that Iron Maiden fans were notoriously known for being amazingly hard on support acts . . . Also luckily for us being a support act isn’t something that we have had to have to do in a while. . . In a touring capacity. . All I would hear from my friends before the tour is that. .”You are just something in between these people and their favorite band. . The reason they live. . If YOU weren’t here. . Iron Maiden could go on earlier”. . And I have to tell you. . Our experience ended up being completely opposite of this. . We’ve opened for numerous bands that we didn’t fit in with at ALL musically that were known for having fans that were brutal to openers . . . Kiss, Metallica, Slayer etc. I’ll tell you this . . . the aforementioned are hard. . But not nearly as hard as turning a Maiden crowd onto your side . . . Which leads me to say this . . . These are the most loyal and dedicated and genuine fans I have ever seen in my entire life . . .of any band . . .ever . . . It was an odd combination to begin with . . . We know we are not a metal band. . We are a rock band with a lot of pop songs. . The Maiden fans that I thought would tear us apart were some of the best people we have ever had the pleasure of playing in front of . . . I made so many memories with so many of these fans. . Who completely weren’t having anything Shinedown was selling in the beginning . . . to Torben Breeg whom made me laugh hysterically every night before Diamond Eyes . . . To the guy who’s been to 242 Maiden shows. . To Michael Kasuba . . . a guy who started this tour out on his phone the entire time in the front row. . And would never look up . . .by the last show. . Was singing along to every song . . .You seriously made the tour that much better for me . . .seeing your hand raise got me way more emotional than you’ll ever know. . It felt like a triumph . . . Hearing Maiden fans approach us daily and tell us how they’ve seen other bands have it so rough on them. . And how much they enjoyed us on that tour meant everything to us . . . tonight in London we felt like the entire crowd had their arms around us . . .it was something we will never forget . . . If we turned even 15% of the people who we played for into Shinedown fans . . . And if you’re only 15% as loyal to us as you are to Maiden. . We’d be over the moon with excitement. . Maiden fans are in a league of their own . . . Its one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen . . . They TAKE over a city . . . It was such an amazing sight walking around each day in the city and seeing Thousands and Thousands of Maiden shirts . . . you truly are one of a kind . . . I have never in my life seen a bigger Merch band. . Ever. . I don’t care what anyone thinks . . . The Loyalty and Dedication these fans show is un-matched. . PERIOD! So finally to the fans. . Thanks for listening to our band . . .and giving us that chance. . You were a sight to behold every single night!! To Steve, Bruce, Nicko, Dave, Adrian, Janick . . .you are some of the classiest gentleman we’ve ever had the pleasure of touring with . . .you treated us second to none . . . and we hope we will always carry that with us. . To the Maiden crew . . . You are a class act top to bottom. . . We felt like family from day one . . . you went above and beyond to accommodate the 4 of us. . And our crew. . And it was greatly appreciated . . . Thanks for one of the best experiences of our lives. . Every night we had to work for it . . .it was humbling and truly an honor. - Zach Myers