Vanishing Point To Open For Iron Maiden In AU, Enters Fourth Season With New Alb
Date: Monday, February 04 @ 04:30:00 UTC
Topic: Band News (tours, comings/goings, etc)


On the eve of the highly anticipated Australian leg of the Iron Maiden world tour, which will see the band play sold out arena shows in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane in February, the support acts have been announced.

Legendary local metal band Vanishing Point is confirmed as support on the Perth and Melbourne Iron Maiden shows. The band has produced four critically acclaimed releases and accolades too numerous to mention in a career spanning more than a decade. Consisting of five like-minded, yet distinct individuals, the members of Vanishing Point are among the elite who push boundaries, erase labels and dismantle the preconceptions of what a heavy metal band should be.

Iron Maiden's "Somewhere Back In Time" World Tour opened in Mumbai, India on Feb 1st and will continue through to play dates in Australia, Japan, Los Angeles, Mexico, Costa Rica, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Puerto Rico and New York, before finishing in Toronto, Canada, on March 16th.



Over the 45 day period it is anticipated that Maiden will play to well over 400,000 fans in 21 cities in 11 countries, flying close to 60,000 miles in the specially refitted Iron Maiden Boeing 757 flown by vocalist Bruce Dickinson.

"Maiden Mania" is currently gripping the world as, in addition to having to add extra shows in Melbourne and Sydney (where the arenas sold out in 15 and 30 minutes respectively), tickets sales of the 2008 World tour are flying out of the box offices in India, Japan, North and South America and Europe. All three shows in Mexico sold out in record breaking time with all 22,000 seats for Mexico City's Sport arena selling in four days and necessitating the move to the 48,000 capacity Sol Stadium. In Brazil unprecedented ticket sales have broken all local records - where the shows in Sao Paulo (42,000 capacity), Curitiba (20,000) and Porto Alegre (13,000) sold out two months in advance. This is despite the current economic climate, and the first time ever that all 20,000 seats at Curitiba's Pedreira have sold out in advance! Three stadium shows in Sweden and Finland had all 123,500 tickets purchased in a mad rush within two hours of going on sale! And all the North American arena! shows are sold out weeks in advance. [Although, looking at IM's itinerary, there's only three North American dates scheduled -- The Forum in Los Angeles, CA on Feb 19, Izod Center in East Rutherford, NJ on March 14 and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 16 -ed.]

Australia's progressive metal outfit Vanishing Point is entering the "fourth season" of its career with a new album on Locomotive Records.

The Fourth Season is an album written straight from the heart, without anything to cloud the band's collective mind. "We had a strong positive view of what direction we wanted to go musically with this release and everything just fell into place perfectly," said vocalist Silvio Massaro. "We honestly feel the songs are emotionally stronger, drawing the listener deep into every chord and word."

With The Fourth Season, Vanishing Point has taken a more straight-forward approach, churning out 11 tracks that are full of enough melody to plant them firmly in the listener's head. Massaro's vocals soar above all, adding the words to accompany the captivating music. Fans of groups like Gamma Ray, Kamelot, and Symphony X will be enthralled with Vanishing Point's technical prowess, as well as the group's ability to craft distinct melodies.

The album's music is complemented by its stark yet beautiful cover art by Estonian artist Kadri Umbleja. "This cover is one of the most visually stimulating images I personally have ever seen," said Massaro. "We thought this piece of art work would be perfect with our release."

Hailing from the somewhat isolated country of Australia, Vanishing Point has had to work extra hard to get its music across the ocean to the rest of the world, yet the group was invited to play the heralded Wacken Open Air Festival after its first release and then received an invitation to tour Europe with Gamma Ray.

"It is definitely a lot more difficult breaking into the world music scene considering that Australia only holds about two percent of the world's music scene in its entirety," Massaro said. "We can only do what we do best and try and promote our music as much as we can."

With rave reviews of its first three releases, and similar reviews of The Fourth Season coming from Europe, the band is poised to break down all international walls. "We have our sights set for Japan and the US, as well as Europe once again for sure!" said Massaro.

Locomotive Records was founded in 1996 by music producer Goyo Esteban. Since its formation 11 years ago, the company has become one of the biggest Independent labels in Europe, South America, and the United States. With well-known artists from many genres, its main focus remains rock and metal music, and as a US licensor for bigger Indie labels. As a small record label in Spain, the company started with a lone office in Madrid but soon opened up another office in Cologne, Germany, in 2002. That office is now responsible for the international business and artistic vision for the whole company. In January 2008 Locomotive Records will open a US office in New York to increase its profile in the US market and offer a local and country-specific partner to expand its business even further.

Locomotive Records is driven by a passion for music and is always anxious to pave the way for new artists and bands who also share their love for good music and have an ability to delight the audience.

[Source: Mazur PR; photo: © Locomotive Music]







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