"Its good to be back out with the chaps, everyone is in great spirits and looking forward to this short tour -- Dubai, Athens, Belgrade and Bangalore. A lot of flying -- to go Belgade --Bangalore we have to fly via Frankfurt leaving at 5 am so l guess after the show in Belgrade we will just have to find a bar to kill the time before we go to the airport for 4am!!"

In this entry of his diary, Rod Smallwood closes his recap of the A Matter Of Life And Death 2006 World Tour. "Bruce made every madcap effort to entertain everyone and Steve and Nicko had a cup of tea and a chat sat at the front of the drum riser. I went up on stage to tell them what was going on and made finger signs to Bruce - who was on one of the side platforms fooling around - to show how long it would take and made the sign clear so the audience could see too so some would know it wouldn’t be too long so no need to get restless or go to the bar!! Bruce came over and asked me to find a megaphone so he could at least be heard (probably doing the William Tell Overture on his cheeks..."

Iron Maiden Fan Club members get lots of exclusive content, like Rod's diaries and photos from the road. Here's a little taster...

"We had a fun moment though when Adrian’s guitar lead got caught up in the rotating wheels of the tank during Iron Maiden – which Bruce announced after as a true Spinal Tap moment of guitarist eaten by tank!!!