The formation and rise of Maiden Chicago has been one of the foremost pleasures in my lifetime. It really was one of those situations that seemed "meant to be" from the first ten minutes that we jammed together. For that enjoyment and fullfillment, I have my former band-mates to thank above all. I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dan Driskill, Gary Ingram, Ralph Circelli and Bill Swanson for sharing this ride with me and for believing that this band could and would be something special. To all Maiden Chicago fans; your loyalty to these men is justified.

Of course, it wouldn't have meant nearly as much without the dedicated people who have supported Maiden Chicago. I have always very much appreciated your sacrifice, because that's how I have viewed your decision to come see us perform. Maiden Chicago was born in a tough ecomomic time; one that we haven't fully recovered from. I know that each of you have several different options regarding what you can do with your valuable time and hard earned money. On each occassion, I was so thankful that you decided to share both of those precious resources with us. The entire vision was to perform all the iconic Iron Maiden songs to the very best of our ability, and in the process of doing that; hopefully take everyone to a place where the problems of our daily lives vanish for a time.

Moving forward, you can expect the same professionalism from Maiden Chicago at every level. The band will not skip a beat, and we worked dilligently to ensure it transpired that way. While the decision to say goodbye was most definitely a difficult one, it is quite satisfying to know that the position of Adrian Smith is in very good hands. Al Contreras is an immensely talented guitar player and a man of solid character. His broad selection of skills beyond the guitar will also ensure that you experience many of the media elements you have grown accustromed to. I wish Al the best and am confident that Maiden Chicago will enjoy continued success with his contribution.

I will continue performing with the Metallica tribute band Damaged Justice, and look forward to the resurgence of my original band Psychas in early 2013. I look ahead with great anticipation; excited for opportunities to share the stage with Maiden Chicago again from a different perspective and I hope to see many of you again at those shows. Thanks again for everything and UP The Irons!!

Maiden Chicago is officially announcing that the band's co-founder Eric Babcock, will be leaving the band following the New Years Eve performance on Monday, December 31, 2012.

There are no negative circumstances surrounding the separation and relations between the men are good. Eric made the decision based on changes in his professional / personal life and other musical opportunities. Eric made his announcement to the band in September and the unit has worked together to ensure the right replacement was found so the band can continue to press forward free of undue setbacks. Maiden Chicago wishes Eric well in his future endeavors and Eric returns that sentiment to Maiden Chicago. All parties look forward to sharing the stage again in the future for cameo-type, guest performances and muti-band bills.

Maiden Chicago would also like to officially welcome new guitarist Al Contreras to the band. Al took part in two auditions with Maiden Chicago in the last month and a half; ultimately winning their respect and an offer to join them. Al has a history collaborating with some of the members of Maiden Chicago, is an excellent fit and the band is excited to have him on board. Al will have his debut performance with Maiden Chicago simultaneously with Eric's final performance during the New Years Eve show at Bobby McGee's. Al Contreras, Eric Babcock and Ralph Circelli will join together in a blistering 3-guitar attack for this show; just like the mighty Iron Maiden has done since the reunion!

Click here to visit the Facebook Event Page for further details.

Maiden Chicago and Love Drive are joining forces to provide a fun, no hassle way for our south-side friends to enjoy the June 23, 2012 show at Viper Alley. The Dakota Inn in Alsip, IL has agreed to be the pickup and drop off point for the bus, which departs at 7:45 PM and arrives back at 1:00 AM. The Dakota Inn has plenty of available parking space and offers a pleasant, quiet atmosphere to wind down following an evening of powerful music.

The $25 bus fare includes admission to the show at Viper Alley, free beer on the bus, a raffle ticket for the VIP Sky Box Iron Maiden show on July 5, 2012 and a free drink ticket at The Dakota Inn. Additionally, there will be door prizes and 50/50 raffles on the bus. Maiden Chicago will also be performing the VIP Sky Box raffle drawing at this show to determine the winner, so you don't want to miss it!

Click here to visit the Facebook Event Page for further details.

Maiden Chicago is raffling off two tickets to see Iron Maiden live in a VIP Sky Box during their July 5, 2012 show at the First Midwest Bank Ampitheater! The winner will receive the ultimate live Iron Maiden Package; (2) tickets to Maiden Chicago's VIP Sky Box, VIP parking passes and access to the VIP beer garden. This is truly the way to see the best metal band that ever existed; no crowds to fight through, no long lines for refreshments or bathrooms, and nobody blocking your view of Iron Maiden. It's all the best of a lengendary live show without any of the hassel; not to mention, you get to hang out with some of the biggest Iron Maiden fans in Chicago through the entire event.

Raffle tickets are just $5 each and will be sold exclusively at all Maiden Chicago live shows through May, 2012. The drawing will take place at Maiden Chicago's first show in June, 2012, which is yet to be announced. Maiden Chicago is excited to be attending this show, and even more thrilled to offer this opportunity to two members of their amazing support base!

Click here to visit the Facebook Event Page for this raffle.

Maiden Chicago is proud to announce the latest effort in its relentless tribute to the mighty Iron Maiden; "MC Mobile", a comprehensive, free mobile app now available on the Android Market! Made possible through the wizardry of our friends at Reverb Nation, the new app went live on the market at 11:20 AM on Friday September 23, 2011.

With the app, you get instant access to all the information and media content available on Maiden Chicago's Reverb Nation Profile in real time; when the band updates their profile, your app is immediately updated without any need to download a physical update from the Android Market. Watch videos, listen to music, check out the latest photos, read band related news, get show updates and even get turn-by-turn directions to the venues integrated with the GPS navigation capabilities of your device! Search for "Maiden Chicago" in the Android Market and grab your free copy of the app today!

Click here to see a preview of the app. The Apple "App Store" version of this app is coming soon.

We would like to express our most sincere gratitude to all of you have given life to Maiden Chicago through your continued support this summer! Since the very first show at Bobby McGee's on May 7th, to the most recent show at J.J. Kelley's on August 20th, you have made it a profoundly rewarding experience for each of us, and we thank you so much for that. We can't begin to tell you how enjoyable it has been sharing the iconic music of Iron Maiden with you during this inagural run of shows. We've had a heck of a good time, and we hope you did too! We're gonna take a little break from the stage now, but we'll be hard at work adding more Iron Maiden classics to the catalog. Maiden Chicago wants to play the songs you want to hear, so head on over to the songs page to send requests of your favorite Iron Maiden tunes directly to the band so that we can do that for you. Thanks again and Up The Irons!!!

Maiden Chicago would like to take a moment to express our sincere thanks to everyone who has graciously offered their valuable time & resources in support of the band for the first six shows. You guys have been an absolute joy to play for and it has been a rewarding experience for each of us. Thank you very much! We also want to recognize a couple people who are crucial to the operation; Sam Klein and Anthony Adagio. These two guys have traveled the miles and busted their ass at each show to ensure everything goes off without a hitch. Thank you so much for your dedication and hard work \m/

So, Maiden Chicago's debut performance has come and gone, and what a show it was! More than 225 of you showed up to support Maiden Chicago's first taste of the stage together, and we absolutely cannot thank you enough for that! Not only did you show up in force, you were such an incredible crowd to play for and it was truley a pleasure sharing that time with you. We cannot fully express to you how rewarding it was to be up there playing our favorite music for a group of people that obviously love Iron Maiden as much as we do.

It has been a great thing to see all of the positive feedback, warm commentary and load of fan photos that popped up only a few hours after the show concluded; you guys are fantastic (o: Following such an immensely satisfying experience that each of you are directly responsible for, Maiden Chicago cannot help but be excited about the future. We're getting back to work, gearing up for the next show and chomping at the bit to do it all over again! We very much look forward to seeing all of you again in a few weeks. Up the Irons!

The band is pleased to announce that Bill Swanson is the lead vocalist and frontman for Maiden Chicago, concluding an exhausting five month singer search. As fate would have it, Maiden Chicago enjoyed a session will Bill within the first three weeks of its existence, but the timing wasn't right for either party. Eventually, the situation worked out beautifully, and Maiden Chicago feels they now have the ultimate frontman for the job!

As several Iron Maiden fans across Chicagoland are already fully aware of from his past accomplishments, Bill Swanson is an immensely talanted and dynamic vocalist, with an uncanny and natural ability to reproduce the tonality of Bruce Dickinson. Bill Swanson is the ideal addition to a group of musicians that are passionate about Iron Maiden; there are now five members who couldn't be more anal or maticulous about what they need to do to make Maiden Chicago the most authentic and entertaining tribute to Iron Maiden it can possibly be. Maiden Chicago likes to think that's an excellent formula for some very good times between Iron Maiden friends for years to come!

Now operating at full strength, Maiden Chicago is working hard booking the first shows; stay tuned to Maiden Chicago.Com for official announcements of those first shows, and we'll see you soon!

The boys have been hot on the search for the perfect frontman to compliment their band, but have also been pushing forward with the agenda and proving quite productive in the meantime. Maiden Chicago is now (24) songs deep into the Iron Maiden catalog, and with the completion of (3) additional tunes on the docket in the coming weeks, the band will successfully represent all (15) Iron Maiden studio albums as they set out to do from the beginning.

Beyond the musical pursuits, Maiden Chicago has finalized several pieces of the anticipated stage show with respect to banners, graphics and assorted props. The band has also been working on various aspects of its promotional campaign including full color ads in the Illinois Entertainer and expansion of their web presence. Additionally, the band has been conducting some live recording sessions with intention to release an audio sample in the form of a medley featuring (7) of the songs they have been working on.

There are many things afoot in the Maiden Chicago camp! The band is working hard to ensure they are in the best position to bring the music to you once the singer situation is finalized. Thank you for your patience! Up the Irons \m/

Head out to your favorite local Chicagoland music venue or music store and pickup the free March edition of the Illinois Entertainer. Maiden Chicago has a beautiful quarter-page, full color promotional ad ready for print in the March edition of the publication. This marks the fourth consecutive month Maiden Chicago has run a full-color ad in the Illinois Entertainer. The band is excited about its potential and has every intention to honor that energy through effective promotion.

Additionally, Maiden Chicago has established a new profile page on the Chicago-based Rock Scarz Magazine website at http://www.rockscarz.net. The website is relatively new and looks to be doing great things for the local music scene in Chicago. The magazine prides itself on featuring the marriage between heavy metal music and the tattoo lifestyle. Since a few members of Maiden Chicago are scarred themselves, it's something they can relate to and support! Check out the Rock Scarz website, sign up as a member and request Maiden Chicago as a friend!

Click Here to visit the Maiden Chicago page at Rock Scars.Net

The first phase of expansion has taken place on behalf of Maiden Chicago.Com. The original, single page site has been transformed into a multi-page, fully functional web site. The need for nine unique pages of content was identified to best showcase the forthcoming accomplishments of Chicago's newest Iron Maiden tribute. The first phase of expansion consisted of creating the master framework, user interface and operability for the site in general. The initial phase also included the establishment of primarily text and graphic-based content. Planned supplementary expansion phases and improvements to Maiden Chicago.Com will consist of rich, streaming media content by means of the newly created sub domain, "Live.Maiden Chicago.Com".

The first ever Maiden Chicago jam session took place at Dan Driskill's home on the afternoon / evening of Saturday, October 9, 2010. The event was organized as Dan's audition for the band, but given the fact that they had not played a single note together as a unit, it was essentially everybody's audition. Within seconds of the first song, each man knew they had something very special in their grasp... and so the instrumental band of Maiden Chicago was therefore solidified.

The official website of the new Chicago-based Iron Maiden tribute band "Maiden Chicago" was launched at 6:48 PM on September 28, 2010. Maiden Chicago.Com was designed and constructed by Babtanian Designs; originally established as a single page for immediate web-presence, with plans for futute expansion as needs and content required. Maiden Chicago.Com will be the primary source for all band-related news updates, show announcements, media content and more.