Satarupa at 09:49, 2 August 2025

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{{Short description|2007 rock/metal festival in Bangalore, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{infobox music festival |
| music_festival_name = Eddfest
| image =
| location = [[Bangalore]], [[India]]
| years_active = 2007
| founders = DNA Networks/Sanctuary Management
| dates = 17 March 2007
| attendance = 38,000
| genre = [[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]]/[[Rock music]]
| website = http://www.dnanetworks.com/
}}
'''Eddfest''' was a one-off rock/metal festival headlined by [[United Kingdom|British]] heavy metal band [[Iron Maiden]] which took place at the Bangalore Palace Grounds in [[Bangalore]], [[India]] on 17 March 2007. The concert was part of the band's [[A Matter Of Life And Death Tour]]. The name Eddfest is taken from the band's mascot Eddie. It marked the first visit of [[Iron Maiden]] to the Indian subcontinent, and the first major heavy metal concert to take place in the country. Other bands which played at the concert included [[Lauren Harris]], Indian Rock veterans Parikrama and Ftn.<ref>[http://www.ironmaiden.com/iron-maiden-announce-summer-tour-and-ground-breaking-show-in-india.html]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} announcement on official page</ref>

The concert garnered much media frenzy and mainstream attention not only in India, but all over the world with many international journalists flying into Bangalore. The event was also covered in the documentary film ''[[Global Metal]]'' by Sam Dunn and Scott McFadyen,<ref>[http://www.metalhistory.com] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180807081407/http://metalhistory.com/|date=7 August 2018}} ''Global Metal'' documentary information</ref> which also features live recordings of the concert. Apart from fans from all over India, people traveled for this event from neighboring countries like [[Sri Lanka]], [[Nepal]], [[Pakistan]], [[Thailand]] and [[China]].

==Setlist==

{{hidden
| headercss = background: #ccccff; font-size: 100%; width: 65%;
| contentcss = text-align: left; font-size: 100%; width: 75%;
| header = Eddfest Bangalore
| content = * [[Gustav Holst]]'s "[[The Planets|Mars, the Bringer of War]]" served as the intro for the tour.
# "[[Different World (Iron Maiden song)|Different World]]" (from ''[[A Matter of Life and Death (album)|A Matter of Life and Death]]'', 2006)
# "These Colours Don't Run" (from ''[[A Matter of Life and Death (album)|A Matter of Life and Death]]'', 2006)
# "Brighter Than a Thousand Suns" (from ''[[A Matter of Life and Death (album)|A Matter of Life and Death]]'', 2006)
# "Wrathchild" (from ''[[Killers (Iron Maiden album)|Killers]]'', 1981)
# "[[The Trooper]]" (from ''[[Piece of Mind]]'', 1983)
# "[[The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg]]" (from ''[[A Matter of Life and Death (album)|A Matter of Life and Death]]'', 2006)
# "For the Greater Good of God" (from ''[[A Matter of Life and Death (album)|A Matter of Life and Death]]'', 2006)
# "[[The Number of the Beast (song)|The Number of the Beast]]" (from ''[[The Number of the Beast (album)|The Number of the Beast]]'', 1982)
# "[[Fear of the Dark (song)|Fear of the Dark]]" (from ''[[Fear of the Dark (Iron Maiden album)|Fear of the Dark]]'', 1992)
# "[[Run to the Hills]]" (from ''[[The Number of the Beast (album)|The Number of the Beast]]'', 1982)
# "Iron Maiden" (from ''[[Iron Maiden (album)|Iron Maiden]]'', 1980)
'''Encore'''
# "[[2 Minutes to Midnight]]" (from ''[[Powerslave]]'', 1984)
# " [[The Evil That Men Do (song)|The Evil That Men Do]]" (from ''[[Seventh Son of a Seventh Son]]'', 1988)
# "[[Hallowed Be Thy Name (song)|Hallowed Be Thy Name]]" (from ''[[The Number of the Beast (album)|The Number of the Beast]]'', 1982)
}}

==Venue==

The venue for the historic concert was the [[Bangalore Palace]] Grounds located in north Bangalore. The entire venue was enclosed within the grounds and was initially only meant for accommodating 25,000 people. But the enormous demand for tickets lead to the venue being over crowded with 35,000 people inside and around 4,000 people outside who could not enter as tickets were all sold out.

The front crowd barrier just in front of the stage had to be refortified by dozens of security staff members standing their ground supporting the barrier and placing bamboo and wooden sticks to hold the barrier due to overcrowding.<ref name="picturedesk.co.uk">[http://picturedesk.co.uk/news/?p=76] Article by [[John McMurtrie]]</ref>

==Significance==
Apart from being the largest music concert to be held in India, the event was also responsible for opening the gates for other international hard rock and heavy metal bands to tour in India. Iron Maiden themselves were overwhelmed by the crowd response and have since played 2 more times in the country. It was also the first concert in India to have official merchandise stores at the venue.
The festival is also seen as a precursor and the basis on which the now yearly [[Rock In India]] festival is based on, as Eddfest was the first of its kind rock festival in the country. The Rock In India festival takes place at the same venue as Eddfest.
The event grossed over Rs 45,000,000 in ticket sales and another Rs 900,000 in merchandise revenue making it the most profitable concert in India with regards to total gate revenue.
Ticketpro international reported that the remarkable success of the event was highlighted by the fact that almost 80 percent of the tickets were sold well before the concert, which is very unusual for India.<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20100212213607/http://www.ticketpro.biz/jnp/international-news/9120-article-3.html]}} Ticketpro.biz article on Iron Maiden's first show in India</ref>
Live audio updates on the radio were constantly broadcast from the venue on Radio Indigo throughout the day.

==Sponsors==
The Eddfest event was produced by DNA Networks India in conjunction with NOUS Productions,<ref>[http://dnalive.indiatimes.com/ironmaiden/] Indiatimes web page {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20100212131459/http://dnalive.indiatimes.com/ironmaiden/|date=12 February 2010}}</ref> and sponsored by [[Vh1]], [[Nokia]] India, [[Reliance Mobile]], [[Pepsi]], [[NDTV 24x7]], Radio Indigo, Royal Challenge and [[Sanyo]]. Travel sponsors were Lufthansa Airlines.

On-line ticketing was handled by ticketpro India and on-line marketing was done by indiatimes.com. [[Levi's]] was the merchandising partner of the event.

==See also==
* [[Global Metal]], documentary by anthropologist Sam Dunn which feature the festival.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.ironmaiden.com/iron-maiden-announce-summer-tour-and-ground-breaking-show-in-india.html Iron Maiden announce summer tour and first concert in India]{{Dead link|date=August 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20040829161226/http://metalhistory.com/ Global Metal documentary]}}
*[http://dnanetworks.com DNA Entertainment Networks Event Management]
*[https://www.thewolfofonlinemarketing.com/ The Wolf Of Online Marketing]
{{Rock festival}}

[[Category:Heavy metal festivals in India]]
[[Category:Rock festivals in India]]
[[Category:2007 in music]]
[[Category:Culture of Bengaluru]]
[[Category:Music festivals established in 2007]]
[[Category:2007 music festivals]]
[[Category:Festivals in Karnataka]]
[[Category:Organised events in Bengaluru]]

Eddfest - Revision history

Satarupa at 09:49, 2 August 2025