IRON MAIDEN’s BRUCE DICKINSON: ‘We’ve Got A Lot More Stuff Ahead Of Us’

IRON MAIDEN's BRUCE DICKINSON: 'We've Got A Lot More Stuff Ahead Of Us'


When British heavy metal legends IRON MAIDEN played in Madrid, Spain on July 5 as part of the band’s “Run For Your Lives” world tour, MAIDEN‘s official YouTube channel had “a quick catch-up” with singer Bruce Dickinson to find out how the tour is going. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We are halfway through the tour. First of all, I can’t even believe we’re halfway through the tour. That’s just ridiculous. It seems like we’re only just getting started. And in fact we are, but that’s another story for later. Yes. Spoiler alert. But no — it’s been amazing. It really has been amazing. London was just the show of a lifetime. And they don’t come along too often, moments like that. But everything — I mean, we played in Belfort [on July 3], the first festival [Eurockéennes] we played in France that wasn’t Hellfest. And Rod [Smallwood, IRON MAIDEN‘s longtime manager] was, like, he said, ‘I couldn’t believe it. I saw 20 people going to the festival and nobody was wearing a MAIDEN shirt.’ And that’s the whole point. And we had the whole festival up and everybody was loving it and it was great. So now we are in Madrid and this is so sold out, it’s crazy. It’s gonna be a really, really hot show tonight. And I’m looking forward to it. And just everything, really. We’ve got all these great shows ahead of us, and a lot more stuff ahead of us I can’t talk about, except if I did, they’d have to kill me.”

On June 28, IRON MAIDEN performed at the London Stadium, home of West Ham Football Club — the team that MAIDEN founder and bassist Steve Harris has supported throughout his life, and with whom IRON MAIDEN has a long and storied history. This concert in front of an estimated 70,000-75,000 fans was the first time that IRON MAIDEN had performed on the club’s hallowed turf. A true homecoming show — with Harris, MAIDEN guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith and retired MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain all born in the surrounding area — it was also the biggest U.K. venue the band had ever headlined outside of its festival appearances.

The London show, which was part of the “Run For Your Lives” tour celebrating 50 years since MAIDEN‘s formation, marked the band’s 15th live appearance with new drummer Simon Dawson, who replaced McBrain last December.

In May, Smallwood took to MAIDEN‘s web site to share a post titled “Put away your phones and get ready to Run For Your Lives!” in which he urged fans to experience the shows “in the moment” rather than on smaller screens at a later date.

“We really want fans to enjoy the shows first hand, rather than on their small screens,” Smallwood wrote. “The amount of phone use nowadays diminishes enjoyment, particularly for the band who are on stage looking out at rows of phones, but also for other concertgoers.

“We feel that the passion and involvement of our fans at shows really makes them special, but the phone obsession has now got so out of hand that it has become unnecessarily distracting especially to the band. I hope fans understand this and will be sensible in severely limiting the use of their phone cameras out of respect for the band and their fellow fans.”

Dawson previously played with Harris as a member of his BRITISH LION project.

McBrain played his last-ever gig with MAIDEN seven months ago in São Paulo, Brazil.

The 73-year-old British musician, whose real name is Michael Henry McBrain, announced his retirement on December 7, 2024 in a statement on MAIDEN‘s web site and social media. He also said that night’s concert at Allianz Parque in São Paulo, Brazil would mark his final show with the iconic heavy metal act.

Despite the fact that he was stepping away from touring, McBrain said that he would remain closely connected to IRON MAIDEN and continue to be involved in “a variety of projects” with the band, while also focusing on personal ventures and his existing businesses.

On December 8, 2024, IRON MAIDEN announced Dawson as its new touring drummer.


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