In a new interview with FOX5 Las Vegas, IRON MAIDEN singer Bruce Dickinson, who just launched a North American tour with his solo band, spoke about the task of balancing his solo projects and his recording and touring commitments to the legendary heavy metal act. He said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “We just got done with doing stadiums in Europe [with MAIDEN]. So we were doing, like, 75,000 people and stuff like that. And now I’m doing the House Of Blues [in Las Vegas with my solo band]. So, there’s just horses for courses. There’s different things that happen in that kind of environment, like the club, small theater, stuff like that, and it’s brilliant, ’cause it’s really intimate one on one.
“We don’t have any problems with scheduling our extracurricular activities, really,” Bruce explained. “I mean, MAIDEN gets set in stone a year or a couple of years in advance. In fact, with this same [solo] band I’m making a new record in January next year, and I’m thinking about 2027, to have that released and a tour and stuff. So we can schedule things around the whole MAIDEN world, which is brilliant.”
Touching upon the similarities between his solo material and MAIDEN‘s musical output, Bruce said: “My stuff is, obviously, related, ’cause I write some of the MAIDEN songs and everything. But it’s a little bit more varied. I mean, you’ve got the big old ballads like ‘Tears Of The Dragon’ and stuff, which, of course, I shall be playing [on the North American tour]. ‘Cause I’ve got seven solo albums out now. It’s a lot of stuff to pick from.”
Dickinson kicked off his first extensive North American solo tour in almost 30 years in support of his current studio album, “The Mandrake Project”, Friday night (August 22) at the House Of Blues in Anaheim, California. Joining the IRON MAIDEN singer on “The Mandrake Project Live 2025” North American tour is once again his 2024 backing band, featuring Dave Moreno (drums),Mistheria (keyboards) and Tanya O’Callaghan (bass),alongside the group’s latest additions, Swedish guitarist, songwriter and multi-platinum-credited producer Philip Näslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who played on Dickinson‘s “Rain On The Graves” single). Bruce‘s longtime guitarist and collaborator Roy “Z” Ramirez is not part of the touring lineup.
Dickinson‘s 16-song setlist at the House Of Blues included the live debut of “The Mandrake Project” track “Shadow Of The Gods” as well as the first-ever performance of the IRON MAIDEN song “Flash Of The Blade”, from the band’s 1984 album “Powerslave”.
Before launching into “Flash Of The Blade”, Dickinson told the crowd: ”Nobody has ever played this song, apart from on the record, of course, but nobody has ever played this song. And it’s a song that I wrote. So I don’t know whether any of you have got any clue what song it might be. But like usual, it’s a conundrum. I shall not tell you. You will just have to figure it out. It probably won’t take long… You’ll die as you lived in a flash of the blade.”
Prior to the April 12, 2024 Whisky A Go Go show, Bruce last performed with his solo band on in August 2002 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.
Roy played guitar on Dickinson‘s 1994 album “Balls To Picasso” and went on to produce, co-write and perform multiple instruments on Bruce‘s subsequent three solo albums, “Accident At Birth” (1997),“The Chemical Wedding” (1998) and “Tyranny Of Souls” (2005).
O’Callaghan is an Irish musician who joined WHITESNAKE in 2021 and toured with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit the following year. She also hit the road with Dickinson in 2023 as part of a performance of Jon Lord‘s “Concerto For Group And Orchestra” on nearly a dozen dates in Europe and South America.
Californian drummer Moreno previously played on “Tyranny Of Souls” and has worked with BODY COUNT, Jizzy Pearl, Dizzy Reed and Steve Stevens, among others.
Italian keyboard wizard Mistheria has collaborated with an array of artists live and in the studio, including Rob Rock, Mike Portnoy, Jeff Scott Soto and Joel Hoekstra.
“The Mandrake Project” arrived on March 1, 2024 via BMG.
Bruce and Roy recorded “The Mandrake Project” largely at Los Angeles’s Doom Room, with Roy doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for “The Mandrake Project” was rounded out by Mistheria and Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce‘s previous solo studio album, “Tyranny Of Souls”, in 2005.
Dickinson‘s reworked version of his classic 1994 album “Balls To Picasso”, now titled “More Balls To Picasso”, arrived on July 25.
Dickinson made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the “Number Of The Beast” album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith.
