In 1990, Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson released his first solo album, Tattooed Millionaire, while still a member of Iron Maiden. The album was a departure from the expected tone and sound of Iron Maiden, but more was to come. Leaving Iron Maiden permanently in 1994, Bruce would go on to release four stellar releases as a solo artist before re-joining Iron Maiden in 1999 after touring in support of the stellar Chemical Wedding album. Bruce would release one more solo album in 2005 called Tyranny of Souls, boasting one of my all-time favorite Bruce tracks, “Kill Devil Hill.”
As busy as Bruce has been with Iron Maiden since his return nearly 25 years ago, a solo album didn’t seem like something we would see for a long while. Still, as long as about eight years ago or so, there were rumblings about a possible Bruce Dickinson solo album. Well, in 2024, we were gifted the album The Mandrake Project, and ONE North American show was announced for Los Angeles. However, things changed as there were two surprise shows that Bruce would be performing at the Whisky A Go-Go in Hollywood, CA.
On April 12th and 13th, Bruce Dickinson could be found hanging out in the Whisky A Go-Go box office during the day selling wristbands for the opening night show. In the evening he transformed back to his real self, Bruce Dickinson: Bad Motherfucker of Metal and performed under the moniker of “The House Band From Hell” to a sold-out crowd. Bruce and company played a 15-song set with his backing band, featuring Dave Moreno (drums), Mistheria (keyboards), Tanya O’Callaghan (bass), guitarist Philip Näslund and guitarist Chris Declercq. On both nights, the band plowed through a powerful 15-song set featuring songs spanning Bruce’s solo career (sans Tattooed Millionaire and Skunkworks).
I patiently awaited live footage from the shows to surface, and luckily, I didn’t have to wait long. I watched both shows in full, and I have to say that this is the best show I have seen Bruce in a long time. As much as I love Iron Maiden, I was more excited watching him tear this tiny club to shreds. He sounded great, and he was having a great time. His band is absolutely stellar. They look confident and connected, and most importantly, they enjoy themselves. It’s also amazing and moving to see Bruce in such a small setting and just being one of the band. Even in such a small place, his presence is out of this world huge, but his ego isn’t. It’s something amazing that I’ve always loved about him.
The crowd was really into it, and they all seemed to appreciate it. The fact that they were seeing Bruce Dickinson solo in a club wasn’t something they were taking for granted. They cheered, sang along, and moved as they plowed through song after song. Seeing Bruce get such a great reaction from the crowd made me think that this was a great way for him to test the waters before touring the US. At the end of the 2nd night’s show, before going into “The Tower,” Bruce said to the crowd, “We’re going to come back and torment the United States. That’s a fucking promise.” Let’s hope this is a promise that he’ll keep, but then again, I’ve never heard Bruce not keep a promise. Fingers crossed.
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