Saturday 16 October 2021.

Saturday 16 October 2021. BRUCE DICKINSON spoken word show at Shepherds Bush Empire. Expect some tales on his bands Samson and Iron Maiden and being a qualified pilot. I saw him singing with Samson in 1979 and 1980. I have seen Iron Maiden over 30 times since 1980 when they supported Judas Priest at Hammersmith Odeon which was with their vocalist before Bruce Dickinson. Bruce Dickinson joined Iron Maiden in 1981. I saw Bruce as a solo artist in 1994 ,when he had a period away from Iron Maiden. Oddly i saw Samson (with their singer after Bruce had left) supporting Iron Maiden a few times in 1986. ------------ It is stalls seated, so around 1000 folks here. No members of Iron Maiden here, but i did see... ROD SMALLWOOD ( Iron Maiden's legendary manager) MARK FULLER (Co-owner of The Sanctum Soho Hotel in London which has Iron Maidens Finance Guru Andy Taylor as co-owner, and Mark owned the famous Embassy Club) ANDY COPPING (Live Nation rep who is charge of Download Festival etc) It was a long show of 2 hours 30 mins over two sets of 100 mins and 50 mins. Yes, Bruce can talk for England. We have a big screen that is used often for old photos and images and films. No filming signs for the audience are all over the venue, as Bruce team are filming it for use in America. Postcards and pencils are handed out as you arrive, to put your questions down and put in a bucket, for Bruce to answer in the second half of the show. FIRST SET included... Bruce being born in Worksop, to parents who worked in a travelling circus. How Bruce got expelled from boarding school, before heading to University. His early bands, and the messy two years when he fronted Samson. Joining Iron Maiden and some stories about having a crazy gun happy personal security guard when touring Poland in the 1980s. Playing at Rock In Rio supporting Queen, and meeting Freddie Mercury. He put up several photos of his dodgy stage wear over the years, and we all had a good laugh. Meeting The Queen. His solo band and that fab 2016 documentary about when they played Sarajevo. His long career as an airline pilot, and how he kept it very secret. His first 20 flights were with British Airways. His piloting Iron Maiden's own plane on world tours. Surviving throat cancer and growing a beard. The full video shown of "The Writing On The Wall" ....a fairly new track. SECOND SET included.. Bruce answered the questions that the audience had written on the postcards earlier. He made some jokey remarks about working with Iron Maiden drummer Nico McBrain. A new fact to me was that Bruce said Nico actually had a pilot license before Bruce. Bruce jokingly remarked " a drummer flying a plane? ". Working with legendary producer Martin Birch. How lucky he feels that despite his throat cancer, he still sings all the Maiden songs played live in their original key. An enjoyable evening from this rock legend.

Posted 17th October 2021