Currently on his spoken word tour, Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson spoke with Las Vegas weekly about hitting the road solo. Following is an excerpt from the interview.
Q: You originally went on a spoken-word tour to promote the release of your memoir, 2017’s What Does This Button Do? What made you want to revisit the format again years later?
Dickinson: "I did a tour the year before COVID hit, and one of the last shows I did was in Dublin. I was kind of nervous about that one, because if ever there’s a town where people know about telling stories, it’s the Irish and Dublin. But I did it and the promoter was like, 'Sh*t, that was great. You know what, I do spoken word shows for festivals, like 10,000 people listening to spoken word. Do you want to be a special guest on the bill?' I was like, 'OK, I’m getting all the smoke signals that this could work.'
It absolutely scared the life out of Iron Maiden management, of course. They were like, 'Oh my God, we have no control.' And also, 'He might make a fool of himself.' I was like, 'That’s kind of the whole point. That’s why you stand up there. You make a fool out of yourself, but in a good way. Now they’re all happy and relaxed about it, and we’re getting great reviews. And, unbelievably, I’m selling a load of T-shirts. I’m like, 'You’re buying a T-shirt at a spoken word show, huh?' So it’s great.
Q: Have you ever regretted saying nothing’s off-limits for the fan Q&A portion of the show?
Dickinson: "No, because it’s nothing off-limits in terms of what people can write and ask as questions, not whether that question makes it into the show. If someone asks something really off, it will be, 'I can’t. We’re not going to go there.' I look for questions or statements that are unwittingly funny or mildly amusing. But I also get questions from people that are like, 'I’m a cancer survivor and worried about treatment or have a friend going through treatment.' You have to deal with that sensitively, but you can lift people up and make them laugh at the same time.
I do a chunk about cancer where everyone starts gasping at the C-word, but then they’re laughing about the damn thing at the end. Not because it’s funny, but because you put them in the situation and they say, 'This is ridiculous. How could this be happening to me?' I try to bring them into a dark place and then say it wasn’t so dark and it’s got the happy ending."
Read the complete interview here.
Split into two parts, the first section of his spoken word tour sees Bruce taking a humorous and often satirical look at the world from his own very personal perspective, treating the audience to private insights into his drive and ambition, peppered with plenty of Maiden anecdotes, and a myriad of other experiences encompassing not just the giddy heights but also the extreme lows, told first-hand in his inimitable anarchic style, punctuated with photographs and sometimes even erupting into song a-capella, to illustrate a point.
The final section of the evening is devoted entirely to a Q&A session, with the opportunity to pose questions on any subject whatsoever. As Bruce’s answers will all be completely improvised – the more left-field and quirky the question, the more interesting and compelling the response is likely to be!
Remaining Dates:
March
20 - Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cummings Theatre
21 - Calgary, Alberta - Jack Singer Concert Hall
23 - Montreal, Quebec - MTELUS
26 - Ottawa, Ontario - Algonquin Commons Theatre
27 - Quebec City, Quebec - Palais Montcalm
29 - Hamilton, Ontario - FirstOntario Concert Hall
30 - Kitchener, Ontario - Centre in the Square
On January 15, BraveWords presented a very special episode of Streaming For Vengeance, in which Bruce Dickinson joined "Metal" Tim Henderson to talk about his spoken word tour. During the 30-minute video interview, Bruce also revealed that Iron Maiden are officially getting ready behind-the-scenes to hit the road later this year in support of their latest album, Senjutsu. As well, Bruce updates us on his forthcoming solo effort that he's working on with long-time partner Roy Z, and cracks open the Trooper beer plans for 2022! Watch below:
