Source: Bravewords.com
IRON MAIDEN‘s opening show of the Maiden England European Tour 2013 will be at the BEC in Bilbao, Spain on May 27. Tickets go on-sale Wednesday March 13. An exclusive first ticket pre-sale for Iron Maiden Fan Club members will run on Monday, March 11th.
For more details and Iron Maiden’s tour schedule visit Ironmaiden.com.
Metal Shock Finland‘s Chief Editor Mohsen Fayyazi recently conducted an interview with the legendary Blaze Bayley for the Middle Eastern webzine Jorzine. An excerpt from the interview can be read below:
Jorzine: You’re going to play a show in Dubai on 31st of May, how do you feel about it? Have you been here in the Middle East before?
Blaze: I’m very excited about going back to Dubai as I started my professional career there, we were a house band in a hotel.
It was WOLFSBANE, our first professional engagement. We learnt lots of cover versions and the money we made from that was enough to to do our first demo of original material, and that’s what started everything for us.
That was a long time ago and I’m really interested to see how Dubai has changed. I have really fond memories of when I was there the first time. I’m really looking forward to it, I don’t know how many fans I’ve got in that area, but I’m so pleased to be able to go. The acoustic show has been going down great across Europe and South America, so I’m very excited to bring it to Dubai.
When asked how the job came about, Blaze stated “It was a 3 month contract, but we got sacked after the first month, because we were too heavy metal, we played the songs too fast. But we saved enough to do our own original demo. That got us our first agent and our first article in Kerrang! And that’s what got us noticed by Def American Records.
Jorzine:You were a part of Iron Maiden, I’d like to know how your current relationship is with them and also their ex-members, I know you are good friends with Paul Dianno but I’d like to know how are you doing for example with Steve or Bruce?
Blaze: I knew Bruce for many years before I joined Iron Maiden. I met him many years before in New York and we got on quite well. He supported me in my solo career when he had his radio show on the BBC, he had me on for an interview and played my songs regularly. I’m not in touch with him a lot, but he’s been very supportive of me.
I’m still in touch with Steve Harris occasionally and I did part of the work on the King Of Metal album at Steve Harris’s studio.
I’m very proud of the music we did and I learnt so much when I was writing and recording with Iron Maiden, and so much about performing live from Steve Harris.
You can listen to the whole of the interview on the Soundcloud player below:
Source: Blabbermouth.net
Fan-filmed video footage of IRON MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris‘s new solo/side project BRITISH LION performing on February 23 at La Riviera in Madrid, Spain can be seen below.
BRITISH LION is out on the road this month, visiting fourteen countries and twenty-four cities across Europe. For the first time ever, and as a major surprise to many, MAIDEN‘s bass player, founding member and leader is taking temporary leave from his MAIDEN activities and heading out on a full European club tour.
Regarding the BRITISH LION tour, Steve previously said: “I love touring and live shows and I’m very excited about touring with BRITISH LION. It’s fantastic to get out there and once again experience the sheer vibrancy of small clubs with the fans right up front and in your face. I think the fans will enjoy that too. It’s exciting, going back to the roots, and it’s going to be fantastic. We are taking this to clubs all round Europe — a full club tour, with club shows at club prices, hot, sweaty and loud. We have no idea how many people will turn out to see us, as it’s obviously very recent and very new, so we have kept the venues small with tickets priced accordingly as low as we reasonably could.
“I’ve known all the guys in the band for ages and, besides being great musicians, they are also good friends, which is lucky because this has been an ongoing project for many years! They’ve had to be very patient with me as, of course, I’m so involved with MAIDEN I don’t really get a lot of free time to work on other stuff. So it’s great to finally have the opportunity to get out and do all these shows. The reaction to the album has been really good and I think it will sound great live. We’re all planning to have a lot of fun on this tour!”
BRITISH LION‘s debut album sold around 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 3 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.
“British Lion” was released in the U.S. on September 25, 2012 via Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). Mixed by Kevin Shirley — whose credits include IRON MAIDEN as well as Led ZEPPELIN, JOURNEY and RUSH, among many others — the CD, which features Harris alongside vocalist Richard Taylor, guitarists Graham Leslie and David Hawkins and drummer Simon Dawson, presents a different side of the bassist’s musical visions.
“British Lion” comprises ten songs that Steve and his collaborators have been working on between IRON MAIDEN tours and releases and is described by Harris as “’70s-influenced, British-sounding hard rock.” “I’d say it’s more mainstream rock than metal… and quite commercial… but good commercial,” he said. “There’s all kinds of stuff going on, with nods to THE WHO and UFO and some classic British rock bands, but it’s not the progressive rock album some might be expecting.”
Source: Blabbermouth.net
In a brand new interview with the Broward Palm Beach New Times, IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain was asked to weigh in on the contractual disputes that have forced SLAYER‘s Dave Lombardo and BLACK SABBATH‘s Bill Ward out of their respective bands in recent months.
“Most of the issues that pro musicians have sooner or later in time boils down to the royalty check or performance royalties,” Nicko said.
“I’m sad to hear that that has happened, but, you know, when you find out and look at something and say, ‘Could you explain this to me, why we’re not getting what we should according to these numbers?’ and if somebody turns around and says, ‘Fucking shut your face or you’re fired,’ that therefore it tells you there’s an alarm bell going off. Without knowing all of the ins and outs of it, you can’t pre-judge it.
“But yeah, the Bill Ward story, I understood that Sharon Osbourne got her fangs into that one. It’s beyond me — I mean, Bill Ward was the original freaking band member, you know? It just doesn’t make sense to me. If I was entitled to more, I don’t really want to know; I’m happy!
“You have to ask yourself this: How did Dave Lombardo get the information that led to this problem, is what I’d like to know. Who gave him the financials, if he wasn’t on top of it with an accountant already?
“I’m sad because Dave is so much a part of that band; he’s so identifiable. There’s great drummers out there, but Dave Lombardo is a master with it, and Dave is… to me, he is SLAYER with Kerry [King, guitar] and the guys! I think Kerry really may have overreacted and might be regretting it. I hope that that’s the case and they can sit down and sort it out.”
Source: Blabbermouth.net
IRON MAIDEN drummer Nicko McBrain will perform “four or five songs” with his former PAT TRAVERS BAND bandmates Pat Travers and Peter “Mars” Cowling at The Classic Rock & Roll Party on Saturday, March 2 at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Proceeds from the event will go to HomeSafe, a non-profit organization helping society’s most vulnerable residents — victims of severe child abuse and domestic violence in Palm Beach County and South Florida.
Founded in 1979, HomeSafe provides comprehensive programs preventing new cases of family violence, protecting victims of child abuse and domestic violence, and preparing children and families for safer, more productive lives.
Through results-based programs and highly dedicated and qualified staff, HomeSafe has grown into a leading provider of prevention and intervention services. Each year, HomeSafe serves over fifteen thousand infants, children and families.
Learn more about HomeSafe at HelpHomeSafe.org.
McBrain recorded two albums with PAT TRAVERS BAND: “Makin’ Magic” (1976) and “Putting It Straight” (1977).
An interview with Dan Shinder of Drum Talk TV in which McBrain talks about his participation in The Classic Rock & Roll Party can be seen below.
Source: Blabbermouth.net
According to Hull Daily Mail, IRON MAIDEN lead singer Bruce Dickinson will share his philosophies of business and enterprise with guests at the Humber Business Luncheon at the KC Stadium in Hull, England on Monday, June 3.
Organized by East Yorkshire and the Humber IoD, the event will see Bruce giving guests an insight into how he manages to combine diverse business and personal interests across sectors and continents.
IoD chairman Richard Tuplin said: “The Humber Luncheon is one of the highlights of our events calendar — we always aim to secure high-profile speakers and this year is no exception.
“Bruce Dickinson is the lead singer of one of the world’s greatest rock bands, a commercial pilot, business angel, entrepreneur and creative business thinker. With his captivating style and humour he is sure to entertain and motivate.”
Dickinson is the lead singer of IRON MAIDEN, a commercial pilot, business angel, entrepreneur, creative business thinker and international fencer. Bruce was a pilot and marketing director for Astraeus Airlines, which recently went into administration. In addition, Bruce has government funding to create an aircraft maintenance company in Wales.
Bruce is involved in an air ship venture to manufacture lighter than air drones with a contract to supply the U.S. Army. He is also setting up a separate training company (Real World Aviation) to train future pilots.
Bruce left IRON MAIDEN in 1993 in order to pursue a solo career, his passion for fencing and an interest in becoming a pilot. Bruce rejoined the band in 1999 and has gone on to release four albums; despite this, he hasn’t stopped flying Boeing 757s.
Bruce is very keen to speak on his projects tying it in with business start-up, entrepreneurship and business creativity. In addition, he is willing to talk about the parallels between his music and business careers. He is also able to deliver team building experiences focused around his flight simulator.
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