Ahead of the release of his upcoming solo album, The Mandrake Project, which arrives on March 1st, and the start of a four-month tour, Bruce Dickinson and his band will play a one-off warm-up show at The Observatory, Orange County on April 15th.
“We’re not afraid of doing some growing up in public” explains Dickinson “so this show will be as close to a rehearsal as you can get – it’s exciting to think what these musicians can do – and will do when there are over one thousand fans in the room!”
For this show, and the rest of the tour, the band will be a six-piece, with Swedish-born guitarist, songwriter, and multi-platinum credited producer Philip Naslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who incidentally played on the current single, “Rain On The Graves”) joining drummer Dave Moreno, keyboardist Mistheria, and bassist Tanya O’Callaghan.
“Sadly, and with regret, guitarist and producer Roy Z will no longer join the band on tour due to some personal commitments,” explains Dickinson. “He will remain in LA to work on some re-mixing and re-mastering of the catalog. We all know the show must go on though, and this project is too important to everyone to not be the very best it can be. I’m gutted about Roy because he assembled most of the album and touring band, introducing Mistheria & Dave Moreno to the project and mentoring guitarist Chris Declerq. I’m so excited about what both Philip and Chris will bring on stage together and now my only ambition is to grab a little piece of the audiences’ hearts every night.”
Tickets for the warm-up show will go on sale to the general public on Tuesday, February 20th at 10 AM PST.
In addition to the previously announced 2024 live dates in Brazil and Mexico, the Iron Maiden frontman recently announced a handful of European shows.
Pre-orders for The Mandrake Project are available here.
