On Battling Cancer And A Plane Crash

Iron Maiden are being flown from city-to-city on this world tour by none other than commercial pilot and band vocalist Bruce Dickinson.

Dickinson, who recently successfully battled throat cancer, causing the delay of their Book Of Souls album and tour, was not behind the controls when their Boeing 747-400 plane – Ed Force One – was damaged at a Chilean airport on March 12, causing logistical headaches for the band when the plane was grounded for repairs. 

“Yeah, it was frustrating,” says bass player/songwriter, Steve Harris, taking up the story. “I think, obviously, Bruce was devastated about it – even though it was not his responsibility, because he wasn't even on the plane when it happened. The ground staff messed up, but it’s one of them things, what can you do?

“It's all fixed, we've been flying on it since,” Harris assures us, confirming that Ed Force One is fully operational again and Dickinson will be piloting her around Australia.

Book of Souls is studio album #16 for the metal stalwarts, and successfully marries their early heavy metal with your more recent progressive leanings. It's a fantastic record, and Harris says the songs have been going down well live.

“Yes, they are. It's like any new tour with new songs, you’re not going to get the reaction that the old stuff gets. It's just always like that when you're playing new stuff. Maybe one day a couple of them songs will be regarded as a massive part of the set, once people know them more. But I think it's really important to push your new stuff: it keeps things fresh.”

With such an epic and much-loved back catalogue Iron Maiden more than most bands, could play for three or four hours and not have a boring moment. Choosing a setlist can’t be easy.

“Well, it's not easy!” laughs Harris. “We could get up and play a whole load of songs that we've never ever played before, and still have two full sets of it, we've got that many songs! Maybe one day we should think about doing that. But, it's not easy. These days, after what happened to Bruce, we basically said, ‘you choose the set because you've got to sing it,’ and to my amazement he wanted to put Hallowed Be Thy Name back in, which is a tough song to sing. You know, maybe he just wanted to prove a point. He's been singing better than ever, I think.”

Referencing Dickinson’s cancer battle, I ask Harris if the singer had been forced to retire, would Iron Maiden have found a replacement for him?

“No, I don't think so,” he says bluntly. “It was difficult enough before without him (Dickinson left the band between 1993 and ‘99), these days it just wouldn't feel right to do that. I think we would have knocked it on the head to be honest.”

Iron Maiden had Harris’ daughter Lauren as the main support act on their last Australian tour, and this time round it’s his son George’s turn, with his band The Raven Age. It must be proud for him to stand in the wings as a dad and see the response they're getting.

“Yes, it's fantastic,” Harris enthuses. “Obviously they've got to be there on merit - it's no good them just being there, they've got to hold their own because our audiences are tough and they soon let you know if they don't like it.

“Basically, The Raven Age has been going down absolutely fantastic everywhere, getting great remarks, great reviews. They're a bloody good band with really great songs and I can only give them the compliment to say that I wish I'd written them myself!”

FIVE GREAT MAIDEN MOMENTS

1979: Iron Maiden, with singer Paul DiAnno, release the 7” single The Soundhouse Tapes, spearheading the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement.

1982: Run To The Hills and The Number Of The Beast (from the latterly titled album) the band’s first singles with new singer, Bruce Dickinson, are released and go Top 20 around the world.

1984-85: The band embark on the massive 187-show World Slavery Tour, culminating in a headline appearance in front of 300,000 fans at Rock In Rio. The tour was recorded in Long Beach Arena, California and released as the ground-breaking Live After Death album in 1985.

2008: Iron Maiden embark on their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, with singer Dickinson piloting the band’s chartered jet from gig to gig. Starting in Mumbai, the tour took in the band’s first shows in Australia since 1992, as well as visiting North and South America and Europe. The tour was commemorated with the Flight 666 DVD.

2015: Iron Maiden’s 16^th studio album, Book Of Souls, is released, including the 18-minute epic, Empire Of The Clouds. The album tops the charts in 24 countries, reaching #4 in the US, and spawning the Book Of Souls World Tour.

Originally published in X-Press Magazine