Sometimes it's possible to meet your hero and buy a ticket for a secret show in one fell swoop. At least that was the case for fans of Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson Friday (April 12) at the Whisky a Go Go in West Hollywood, Calif.
Fans who showed up to score tickets to Dickinson's secret shows at the famed nightclub on Friday were greeted by none other than Dickinson working at the box office, selling tickets for his shows there on Friday and Saturday (April 13) night.
The Whisky shows mark Dickinson's first solo gigs in more than two decades and will feature the live debut of The House Band of Hell, featuring support musicians Maestro Mistheria, Dave Moreno, Tanya O'Callaghan, Philip Naslund and Chris Declercq.
"As we were holed up in our North Hollywood Rehearsal Studio preparing for the tour, we thought that since rehearsals were going so well maybe we should have a little fun and do something last-minute here in L.A.," Dickinson said in a statement. "Putting tickets for sale at an actual box office should remind people what it used to be like back when I started gigging! We're raring to go and I'm just so excited to unleash this band on the world at the iconic Whisky a Go Go."
The gigs are in support of Dickinson's recently released album The Mandrake Project, which is also the name of a comic book series created by the Iron Maiden rocker, featuring a number of notable graphic novel pros. The 12 quarterly issues that will be compiled into three yearly graphic novels feature a script by Tony Lee (Dr. Who), illustrations by Staz Johnson (2000AD) with covers by Bill Sienkiewicz for Z2 comics.
Dickinson's The Mandrake Project Tour officially starts Monday (April 15).
A complete list of dates follows:
15th April - The Observatory, Santa Ana, CA, USA (SOLD OUT)
18th April - Diana Theater, Guadalajara, MEXICO
20th April - Pepsi Theatre, Mexico City, MEXICO
24th April - Live Curitiba, Curitiba, BRAZIL
25th April - Pepsi On Stage, Porto Alegre, BRAZIL
27th April - Opera Hall, Brasilia, BRAZIL
28th April - Arena Hall, Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL
30th April - Qualistage, Rio De Janeiro, BRAZIL
2nd May - Quinta Linda, Ribeirao Preto, BRAZIL
4th May - Vibra, Sao Paulo, BRAZIL
16th May - The Halls, Wolverhampton, UK
18th May - Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK (SOLD OUT)
19th May - O2 Academy, Manchester, UK (SOLD OUT)
21st May - Arena, Swansea, UK
23rd May - Rock City, Nottingham, UK (SOLD OUT)
24th May - O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK (SOLD OUT)
26th May - L'Olympia, Paris, FRANCE (SOLD OUT)
28th May - 013, Tilburg, HOLLAND
29th May - De Oosterport, Groningen, HOLLAND (SOLD OUT)
1st June - Barba Negra, Budapest, HUNGARY (SOLD OUT)
3rd June - Arenale Romane, Bucharest, ROMANIA
6th June - Mystic Festival, Gdansk, POLAND *
8th June - Sweden Rock Festival, Solvesborg, SWEDEN *
9th June - Rockefeller, Oslo, NORWAY (SOLD OUT)
11th June - Grona Lund, Stockholm, SWEDEN
13th June - House Of Culture, Helsinki, FINLAND (SOLD OUT)
14th June - Noblessner Foundry, Tallinn, ESTONIA
16th June - Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, GERMANY (SOLD OUT)
17th June - Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, GERMANY (SOLD OUT)
19th June - Copenhell, Copenhagen, DENMARK *
21st June - Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, BELGIUM *
22nd June - Summerside Festival, Grenchen, SWITZERLAND *
24th June - Zeltfestival Rhein-Neckar, Mannheim, GERMANY *
25th June - Circus Krone, Munich, GERMANY (SOLD OUT)
27th June - Resurrection Festival, Galicia, SPAIN *
29th June - Hellfest, Clisson, FRANCE *
30th June - Rockhal, Esch-Sur-Alzette, LUXEMBOURG (SOLD OUT)
3-6th July - Rockharz Open Air, Ballenstedt, GERMANY *
5th July - Ippodrome Delle Capannelle, Rock In Roma, Rome, ITALY *
6th July - Bassano Del Grappa, Metal Park, Vincenza, ITALY *
9th July - Palladium, Koln, GERMANY
11th July - Masters Of Rock Festival, Vizovice, Czech Republic *
13th July - Hala, Zagreb, CROATIA
16th July - Kolodrum Arena, Sofia, BULGARIA
19th July - Kucukciftlik Park, Istanbul, TURKEY
21st July - Release, Athens, GREECE *
* - festival performance
