Dave Everley of Metal Hammer spoke with Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson and bassist Steve Harris, excerpts from the interview appear below.
Q: Whose idea was Eddfest? And who suggested holding it at Knebworth?
Steve Harris: “I think it was Rod [Smallwood, Maiden manager]. When he ran it past me, I said, ‘Yeah, that’s great’, because it’s something different…
Bruce Dickinson: I just saw it on the poster and thought, ‘Knebworth – that sounds a bit like Knobworth.’
Q: Is Eddfest just another gig for you, or does it mean something bigger?
Harris: I think it’ll be an event…I don’t want to give too much away about…you talk about stuff, and then you have to actually put it into practice. You just hope it’s all going to work out. It usually does, but you never know, haha.
Dickinson: We’re not trying to go out and have the biggest ever crowd anywhere. Doing London Stadium and selling it out – I think that got it out of everybody’s system: ‘Yeah, we can do big stadiums… big deal.’ If it’s just a pissing contest about who can do the biggest stadium, then that’s bollocks. It’s all about leaving people with something memorable.
Q: The Darkness are one of the support bands on the Saturday. That’s an unusual choice for Maiden.
Harris: I personally chose The Darkness. I think they’re a great live band. I’ve seen them a couple of times on the Monsters Of Rock cruise, and they’re just really entertaining. It’s not the norm for us, and it’ll be interesting to see how they go down. I think they’ll win over a Maiden crowd. I hope they win over a Maiden crowd! Ha ha ha! And The Hu, too – they’re just a really unusual band.
Q: Friday night’s line-up features several ex-Iron Maiden members, including Blaze Bayley, ex-guitarist Dennis Stratton’s current group, and onetime keyboard player Tony Moore. [Harris’] pre-Maiden band, Gypsy’s Kiss, are on the bill too. Any plans to get up and join them?
Steve: No. I suppose I could get up with all of them – Gypsy’s Kiss, Blaze, whoever. But I’ll let them get on with it. If I get up, it’s just going to become a thing about me, and I don’t want that. I want them to have their time.
Q: If Paul Di’Anno was still around, would he be on the bill?
Harris: Yeah. Of course he would.
Q: What do you prefer: big gigs like this or smaller, more intimate gigs like Maiden played in the early days?
Harris: People might think I have to say this, but I like both. Any gig is exciting to me. The only bugbear I’ve got with bigger gigs these days is the barrier and the distance from the crowd. I understand the health and safety stuff, it’s important, but it makes it a bit more difficult. Sometimes when I throw my wristband, I can’t even reach the crowd ’cos they’re standing so far away. But it’s worth putting up with at the end of the day,’ cos what else can you do?
Dickinson: Performing is performing. I don’t give extra because I’m in a little venue, and if I’m in a big venue, you get the same intensity and energy. There are things you do on a big stage that nobody will see, but if you do them on a small stage, everybody will see. In that sense, people have more of a connection with you in a small venue. Unless you’ve got a camera stuck in front of your face, in which case you’re not in the moment at all. But that’s another story.
Q: What’s your favorite ever Maiden tour?
Harris: It’s difficult to say because I like different tours for different reasons. If you’re talking about audiences, it’s in South America. If you could rent a crowd from anywhere, it’s there. The downside is that they’re so crazy that you can’t really go out much when you’re down there, ’cos you just wouldn’t get very far. But when that passion transfers to the gig, it’s incredible. Greece is a good one too, and Italy, Spain, Portugal and France give them a run for their money.
Dickinson: The Brave New World tour. Why? Because it was that lovely hybrid moment of yes, some old stuff, and yes, some great new stuff, with an energized band. Everybody was at the top of their game, and everybody loves a comeback story.
Q: Have any support bands really lit a fire under your backsides and made you up your game?
Harris: I thought [veteran Southern rockers] Blackfoot were great back in ’82. They’re still one of the best bands that ever supported us. I always say that it’s the support band’s job to go out and try to take the audience. They’ve got to go out, give it large, and make the main band work hard. But it’s sometimes hard with Maiden because our fans are so partisan. I’ve seen it a couple of times where I’ve felt sorry for the support band. They can’t bottle it. The audience can smell fear.
Harris: Back in the day, the toughest support act we ever had was Guns N’ Roses in America [in 1988]. They’d just released their first album and were reaching this huge wave of popularity. They were full of angst and venom, where Maiden were a bit proggy – it was around Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son.
Q: Maiden are finally getting inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame later this year. Did you have any discussions about turning it down?
Harris: No, there have only been comments from a couple of members of the band here and there. Bruce has his own strong feelings about it, which is his opinion. It’s never really bothered me one way or the other, because awards aren’t what we do this for. But in a weird way I’m glad it’s happened so the Americans will stop banging on about it. To me, if you get offered something, you say, ‘Thank you very much.’ But did I lose sleep over getting it or not getting it? No.
Dickinson: I can’t even summon the energy to be vitriolic about it. I appreciate that a significant number of people are happy for us. That’s nice. It’s not something we’re bothered about.
Q: If you weren’t on tour in Australia at the time, would you go to the ceremony?
Dickson: No.
Harris: I don’t do those sort of things. I didn’t even go to the recent red carpet thing for the documentary. It’s not me.
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One Response
I can’t blame them, it’s a pathetic joke.