Scream for me, Anaheim! Bruce Dickinson’s long-awaited return to North America, the first show of his first major solo tour in nearly three decades, kicked off in electrifying fashion at House of Blues in Anaheim, CA on Friday night, August 22. The iconic frontman of Iron Maiden released The Mandrake Project on March 1, 2024, his first solo album in 19 years, to critical acclaim. After a few Southern California shows celebrating its release in 2024 and extensively touring Europe, Dickinson and the band are hitting select cities in the US, Canada, and South America over the next six weeks. There was no shortage of fans wearing Iron Maiden shirts, and the anticipation was high leading up to the band hitting the stage.
The night kicked off with opening act Combustion 96 from Dallas, TX, playing 40 minutes of heavy riff-driven metal. While these gentlemen certainly had House of Blues rocking for the duration of their time onstage, most were looking to fast forward to Bruce Dickinson. Horns Up to Combustion 96 for living out what was surely a high point, opening for the mighty Iron Maiden vocalist.
Combustion 96
Photo Credit: Chris Loomis
At 9:00 pm sharp, the lights dimmed and audio from the TV show The Invaders filled the venue, the band then took the stage followed by Dickinson and he screamed, “Are You Ready?, Anaheim are you Fuckin Ready?” and the Mandrake Project Live 2025 tour officially kicked off with the up-tempo bang of “Accident of Birth” then immediately into “Abduction” and never stopping right into “Laughing in the Hiding Bush”, a pummeling 1-2-3 punch to start the show.
Dickinson then addressed the crowd with a “Hello House of Blues, there isn’t much blues tonight, just a lot of epic shit going on,” and he introduced a song that the band was playing live for the very first time, “Shadow of the Gods” from The Mandrake Project. Dickinson was without a doubt pumped for this show as he was a ball of energy onstage, bouncing around and executing his iconic hand gestures while belting out the vocals. His voice sounds incredible, still nailing every note at 67 years old. The band is a top-notch group of musicians that includes Chris Declerq and Philip Naslund on guitars, Tanya O’Callaghan on bass, Dave Moreno on drums, and Maestro Mistheria on keyboards.
The band is extremely tight and in sync, all members extremely talented at their craft. Declerq and Naslund bookended the stage and traded off riffs and solos while O’Callaghan and Moreno nailed the rhythms, and Mistheria would rotate between his keyboard and keytar throughout the show. In addition to the sonic talent of this group, there was lots of band interaction and smiling onstage as they were no doubt having a blast.
About halfway through the show, Dickinson addressed the crowd and stated he had a little surprise, there was a song he wrote many moons ago with a little band he has, called Iron Maiden and other than on the record it had never been played before live and he introduced it with “You’ll Die as You Lived, with a Flash of the Blade” and that incredible riff kicked in and BAM . . . , “Flash of the Blade” from 1984’s Powerslave album was played for the first time ever and House of Blue lost their mind.
Three songs off The Mandrake Project were played – “Resurrection Men”, “Rain on the Graves”, and “Shadow of the Gods”. These songs work well live and are some of Dickinson’s best solo work to date. Moreno played a brief drum solo and then the band went into a super creative cover of Edgar Winter’s “Frankenstein“ that had Dickinson drumming on a stand-up drum kit and just nailing the rhythms. The song had an epic ending with Dickinson playing the Theremin and creating some ultra-trippy sounds – definitely one of the highlights of the show.
The main set ended with the killer track “Road to Hell“ with Dickinson commanding the crowd with several “Scream for me Anaheim“ requests and then left the stage only to return for a three song encore beginning with the beautiful ballad “Tears of the Dragon“ followed by “Gods of War“ which had Dickinson again beginning the song banging on the drums and the show ended with the mid-temp groove of “Starchildren“ as Dickinson wished everyone a safe trip home and stated he hopes to see everyone at The Wiltern in Los Angeles on October 5 for the last show of the tour.
WOW – Bruce Dickinson ,without a doubt ,just played the most epic show the Anaheim House of Blues has ever hosted. Dickinson expertly weaved between solo favorites and new material, creating a rich and diverse sonic journey that resonated deeply with both long-time and new fans. This Anaheim show wasn’t just a concert; it was a living, breathing showcase of Bruce Dickinson’s creative evolution and relentless energy. A defining moment for those lucky enough to be present and a powerful preview of a tour that promises more surprises to come.
What are you waiting for, go grab a ticket to this show today and DO NOT MISS THIS when it hits your city.
Bruce Dickinson
Photo Credit: Chris Loomis
