Bruce Dickinson, the band's lead singer, spoke of his previous experiences with Israel, as a part of his second career as a commercial pilot
By DAVID BRINNIron Maiden coming to Tel Aviv(photo credit: Courtesy)
Hard rock legends Iron Maiden will return to Israel as part of their Legacy of the Beast World Tour next year. The British metal greats will take over Bloomfield Stadium on May 30, with local heroes Orphaned Land opening up.The band performed in Israel in the 1990s, but without frontman Bruce Dickinson, who is now back in the fold.Speaking to The Jerusalem Post last year, before arriving for a spoken word performance in Tel Aviv, Dickinson said that Iron Maiden had gracefully evolved from wild man to a mature band. “We’ve all kind of settled down. We’ve kind of grown in this weird brotherhood. When you’re 25, you’re a bucket of raging hormones, but once you get that out of your system, you realize that you’re in a fantastic band with an amazing catalogue of music and fans all over the world. Why would we want to screw that up?” he said.Dickinson also spoke of spending time in Israel as part of his second career as a commercial pilot, and related an eerie anecdote about the 2003 terrorist attack at Mike’s Place in Tel Aviv.“I used to fly the Rangers [Football Club from Glasgow, Scotland] to play Hapoel Tel Aviv about 10 years ago, and before that I regularly flew the Tel Aviv-Heathrow route on 737 charters for Israelis vacationing in England. I would spend a couple days on the seafront and then fly back home. I’d run up to Jaffa and walk around.“There was a blues bar by the sea, Mike’s Place, where we used to sit and relax and have a beer. There was an absolutely drop-dead gorgeous bar maid who used to wear her combat fatigues. We used to say, ‘Can we get arrested by her?’“Then I read that some asshole blew the place up [in 2003] and I saw a photo of one of the victims and it was that poor girl. It was just terrible. What a pointless, stupid thing to do...“When I came back with the Rangers in 2007, we went back there and it was resurrected, bigger and better than ever. It was good to see.”Regarding Iron Maiden’s current tour, Dickinson told the Daily Mail Australian this week that the band is going all out.“We’ve got all kinds of crazy things going on, including a replica Spitfire plane dominating the stage during ‘Aces High,’ tons of pyro, a giant Icarus, muskets, claymores and some truly marvelous flame-throwers.’”
