Bruce Dickinson Says Power Trip Festival Was an “Unusual Situation” for the Band
Remember that Power Trip festival back in October that saw some of the world’s biggest bands play massive sets in Indio, California? The one where Metallica, Judas Priest, Tool, AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, and Iron Maiden threw down on three separate nights? What a wild concept. And apparently to Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson, it was a strange gig right from the start.
While speaking with Brazil’s 92.5 Kiss FM (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), Dickinson talked about Iron Maiden’s performance as the first band to play on the first night of the festival on October 6. To say it was both a traditional Maiden show and a completely unconventional one at the same time would probably be an accurate statement.
“Power Trip was a slightly strange experience for us. And we did a good show, and actually at Power Trip, we did a Maiden show. We didn’t do the, ‘Oh, ’cause it’s Power Trip, we have to suddenly do greatest hits.’ No — we did the Maiden show with all the stuff we’re doing on the ‘Somewhere Back In Time’ tour; ‘Death Of The Celts’, everything else like that. And it was a little bit strange because people had been standing out in the heat all day. There was no support band. Completely cold, go on stage. Well, cold as in no warm-up. But, no, I think we sounded pretty good. But it was an unusual situation.”
Having done countless shows a certain way, only to have this one festival flip the script entirely on its head must have been a shock to the band. Still, he said the show went without a hitch and they were happy they got to play the set they’d been playing for a while during their ‘The Future Past Tour’.
Still, one thing stood out to Dickinson — the crowd. As a massive show, he found that the only people that could afford to be at the front row were super rich people (surprise) and guess what? Those people might not be there entirely for the band.
“I think what was a little bit strange for us was that the people who should be down the front of the stage, because the tickets for the festival were so expensive, they were at the back, and the people who were at the front were just like rich people that wanted to film everything on their phone. But the kids who you wanted to play to were at the back. And that sucks, actually. It wasn’t our festival; it wasn’t our organization. We’re going into America next year and we’re doing our own tour. And the people who are down the front are gonna be the people who deserve to be down the front. They’re gonna be the real fans, which is gonna be great.”
At one point, Dickinson praised the Brazilian and South American fans for their famously enthusiastic response to metal shows in general, while throwing a not-so-subtle dig at the super rich people who attended Power Trip.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s, like, yeah. Go take a look at some real rock and roll fans — not a bunch of posers who wanna go down the front. ‘I paid 3,000 dollars for my ticket. Look at me.’ Fuck off.”
