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Scream for me Hollywood . . . it’s been an epic week for Bruce Dickinson, the iconic frontman of Iron Maiden as on Wed April 10, Dickinson announced on social media that The House Band of Hell that was on The Whisky A Go-Go’s calendar for Friday, April 12 was a secret show (no longer a secret) for Dickinson and his solo band. After this show quickly sold-out on Thursday, a second show was added for Saturday April 13 with tickets on-sale Friday morning at 10:00am, available at the Whisky box office only. When fans showed up Friday for tickets, they were pleasantly surprised as Dickinson was the one selling the tickets and putting wristbands on fans . . . a TOTAL class move to show his fans how much he appreciates them.

19 years after his last solo album, Dickinson released The Mandrake Project on March 1 of this year to rave reviews and he quickly put together a touring band and tour, spanning Mexico, South America and Europe. A one-off show was announced some time ago in Orange County, CA for April 15 but now that show will be the last of three Southern California shows and the only shows in the USA for this tour.

The legendary venue on the Sunset Strip welcomed a SOLD-OUT crowd with a show start time of 10:00 PM with no openers. Dickinson has assembled a top-notch band 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 hit the stage and opened the show with the up-tempo bang of “Accident Of Birth” as Dickinson asked the Whisky “Are We Fuckin Ready?” and the first Bruce Dickinson solo show in 22 years was off and running.

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 66 years old. This was the band’s first live performance together outside of rehearsals and they were extremely tight and in sync, all members truly 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.

Four songs off The Mandrake Project were played - "Afterglow Of Ragnarok", "Many Doors To Hell", "Resurrection Men" and "Rain On The Graves". These songs work well live and are some of Dickinson’s best solo work to date. Dickinson would briefly chat with the crowd in between songs and at one point jokingly stated “The last time I played the Whisky it was much bigger”. Of course, the fan favorites “Chemical Wedding” and “Tears of the Dragon” were played and after “Rain On The Graves”, 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 drumkit and just nailing the rhythms. The song had an epic ending with Dickinson playing the Theremin and creating some ultra-trippy sounds – definitely a highlight of the show. 

The set ended with "Darkside Of Aquarius" and Dickinson thanking the Whisky crowd and wishing all a good night from The House Band of Hell. After 5 minutes of the crowd chanting “One more song”, the band returned to the stage as Dickinson threw out the beanie he was wearing into the crowd and then introduced everyone. The night ended with "Jerusalem" then the awesome "Road To Hell". Dickinson yelled one last Thank You and said “We will see you tomorrow night”. 

It's not often you get to se a band perform for the first time and it’s not everyday you get to see an icon like Bruce Dickinson in a small intimate venue (Whisky capacity is 500 people). There were no Iron Maiden songs played as the focus is clearly on Bruce Dickinson and his solo material is every bit as epic as Iron Maiden in its own unique way. Dickinson plays the Whisky again on Saturday April 13, then at The Observatory in Santa Ana on Monday April 15 before hitting Mexico on April 18 which begins the 50-date trek. 

Setlist:

Accident Of Birth
Abduction
Laughing In The Hiding Bush
Afterglow Of Ragnarok (Live Debut)
Chemical Wedding
Many Doors To Hell (Live Debut)
Tears Of The Dragon
Resurrection Men (Live Debut)
Rain On The Graves (Live Debut)
Frankenstein (Edgar Winter Cover)
Gods Of War
The Alchemist
Darkside Of Aquarius

Encore:
Jerusalem
Road To Hell