Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson kicks off UK tour in Wolverhampton – photos and setlist

Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson played his first UK solo show in almost 26 years last night (Thursday 16th May) in Wolverhampton.

Supporting his critically-lauded new solo album ‘The Mandrake Project’, the triumphant gig at Wolverhampton’s The Halls was the first show of a six-date UK tour that also visits Glasgow, Manchester, Swansea, Nottingham and London.

Unlike Iron Maiden shows, which have largely set-in-stone setlists due to the band’s colossal production, Bruce switched the setlist from his recent shows in Brazil, Mexico and the US.

Opening with ‘Accident of Birth’ and closing with ‘The Tower’, Bruce drew from most of his solo repertoire – however, songs from his 1998 opus ‘The Chemical Wedding’ and ‘The Mandrake Project’ made up over 50% of the setlist.

There were also a couple of surprises for fans too in the shape of ‘Skunkworks’ track ‘Faith’ having its first outing since 1996, and Bruce covering Mott the Hoople’s David Bowie-penned track ‘All the Young Dudes’ for the first time since 1990.

Planet Rock’s Paul Anthony was in attendance at the gig, and he praised the "tight" band and hailed Bruce’s vocals as "off the scale."

He added: “If you’ve got tickets for any of the remaining shows, you won’t be disappointed.”

The band on Bruce’s solo tour consists of bass-player Tanya O’Callaghan, keyboard maestro Mistheria, drummer Dave Moreno, and guitarists Philip Näslund and Chris Declercq.

Bruce Dickinson’s last UK solo show took place way back on 8th December 1998 at the now-demolished London Astoria 2.

See photos of Bruce Dickinson live in Wolverhampton:

Bruce Dickinson’s setlist in Wolverhampton:

Accident of Birth

Abduction

Faith (First performance since 1996)

Afterglow of Ragnarok

Chemical Wedding

Many Doors to Hell

Gates of Urizen

Resurrection Men

Rain on the Graves

Frankenstein (The Edgar Winter Group cover)

The Alchemist

Tears of the Dragon

Darkside of Aquarius

Encore:

Navigate the Seas of the Sun

All the Young Dudes (First performance since 1990)

Book of Thel

The Tower

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• Iron Maiden
• Bruce Dickinson