IRON MAIDEN frontman Bruce Dickinson spoke to The Morning Call about the group's participation in this year's Ozzfest, which kicked off Friday (July 15) in Mansfield, MA. Several excerpts from the interview follow:

''This is probably the first and last chance that anybody will ever have to see IRON MAIDEN in America doing these songs, because there will be another IRON MAIDEN album out next year. We'll be doing some new stuff after that. There will be more tours subsequently, but we'll probably never again get a chance to play so many songs from the first four albums, and in particular from the first two."

On the group's decision to play Ozzfest:

"We didn't want to do a headlining tour to the same older audiences that show up every time we go into the sheds [the nickname for outdoor amphitheaters]. We wanted to get an audience that was going to be … basically 15-year-old kids with attitudes who are really into metal and keeping the music alive, as opposed to an audience who had been like that, but have now grown up, gotten respectable, and just remembered the band from the early days.

"In Europe we play mainly to audiences who are all under the age of 25. In America, I'd say the average age of the audience is 30-plus. That's not great for us. And it's also not great for young kids who come to see the band in sheds because they end up sandwiched between a bunch of fat old men drinking beer and eating hot dogs, and the kids are like 'Shouldn't we be really rocking?' So what we want is the Ozzfest vibe, which I think is much closer to the audiences we play to in Europe. That's the audience we want to impress, really."

On his new solo album, "Tyranny of Souls":

"I thought we could have a bit more confidence, that we could branch out a little bit on this album [and] still sound very heavy. That was the key. I had to wait until I felt confident about saying, 'Yup, this is what we're going to do on this new record,' rather than, 'Oh my God, I don't know what we're going to do on this record to cope with the legacy of 'Chemical Wedding'."

The teenage girls sitting next to me looked genuinely scared when maiden went on...there was this other kid with an accent on the other side of me with his mom and she looked very concerned too...but half way through the set none of them were paying attention because we were being pelted with grass and bottles from the lawn...nothing like a sub-18 year old crowd at a rock show

that comment comming from the same guy who got mad when kids moshed during one of their shows in nyc back in the 90's

This guy always talks too much, like when he complained about Wal*Mart back in 2003 on the tour with Motorhead/Dio, then I checked the next day and Wal*Mart had a section for Iron Maiden...

But I love them anyway haha.

IRON MAIDEN rules, all of the MUDVAYNE idiots need to trash those CDs and stock up on the first 8 MAIDEN CDs and Brave New World.

Mudvayne was the worst band I've ever heard live. Heard meaning I layed in the grass the entire time and didn't bother getting up to watch them.

"because they end up sandwiched between a bunch of fat old men drinking beer and eating hot dogs"

I like beer and hot dogs.

That's fucking gay... If you're gonna play for 15 year olds, play the new shit for them, save the "classics" set for the real fans.

I understand what he's saying, it makes sense.

No you don't, you're an idiot.

BestialOnslaught said:

please explode.

RustedAngel said:

I did the exact same thing.

BestialOnslaught said:

Or you could hope that the 15 year olds realize that the classics rule.

Bruce Bruce is an idiot and he looks and dresses like a homosexual aerobics instructor. Fencing is also fucking gay. Get a real sword, faggot.

I would rather see Dianno put together a band of kids and play the first two albums than see Maiden with Bruce Bruce play them.

fuck everyone

this is what not to do when bruce shits on you

SUPPORT THE IRON MAIDEN


i love maiden especially the first 2 albums i was a fan(and stull am more or less) and supported them up till 1988/89, it is just lame to belittle your dedicated and loyal fan base.

POD is probably the worst band i've ever seen live, saw them at ozzfest a couple of years ago. it's not like i hate them or anything, but the singer sings one out of 5 words because he gets tired or something. it just sounded awful.

Josh_Martin said:

he looks kato kaylan as an aerobics intructor!

Bruce seems to be inclined to putting his foot in his mouth, but his new solo record 'Tyranny of Souls' fuckin' rips! Really excellent stuff!

Whether or not you love or hate his music...you have to enjoy his show rants...it doesn't matter what they are about...they are hilarious...always

the highlight of this years was his repeating "Welcome...to IRON MAIDEN!...welcome...to IRON MAIDEN!" as if Ozzfest had suddenly become Iron maiden the band....pure brilliance...eclipsed only by last years rant about someone smoking pot in the front row that he didn;t want because it would "fucking put him to sleep"...or a few years back when someone threw water up on stage and he was like "you want me to slip and break my fucking neck? i'll rip your fucking head off" something like that