Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson has revealed “the most decadent thing” he’s ever done.
The admission was made in a new interview with The Independent, published to mark 40 years since Iron Maiden became the first Western rock band to play a full-production live tour in Soviet Europe.
During the tour, Dickinson says, he and his bandmates were approached in their hotel by a man selling a sack’s worth of caviar that had fallen off of a Russian ship.
“This guy comes up with a bin liner full of caviar,” the singer remembers. “We were all drunk, going, ‘Come on then, how much?’ He got a half-kilo tin of caviar out and he said, ‘It’s $100.’ I’m like, ‘$100? That’s incredibly cheap.’”
Photographer Ross Halfin was following Iron Maiden on their 1984 European tour, which was promoting that year’s album Powerslave. Halfin was reportedly able to haggle the caviar salesman down to $50 per tin.
“We said, ‘Have you got any more?’,” continues Dickinson. “He came back with five kilos, like an oil drum full of caviar. Everyone went mad. We probably had about 10 kilos of caviar, which we couldn’t possibly eat.
“This is the most decadent thing I think I’ve ever done in my life, eating a tablespoon of caviar and knocking it back with vodka. It could’ve been the scene in Tommy [1975 film based on The Who’s rock opera] but without the baked beans.”
Iron Maiden are currently in the middle of their Future Past world tour, playing a setlist largely composed of songs from 1986 album Somewhere In Time and 2021’s Senjutsu. They’ll play a run of Oceania, Asia and North/Central/South American dates from September to November. See the list of shows below.
Dickinson released his first solo album in 19 years, The Mandrake Project, in March.
Iron Maiden 2024 tour dates:
Australia/New Zealand
Sep 01: Perth RAC Arena
Sep 04: Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Sep 06: Melbourne Rod Laver Arena
Sep 07: Melbourne Rod Laver Arena
Sep 10: Brisbane Entertainment Centre
Sep 12: Sydney Qudos Bank Arena
Sep 13: Sydney Qudos Bank Arena
Sep 16: Auckland Spark Arena
Japan
Sep 22: Aichi Sky Hall
Sep 24: Osaka-Jo Hall
Sep 26: Tokyo Garden Theater
Sep 28: Kanagawa Pia Arena
North America
Oct 04: San Diego North Island Credit Union Ampitheatre
Oct 05: Las Vegas Michelob Ultra Arena
Oct 08: Los Angeles Kia Forum
Oct 12: Sacramento Aftershock Festival
Oct 14: Portland Moda Center
Oct 16: Tacoma Dome
Oct 18: Salt Lake City Delta Center
Oct 19: Denver Ball Arena
Oct 22: St Paul Xcel Energy Center
Oct 24: Rosemont Allstate Arena
Oct 26: Toronto Scotiabank Arena
Oct 27: Quebec Videotron Arena
Oct 30: Montreal Centre Bell
Nov 01: Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center
Nov 02: Brooklyn Barclays Center
Nov 06: Worcester DCU Center
Nov 08: Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena
Nov 09: Newark Prudential Center
Nov 12: Baltimore CFG Bank Arena
Nov 13: Charlotte Spectrum Center
Nov 16: Fort Worth Dickies Arena
Nov 17: San Antonio Frost Bank Center
Central/South America
Nov 20: Mexico City Foro Sol
Nov 24: Bogota Colombia El Campin Stadium
Nov 27: Santiago Chile Estadio Nacional
Nov 28: Santiago Chile Estadio Nacional
