Bruce Dickinson
Brooklyn Paramount September 10, 2025
Review and Photos by Anthony DiMatteo
It only took about 5 seconds after Bruce Dickinson took the stage to create a blast of energy that rolled thru the evening at the Brooklyn Paramount. The crowd was feeding off of Bruce’s energy all night with equal enthusiasm.
Backed by an equally energetic band that created a jolt of power that lasted throughout the show featuring Philip Naslund and Chris Declerq on guitars. Dave Moreno on drums. Maestro Mistheria on keyboards with Tanya O’Callaghan on bass. It was one amazing song after another as he rolled thru his solo work letting everyone know that the voice behind Iron Maiden was as strong as ever.
Opening the show with ‘Accident at Birth’ , I had a hard time matching the energy. Panning my camera back and forth trying to keep Bruce in my frame was probably more exhausting than any show that I can remember. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. Followed by ‘Abduction’ and ‘Laughing in the Bush’ there was no slowing down as he and the band blitz thru each song engaging with each other as well as the audience.
In those first 3 songs alone I probably had more eye contact and involvement with the band than most shows combined. They brought you into the show and made you feel part of it rather than just a spectator.
The fact that they only performed one Iron Maiden song was actually refreshing. What’s the point of putting out solo work if you’re not going to play it. To many times artists go on a solo tour and play more songs from their regular band than their own solo music. The only Maiden song of the night was ‘Flash of the Blade’. They also covered ‘Frankenstein’ by the Edgar Winter Group otherwise it was all Bruce.
The 15 song set list favored ‘The Chemical Wedding’ but touched most of Bruce’s solo catalog including ‘Balls to Picasso’, ‘The Mandrake Project’, ‘Accident of Birth’ and Tyranny of Souls’.
Brooklyn, New York metal band Anaka opened the show with an intense, yet powerful set. These guys have been around for almost 25 years and have released their 6th album, ‘The Oblivion Call’
