Bruce Dickinson Has “No F*cking Interest” in Metal’s Countless Subgenres
To say we’ve got a lot of stupid classifications in metal would be an understatement. Symphonic, avant-garde, kawaii, glam, thrash, sludge, power, speed, progressive, grindcore, deathcore, pirate, black, viking… the list goes on and on. And during an interview with Mexico’s ATMósferas Magazine (as transcribed by Blabbermouth), Iron Maiden vocalist Bruce Dickinson weighed in on that and needless to say, he’s not exactly here for all the minute classification of bands.
“Metal is not a completely pure, definable form of music. I mean it’s got all kinds of different facets to it. So, now, what’s heavy metal to one person is, like, ‘No, that’s not heavy metal. That’s classic rock,’ and all this kind of stuff. They have all these categories, and I absolutely have no fucking interest in any of them at all…”
Following the release of his solo album The Mandrake Project, Dickinson’s been making the rounds as of late, stirring up the shit and speaking his mind on a whole bevy of topics. And while the we all know his feelings on weed at shows or how he feels about most big bands these days, we now know that as long as music makes him feel something, then the label people put on those bands will be a moot point.
All I listen to is, ‘Hey, is that a cool track?’ It doesn’t matter if it’s, for an example, if it’s Sepultura or whether it’s the Scorpions or whether it’ss Cinderella or whether it’s Uli John Roth, I don’t give a shit. All I think is, ‘Hey, is this a cool piece of music?’ That’s it. And that’s what I was like when I was growing up, because nobody had all these ridiculous categories, like 150 different types of metal. I mean, it’s, like, how many different varieties of the herpes virus are there? There’s just as many bloody different types of music. And it’s insane. So, I just listen and think, ‘Does that piece of music move me in some way?’ That’s it. It’s as simple as that.”
So there ya have it. The dude just thinks music should move you and it shouldn’t spend so much time with labels.
Next month, Dickinson will embark on a tour to support The Mandrake Project. You can find the full run of dates below.
Bruce Dickinson – The Mandrake Project Tour
18th April – Diana Theater, Guadalajara, MEXICO [Tickets]
20th April – Pepsi Theatre, Mexico City, MEXICO [Tickets]
24th April – Live Curitiba, Curitiba, BRAZIL [Tickets]
25th April – Pepsi On Stage, Porto Alegre, BRAZIL [Tickets]
27th April – Opera Hall, Brasilia, BRAZIL [Tickets]
28th April – Arena Hall, Belo Horizonte, BRAZIL [Tickets]
30th April – Qualistage, Rio De Janeiro, BRAZIL [Tickets]
2nd May – Quinta Linda, Ribeirao Preto, BRAZIL [Tickets]
4th May – Vibra, Sao Paulo, BRAZIL [Tickets]
16th May – The Halls, Wolverhampton, UK + [Tickets]
18th May – Barrowland Ballroom, Glasgow, UK [Tickets]
19th May – O2 Academy, Manchester, UK [Tickets]
21st May – Arena, Swansea, UK [Tickets]
23rd May – Rock City, Nottingham, UK [Tickets]
24th May – O2 Forum Kentish Town, London, UK [Tickets]
26th May – L’Olympia, Paris, FRANCE [Tickets]
28th May – 013, Tilburg, HOLLAND [Tickets]
29th May – De Oosterport, Groningen, HOLLAND [Tickets]
1st June – Barba Negra, Budapest, HUNGARY [Tickets]
3rd June – Arenale Romane, Bucharest, ROMANIA [Tickets]
6th June – Mystic Festival, Gdansk, POLAND * [Tickets]
5-8th June – Sweden Rock Festival, Solvesborg, SWEDEN * [Tickets]
9th June – Rockefeller, Oslo, NORWAY [Tickets]
11th June – Grona Lund, Stockholm, SWEDEN [Tickets]
13th June – House Of Culture, Helsinki, FINLAND [Tickets]
14th June – Noblessner Foundry, Tallinn, ESTONIA [Tickets]
16th June – Huxleys Neue Welt, Berlin, GERMANY [Tickets]
17th June – Grosse Freiheit 36, Hamburg, GERMANY [Tickets]
19 – 22nd June – Copenhell, Copenhagen, DENMARK * [Tickets]
21st June – Graspop Metal Meeting, Dessel, BELGIUM * [Tickets]
22nd June – Summerside Festival, Grenchen, SWITZERLAND * [Tickets]
24th June – Zeltfestival Rhein-Neckar, Mannheim, GERMANY * [Tickets]
25th June – Circus Krone, Munich, GERMANY [Tickets]
26th – 29th June – Resurrection Festival, Galicia, SPAIN *+ [Tickets]
27-30th June – Hellfest, Clisson, FRANCE * [Tickets]
30th June – Rockhal, Esch-Sur-Alzette, LUXEMBOURG [Tickets]
3-6th July – Rockharz Open Air, Ballenstedt, GERMANY * [Tickets]
5th July – Ippodrome Delle Capannelle, Rock In Roma, Rome, ITALY * [Tickets]
6th July – Bassano Del Grappa, Metal Park, Vincenza, ITALY * [Tickets]
9th July – E-Werk, Koln, GERMANY [Tickets]
11th – 14th July – Masters Of Rock Festival, Vizovice, Czech Republic *+ [Tickets]
13th July – Hala, Zagreb, CROATIA [Tickets]
16th July – Kolodrum Arena, Sofia, BULGARIA [Tickets]
19th July – Kucukciftlik Park, Istanbul, TURKEY [Tickets]
21st July – Release, Athens, GREECE * [Tickets]
* – festival performance
+ – new date added
Iron Maiden and Killswitch Engage in Australia/New Zealand
9/1 – RAC Arena, Perth – Aus
9/4 – Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Adelaide – Aus
9/6 – Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne – Aus
9/10 – Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane – Aus
9/12 – Qudos Bank Arena, Sydney – Aus
9/16 – Spark Arena, Auckland – NZ
The Future Past Tour North America
OCTOBER 2024
Fri 4th: North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, SAN DIEGO, CA
Sat 5th: Michelob ULTRA Arena, LAS VEGAS, NV
Tues 8th: Kia Forum, LOS ANGELES, CA
Sat 12th: Aftershock Festival, SACRAMENTO, CA
Mon 14th: MODA Center, PORTLAND, OR
Weds 16th: Tacoma Dome, TACOMA, WA
Fri 18th: Delta Center, SALT LAKE CITY, UT
Sat 19th: Ball Arena, DENVER, CO
Tues 22nd: Xcel Energy Center, ST PAUL, MN
Thurs 24th: Allstate Arena, ROSEMONT, IL
Sat 26th: Scotiabank Arena, TORONTO, ON
Sun 27th: Videotron Centre, QUEBEC, QC
Weds 30th: Centre Bell, MONTREAL, QC
NOVEMBER 2024
Fri 1st: Wells Fargo Center, PHILADELPHIA, PA
Sat 2nd: Barclays Center, BROOKLYN, NY
Weds 6th: DCU Center, WORCESTER, MA
Fri 8th: PPG Paints Arena, PITTSBURGH, PA
Sat 9th: Prudential Center, NEWARK, NJ
Tues 12th: CFG Bank Arena, BALTIMORE, MD
Weds 13th: Spectrum Center, CHARLOTTE, NC
Sat 16th: Dickies Arena, FORT WORTH, TX
Sun 17th: Frost Bank Center (formerly AT&T Center), SAN ANTONIO, TX
