JUNE 9th, 2024
BRUCE DICKINSON:
THE MANDRAKE PROJECT
Review by: Boris Danielsen
Photos By: Polina Kulikovskikh
Gallery: http://www.metaltitans.com/concertpics/bruce-dickinson-the-mandrake-project/

Bruce Dickinson is a name that doesn’t really need an introduction, I believe, but for those that may live under a rock here’s some keywords: singer of Iron Maiden, airline pilot, fencer, radio and tv host, author, entrepreneur, beer creator, pretty much everything. Three months ago saw the release of "The Mandrake Project", his highly anticipated solo album - the last album before that, "Tyranny Of Souls" was released all the way back in 2005, followed by what has been an even more highly anticipated, and highly wished for, tour (something that has not happened since a few shows on the Airraid Over Europe tour in 2002). Sunday 9th of June, The Mandrake Project Tour made its stop at a sold-out Rockefeller Music Hall in Oslo, Norway.

Given that this tour includes a mix of festival appearances and club gigs, it seems there isn't a fixed support band. For this evening's show, the support act was a relatively unknown local band from Oslo called Great Galactic Ghoul. Comprised of six members, they made the most of the limited stage space to deliver a 30-minute set of progressive rock with strong Jethro Tull influences. Although their unfamiliarity to the audience meant they struggled to fully energize the crowd, they gave it their all. It's likely they enjoyed every moment—especially one member, a huge Iron Maiden fan, who must have been thrilled by the experience.

At 9 PM sharp Bruce Dickinson and his band entered the stage in an explosive and high speed way with "Accident of Birth" quickly followed by "Abduction" and "Laughing in the Hiding Bush". These first three songs went by fast and hard hitting, especially with the chorus of "Accident of Birth" ensuring crowd participation and sing-along straight from the bat with the chorus of "welcome home…". Fantastic start!

"Afterglow of Ragnarock" was next up, and the first song of the new album, with great response from the audience as well. Fifth song out, "Faith" from the 1996 album Skunkworks, was not one I recognized right away and seeing from the fairly subdued response from the audience it wasn’t just me.

Bruce introduced "Jerusalem" with a backstory about the William Blake poem upon which the song is based on. The performance began with a fantastic keys intro by Mistheria, followed by acoustic guitar, creating a simply beautiful rendition of the piece. This was followed by "Chemical Wedding" and "Tears of the Dragon," before transitioning into two songs from the new album. "Resurrection Men", which featured Bruce playing the bongos several times throughout the song. In my view, this song received the poorest reaction from the crowd up until that point, unless they were prompted into action. "Rain on The Graves" got a much better response where the audience was used and played with in a great way.

Following this, a drum solo led into what I initially thought was an instrumental medley, but it turned out to be a cover of “Frankenstein” by The Edgar Winter Group. The band playfully engaged with the audience, accompanied by trippy images and videos on the screen behind them. Bruce took to a small drum set, Mistheria wielded a keytar, and there were numerous solos of all kinds. Towards the end, Bruce even experimented with a theremin. In my opinion, this, along with the drum solo, amounted to 10-15 minutes that could have been better spent playing a couple of "proper" songs.

Next was "The Alchemist," which, perhaps influenced by the preceding instrumental antics, failed to energize the crowd unless prompted. Fortunately, "Road to Hell" turned things around. After a slow and somewhat tedious segment, this song brought back speed and energy, featuring great crowd interaction. Bruce’s iconic "scream for me..." elicited a fantastic reaction from the audience, revitalizing the atmosphere.

After this, Bruce and the band left the stage but returned after a few minutes with a bold and somewhat surprising choice: "Navigate the Seas of the Sun" from "Tyranny of Souls." It was fantastic and beautiful—a bold move to start the encore with a slow song, but it was very well received and, in my opinion, one of the highlights of the night.
Following this, Bruce introduced the band members, which I will also mention shortly. The final song of the night was "The Tower" from Chemical Wedding. It was a fantastic ending, with great audience response and interaction.

Bruce was forced to cancel a gig just a few days before this one due to a flu virus. However, aside from occasionally retreating to the back of the stage to blow his nose and catch his breath, you wouldn't have guessed he was ill so recently. His voice was nearly flawless, and he was on fire—clearly having fun, joking around, and delivering a great performance with the band.

Speaking of the band, nicknamed “The House Band of Hell,” consists of bassist Tanya O’Callaghan, drummer Dave Moreno, Mistheria on keys, and guitarists Philip Naslund and Chris Declercq. Although many fans were disappointed when guitarist and producer Roy Z, initially announced as part of the touring band, couldn't join the tour, the band played exceptionally well together and seemed to have a great time on stage.

In contrast to Iron Maiden’s stage theatrics, this was a stripped-down experience without any props or fireworks, just a screen backdrop displaying images and videos for most songs, and it worked very well.

Despite my earlier critique of the drum solo and medley/cover as less engaging than the rest of the performance, this gig was everything and more than I had hoped for. After waiting over 20 years to see Bruce Dickinson play live, I was not disappointed, and I doubt anyone else at Rockefeller was either. Let's hope it won't take another 20+ years for him to decide to tour solo again!

Setlist:

Accident of Birth
Abduction
Laughing in the Hiding Bush
Afterglow of Ragnarok
Faith
Jerusalem
Chemical Wedding
Tears of the Dragon
Resurrection Men
Rain on the Graves
(Followed by drum solo)
Frankenstein
(The Edgar Winter Group cover)
The Alchemist
Road to Hell

Encore:
Navigate the Seas of the Sun
The Tower