{"id":75848,"date":"2025-10-15T08:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T08:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/75848\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T08:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T08:58:12","slug":"i-split-my-forehead-open-he-said-can-you-squeeze-it-and-make-it-bleed-some-more-it-looks-great-on-the-telly-crazed-fans-blood-burnout-and-mummies-the-story-of-iron-maidens-epic-world-slave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/75848\/","title":{"rendered":"“I split my forehead open. He said, ‘Can you squeeze it and make it bleed some more? It looks great on the telly.'” Crazed fans, blood, burnout and mummies: the story of Iron Maiden’s epic World Slavery tour"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1984, Iron Maiden<\/a> were poised to take over the world. They\u2019d been on a skyward trajectory since the arrival of vocalist Bruce Dickinson<\/a> three years previously, and had laid the groundwork on the increasingly ambitious tours accompanying The Number Of The Beast<\/a> and Piece Of Mind.<\/p>\n

But the band\u2019s fifth album, Powerslave, would literally set the stage for their most epic undertaking yet. Beginning in August 1984 and ending 331 days and 189 shows later in July 1985, the Ancient Egypt-themed World Slavery Tour helped turn Maiden into one of the biggest metal bands of the decade and produced one of the all-time great live albums in 1985\u2019s Live After Death.<\/p>\n

The tour kicked Maiden to the next level in America but it also pushed the band members themselves to their mental and physical limits, almost bringing the group to an end. We look back on that crazy time, in words of the band and those around them.<\/p>\n

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\"Metal\n<\/p>\n

Bruce Dickinson (vocals): \u201cWe rehearsed for the tour in a wonderfully tacky nightclub in Fort Lauderdale, and stayed in a cockroach-infested seafront motel. Soon enough, the holiday was over. It was time to emigrate to the Evil Empire, behind the Iron Curtain, as it was in 1984, to Poland to open the Powerslave tour.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Steve Harris (bass): \u201cI didn\u2019t really think about the political side too much. I wonder whether we\u2019re being used as a propaganda tool, but at least we\u2019re providing entertainment for the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce: \u201cThe reception was outrageous. It wasn\u2019t just people who liked the band going crazy like at normal shows. I felt straight away that they weren\u2019t just coming out for something to do on a Saturday night \u2013 there was real change in the air everywhere. It was a moment of hope, and I felt like we were this beacon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Howard Johnson (journalist present on the Polish dates): \u201cWhat\u2019s really weird is that there were young soldiers in full army uniform talking their shirts off for a mosh and throwing their hats in the air for added pleasure in amongst the assorted human carnage.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Nicko McBrain (drums): \u201cWe ended up going to, well, it was supposed to be a disco, and it ended up being sort of like a converted ballroom. So there was this wedding going on at the time, about 300 people dancing the waltz as we walked in. Then these people in the club said, \u2018Would you like to have a jam?\u2019 \u2018Yes,\u2019 we said, and we did.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Steve\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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\"Metal\n<\/p>\n

The World Slavery Tour\u2019s impressive, Egyptian-themed staging was already in place, but as the juggernaut moved from Europe to North America, the venues went up in size and an even bigger stage set was deployed, featuring sarcophagi, a huge Sphinx-like Eddie head looming over the stage, and a mummified version of their mascot. However, as the band\u2019s ambition grew, so did the distances and pressures involved.<\/p>\n

Charlie Kail (stage set engineer): \u201c[The set] took two months to build. We did things like building lighting into the hieroglyphics \u2013 those details really made it special\u2026 The whole thing probably cost \u00a3145,000 \u2013 a lot back then. But Maiden were the pioneers of those big shows in heavy metal<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Bruce: \u201cI still think that was the best show that Maiden ever put on. It was just the right combination of epic stuff, but it wasn\u2019t too overblown and it wasn\u2019t so hidebound by the sort of technology and loads of hydraulics and inflatable things that occurred later, all of which had the possibility for Spinal Tap-type fuck-ups on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Charlie: \u201cThere were some groundbreaking special effects, like the Eddie-on-a-stick. At one show, they parked the cherry picker too near the stage, and when the big reveal happened, all you could see was Eddie\u2019s head bobbing up and down behind Nicko McBrain. I could feel [Maiden manager] Rod Smallwood\u2019s eyes boring into the side of my head.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce: \u201cVirtually everybody I know who\u2019s seen one of our shows expects to see some sort of phenomenon that\u2019s going to corrupt the morals of their town. What they see is 7-10,000 young kids having a great time, enjoying themselves, with a show that delivers a lot of value for money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian Smith (guitar): \u201cWhen we first started out in America, we went from one bus to two buses to seven buses\u2026 so things do become more comfortable. More comfortable than when we first toured the US with Judas Priest in \u201981! We don\u2019t have to sleep on our luggage anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicko: \u201cSome people do sort of crack underneath the pressure of being on the road constantly and living out of a suitcase. I sometimes don\u2019t even know what the day is \u2013 I maybe know the date.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian: \u201cIt got on top of me a few times and when we hit America things really kicked in with booze and drugs, using it as a crutch.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iron Maiden – Powerslave (Live at Long Beach Arena) – YouTube
\n\"Iron<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Metal\n<\/p>\n

Iron Maiden roared into 1985 with an appearance at the inaugural Rock In Rio in Brazil. They played on January 11, the opening night of the now-legendary festival, where they were second on the bill below Queen.<\/p>\n

Adrian: \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to do anything in Rio because the fans are very passionate, and even back in the first Rock In Rio they were outside the hotel, and we couldn\u2019t go out. Even when we sat out in the balcony having breakfast, there\u2019d be people in the buildings taking photos and looking at you through binoculars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce: \u201cWe conquered an entire continent overnight with that one show.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian: \u201cIt wasn\u2019t as well organised as it is now \u2013 back then it was a bit chaotic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce: \u201cHot and bothered, I wrenched the guitar off, over my head, and split my forehead open on its wooden edge\u2026 [A roadie] looked carefully at the wound. \u2018Rod says can you squeeze it and make it bleed some more,\u2019 he said. \u2018It looks great on the telly.\u2019 Next day, the picture was front-page news: sweaty, bloodstained me\u2026 and 300,000 new Iron Maiden fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian: \u201cWe were touring in New York state in the winter and it was 10 foot of snow everywhere. Then we went down to Rio and it was hot and we were partying \u2013 we came back and all got sick immediately. But Rock In Rio, that was a very exciting time.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Iron\n<\/p>\n

(Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

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\"Metal\n<\/p>\n

Maiden had been on the road for almost six months by the time they played Rock In Rio, but there were still another six months left of the tour. A four-night stint at Long Beach Arena in Orange County, California in March 1985 would \u2013 along with earlier shows at London\u2019s Hammersmith Odeon \u2013 provide the basis for the Live After Death album.<\/p>\n

Steve: \u201cWe wanted to record all of [Live After Death] from Hammersmith but we ended up recording three sides from LA because by that time we were just playing that bit better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Malcolm Dome (journalist who saw the Long Beach shows): \u201cI\u2019d seen the band at Hammersmith Odeon the previous October, and that was impressive. But as the lights dimmed, the crowd erupted, and you knew [Long Beach Arena] was going to be a different level of hysteria\u2026 This was Maiden elevated to the stature of the biggest bands in America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Adrian: \u201cThe worst part is [when] you\u2019ve been on the road for six months and you realise you\u2019ve got another six months to do. It\u2019s like doing time. You\u2019re kind of in your own cell anyway, a little cocoon \u2013 either in a plane or a hotel or a bus, and there\u2019s security guards. It cuts you off from real life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce: \u201cAt no point on the tour did we ever get to the point where anybody hated each other. We held that end of it together very well. Because we all realised what each of us was going through, and if someone threw a wobbler \u2013 which we all did at some point \u2013 it was, \u2018Shall we leave the room and let him wreck the place and come back later?\u2019 Because everyone was going through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve: \u201cThat tour fried everybody, and [Bruce] in particular. Christ, he had to get up and sing six nights a week for 13 months, and that took its toll. Our schedule then was insane. It wasn\u2019t like anyone twisted our arms, we were totally up for it, but perhaps we took on more than we could deal with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce: \u201cIt was the first time I really thought about leaving. I don\u2019t just mean Maiden, I mean quitting music altogether. I really felt like I was pretty much basket case material by the end of that tour, and I did not want to feel that way. I just thought, \u2018Nothing is worth feeling like this for.\u2019 I began to feel like I was a piece of machinery, part of the lighting rig.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rod Smallwood (manager): \u201cWe should\u2019ve stopped sooner. It was probably one of many mistakes I\u2019ve made. But, you know, it was really hopping for us then and I was impatient. The jungle drums were summoning more and more people, and we wanted more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iron Maiden – Iron Maiden (Live at Long Beach Arena) – YouTube
\n\"Iron<\/p>\n

Watch On <\/a><\/p>\n

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\"Metal\n<\/p>\n

Iron Maiden did survive the tour and became one of the biggest metal bands in the world on the back of it. It was not without cost, however. As well as the personal toll it took on individual members, it opened the first few cracks that would eventually see Bruce quit the band.<\/p>\n

Steve: \u201cWe were never obsessed with breaking America. We always planned to come out here and give everything we\u2019d got, and they\u2019d either like it or they wouldn\u2019t. Fortunately for us they liked it. In fact they bloody loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce: \u201cIt felt like the world had just shrunk. We\u2019d sort of conquered everywhere. Not just played, but really had an impact. But it was hard work. The World Slavery Tour was great, but on a personal level I thought, \u2018This is all well and good, but I can\u2019t be doing with another 13-month tour.\u2019 It did my head in. I ended up taking a back seat creatively on the next album [Somewhere In Time] because I was basically fried.\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve: \u201cThe stuff Bruce was coming up with [for Somewhere In Time] wasn\u2019t us at all. He was away with the fairies, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bruce: \u201cI came very close to quitting music after the Powerslave tour. I was in no mood for any more backstage politics or solitary confinement in tour buses or gilded cages. I didn\u2019t expect others to understand, because I\u2019m sure for many it might seem like the ultimate dream, but I wanted more than the challenge of standing still successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nicko: \u201cI\u2019m really surprised we got through that tour\u2026 When you get to that stage, it\u2019s just not fun any more; it\u2019s becoming too tedious or too difficult, emotionally. I mean, it nearly destroyed the band.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional sources: What Does This Button Do? By Bruce Dickinson, Run to the Hills by Mick Wall, Iron Maiden \u2013 Behind the Iron Curtain, Metal-Rules, Kerrang!, Forbes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 1984, Iron Maiden were poised to take over the world. They\u2019d been on a skyward trajectory since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-75848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}