Bruce Dickinson brought his Mandrake Project live tour to the Fillmore Thursday night with the Motor City welcoming the voice of Iron Maiden with open arms. Dickinson last played the Fillmore back in 2022 when he brought his book reading tour to the historic venue. Metro Detroit and our neighbors from Canada were ready to rock with Dickinson solo band. Dickinson came out to a loud roar from the Maiden faithful greeting the crowd with his powerful voice launching into “Accident of Birth,” it was going to be one of those soar kind of neck mornings the following day. Before going into the rest of the 16-song Dickinson asked Detroit how are you doing greeted with a loud ear pop of cheers and horns held up high in the air. He owned the stage right from the start like he has for decades displaying high energy for a 67-year young rockstar. This night was more on the intimate side of things and that makes for a great setting.
Dickinson solo band composed of Philip Naslund (guitar), Chris Declercq (guitar), Tanya O’Callaghan’s (bass), on keys Maestro Mistheria, Dave Moreno (drums) brought the fiery burn. The set was well balanced with old and new with a little deep tracks thrown in. Speaking of a deep track and my favorite “The Chemical Wedding” dropped the wow factor with that goosebump, jaw dropping, damn the was killer kind of feeling with folks in attendance helping Bruce sing the track. A new track that caught the ear of the crowd “Shadows of God” the songs starts out slow and ends with a bang with Dickinson powerful voice hitting the folks like a train wreck with some heavy guitar rips. Something you don’t see much of in smaller venues is a drum solo. Moreno powered the kit like a fine wine, leaving you wanting a second taste. I wish more acts who play smaller venues would add a drum solo to the list it certainly brings that extra jolt of electricity. Other deep cuts from the night “Abduction” and “Laughing in the Hiding Bush” both carry powerful in your face attitude with raging guitar shreds between both guitarist with Dickinson commanding voice luring you in like a Venus flytrap.
I have to say I was digging on the Edgar Winter cover “Frankenstein” like everyone else was with Dickinson playing drums next to Moreno drawing loud cheers from the crowd showing some love for his drumming skills. Add in some great guitar playing and all-around fun from the band doing the cover was a nice change of pace you wouldn’t expect. I always like to include some highlights from the night when covering an artist and on this night, there were a couple that stood out for me. “Tears of the Dragon” delivered the energy from the top balcony clear down to the main floor with some heavy and I mean heavy guitar shreds with attitude with fans banging and singing along, that’ll leave a mark. The showstopper and only Iron Maiden track for the night “Flash of the Blade” was instantly received with two words being said Iron Maiden it was over after that. Can’t help to mention the heavy guitar rips again which started the track off hitting you like a heavy weight fight with the guitarist and bass player going at it, while fans could be heard going word for word. Was this a boxing match nah, it was simple Bruce being Bruce giving us what we crave, chants of Bruce were loud and heard all night long.
The evening closed with “The Tower” giving us one last taste of some great heavy metal before the band walked off with a loud thank you cheer for playing Detroit! As we age, we lose some steam tonight the 67-year-old didn’t lose a thing only gaining more steam for the present which will be on display in 2026 so stay tuned. Opening for Bruce Dickinson Cowboy Angels from Bay City, Michigan. First time seeing them the band delivered some great energy with a Bon Scott AC/DC feeling which was fine with me being AC/DC is my all-time favorite band. Thanks for the read and keep rocking America!
Bruce Dickinson The Mandrake Project Live tour performing at the Fillmore September 25, 2025
