Bruce Dickinson, frontman of the British metal band Iron Maiden, doesn’t like jokes with Olympic torches or other pyrotechnic devices. There are current reasons for this.
During a concert as part of their European tour (the stadium performances in Cologne, Stuttgart and Berlin are already “done”) in Athens (July 16), an (unknown) person in the audience lit a pyro torch. These fire sticks, which are also used by football ultras, are known to develop a great deal of heat. The pyro elements, formerly known as “Bengal light”, can reach between 1500 and 2500 degrees Celsius. So blast furnace temperatures.
No wonder Dickinson, 63, wasn’t terribly amused when he spotted the bright glow in the tightly packed audience as he performed the Maiden song “Number of the Beast.” “Is it STILL possible!?” he exclaimed with a gesture in the direction of the hellfire. “A full ass with a fucking torch!”
Initially, he incorporated this invective into the original song title; to which the Greek audience collectively laughed. But when the torch began to spark and ignite wildly, Dickinson was no longer joking. He let the lyrics be lyrics — and fired off a broad sentence of rude curses at the pyromaniac: “I gotta sing up here! You Greek bastard. I have to sing here, don’t I…? Fuck you!”
The torch continued to rage amidst the crowd for a while when a snarling Dickinson appeared to leave the stage. Did he really want to stop singing for the rest of the Athens night? In any case, Classic Rock” reports on his return to the stage. The rest of the set passed without further incident.
Iron Maiden are currently in the middle of the Europe leg of their Legacy of the Beast mission. The North American tour begins September 7th in Mexico City and concludes October 27th in Tampa, Florida.