Bruce Dickinson reflected on the grueling touring schedule and how it affects mental health. The vocalist suffered greatly from this in the mid-80s, when Iron Maiden reached its peak. Thus, the life of an artist or band can go very right, or very wrong (via Consequence ).
In an interview with Classic Rock, Bruce recalled the series of shows that Maiden did with Mötley Crüe during the European leg of the World Slavery Tour , which promoted the album Powerslave (1984), where 189 shows were performed between 1984 and 1985, thus being the largest tour ever made by the British band.
“We toured with Mötley Crüe. Complete disasters, many of them self-inflicted. And I was thinking, 'please tell me we're not going to end up like this!'” (via Music Radar ).
What was the concert schedule like in the 80s?
According to the vocalist, Maiden "worked very hard," playing around eight shows in ten days, over a period of eight months, and therefore, after a year, "you have to do it all again."
“And this goes on for five years… You’re under constant stress every night. You’re suffering from lack of sleep and self-induced bullshit, whether it’s chasing women, drugs, or alcohol. And every day you just get up and do it all over again.”
“You’re not part of normal society. Post-traumatic stress disorder, displacement – that’s effectively what you have. And depending on your personality type, you deal with it in different ways. Steve ( Harris , bassist) became a recluse. Adrian ( Smith , guitarist) was drinking himself to an early death. I was busy having sex with anything that moved. And none of it was healthy.”
Fencing was essential for Dickinson.
Due to his routine and addictions, the vocalist decided to return to practicing fencing and doing other activities unrelated to music, as this allowed him to occupy his mind with other things.
“That’s when I started doing extracurricular activities like fencing. I was thinking, ‘I need to do something to keep my brain clear,’” he said, adding that he had been looking around at “our contemporaries from the 80s.”
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