Bruce Dickinson condemns “disgusting” fan in Brazil for “using pepper spray”
Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson hit out at a fan at a recent concert in Brazil, who he claimed had been “using pepper spray”.
Dickinson, who recently released his first solo album in 19 years, is touring The Mandrake Project across South America. On April 27th, he performed at the Opera Hall in Brasilia, but the show was brought into disarray following an incident with the crowd that led to an intervention from the heavy rock vocalist.
In a now-deleted Instagram video, Dickinson tells the audience, “I can’t fucking breathe!” The singer then also revealed his bassist, Tanya O’Callaghan also “can’t breathe”.
Taking things into his own hands, Dickinson singled out a fan in the crowd who had been vaping, stating, “You with the fucking vape over there, yeah, it’s not you, but, you know, please, fucking do that outside, all right? You know, if you can’t stay for five minutes without having a fucking addiction.”
He continued, according to Blabbermouth: “Somebody down here has been using pepper spray. Some fucker has been using pepper spray, which is why people can’t fucking breathe down there, right? So, you know, if you figure out who the fuck it is, I just don’t care what happens to them after the show, all right?”
Meanwhile, in another video, uploaded to YouTube, Dickinson said: “I do apologise for coughing. Some of you fuckers are smoking, all right? I can’t sing if you’re gonna smoke, all right? (Tanya’s) coughing her guts out, I’m coughing, my fucking wife is going, ‘Blargh,’ in the back there, all right? It’s kind of disgusting, all right? But if you wanna be disgusting, do it outside, all right? Not in here.”
While Dickinson initially believed the incident had come from a pepper spray, it was later revealed by MCA Concerts, who promoted the show, that it was the explosion of a vape pen which caused problems with the singer’s breathing.
Speaking to journalist Igor Miranda, MCA explained how the explosion of the electronic cigarette replicated some symptoms of pepper spray but didn’t cause watery eyes or disorientation, like the illegal gas.
Meanwhile, Dickinson recently shared his thoughts on rising ticket prices for concerts, singling out U2 specifically as perpetrators. “It depends what the show is and kind of who the audience are. I mean, I’m not gonna go around and say specific artists, because most of the artists that are charging $1,200 a ticket,” he remarked.
Dickinson added: “Like in Las Vegas, if you wanna go and see the U2 show, I think it was $1,200 dollars per seat in The Sphere. I’ve got no interest in paying $1,200 dollars to go and see U2 in The Sphere. None. A hundred bucks, maybe.”
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