Iron Maiden at Barclays Center
Photo by Greg Cristman

Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson stops show after security guards assault fan in Tacoma

Iron Maiden stopped by Tacoma, WA’s Tacoma Dome on Wednesday (9/5) as part of their current North & South American “Legacy of the Beast” tour. The band was firing on all cylinders like usual, until vocalist Bruce Dickinson unexpectedly halted the entire show, saying he had seen a fan being repeatedly punched by a group of security guards. According Bruce, the fan’s injuries were so severe he was bleeding from the head, and being treated backstage by medical professionals.

Although no footage of the incident has surfaced, a fan-shot video posted to Twitter documented Bruce’s speech to the packed audience following the alleged assault. In the clip, Bruce shared his account of the assault, saying, “I saw one security guard lean over the barrier, and punch a kid half his size in the face four times. There were ten people… TEN people. This is not fucking mixed martial arts, at least in mixed martial arts you have a referee, you know? This is not that. We’ve played to several hundred thousand people so far on this tour, this is the first time anything like this has happened.” He went on to say, “I hope that kid takes this building to the fucking cleaners,” and also urged any audience members who may have captured the incident on video to come forward.

While Tacoma Dome has not released an official statement in response to the incident, you can watch Bruce’s speech in full below.