PAUL DI’ANNO & BLAZE BAYLEY
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December 2
Waves, Towradgi
Tickets: moshtix.com.au
Close to 15 years and myriad experiences separate Paul Di'Anno and Blaze Bayley's stints as Iron Maiden lead singers, but both agree on one thing: their voices are better now than they were during their time with the band.
"My voice has changed so much in the 15 years since Iron Maiden. I've learnt a lot and I think I'm a much better singer," says Bayley, who fronted the band from 1994 to 1999.
Di'Anno concurs, adding that the improvement comes down to taking better care of himself and his vocal cords than he did when he fronted the heavy metal group for the release of their first two groundbreaking albums in the early '80s.
"I can sing them better because my voice has developed a lot more. I hate my voice at the best of times, but it's all down to sleep and rest and taking care of yourself.
"You can't be out partying every night. I'm home as soon as I've done the show with a cup of tea and a sandwich."
The duo paired up to tour songs exclusively from their respective eras with Iron Maiden and have just wrapped up a string of shows in Eastern Europe.
While they do their own sets and take turns going first each night, they did perform one song together in Perth last week, much to the delight of fans.
Although they are both important parts of the history of one of the world's most influential heavy metal acts, before taking on this tour a few months ago Di'Anno and Bayley had only made each other's acquaintance at festival performances.
Both musicians went on to pursue careers solo and with other bands after they parted company with Iron Maiden, so Bayley and Di'Anno say it has been strange only performing others' material.
"It's a bit weird doing a set without my own stuff in it, but that's what the fans want and it's the anniversary of it for me, so we thought we'd do it to say thank you," Di'Anno says.
The singers haven't performed some of the songs for a number of years.
"I love these old songs, they're like old friends, so it's nice to do them again," says Bayley, who is visiting Australia for the first time.
"There's a couple of them you just have to be careful of because there's some tight phrasing and the speed of them has to be right; there's some of them you might run out of breath on."
His favourite piece to perform is Como Estais Amigos from the 1998 album Virtual XI.
"I've never got to do it a lot and it feels really good to sing because my voice is quite a bit different."