Last December, 2024, Nicko McBrain revealed after a concert in São Paulo, Brazil that he decided to not tour with Iron Maiden anymore, since he wasn’t being able to play like he used to after he suffered a stroke the previous year. The band replaced him with Simon Dawson, who previously worked with bands like The Outfield.
In an interview with Rock of Nations, the band’s vocalist Bruce Dickinson explained why Dawson brings stability to the band, something that wasn’t happening with Nicko.
Bruce Dickinson explains why new Maiden drummer brings stability to the shows
“It’s not weird from the perspective that what I’m hearing behind me is not Nicko. So I don’t expect to see Nicko because everything about Simon is different. His drums are tuned differently, he plays the songs with a different feel to Nick. So because of that, I don’t turn around and go, ‘Oh, shock. Nicko should be there,’ because it’s obvious he’s not there from the sound. The drums are tuned a lot lower, they’re much fatter.”
“And Simon kind of sticks with the program in terms of the tempo of the song and everything. He’s absolutely scrupulous about cutting the right tempo every time. So we actually, as a band, really kind of appreciate that. ‘Cause all the guitarists have big smiles, like Cheshire cats, Steve the same. ‘Cause everybody’s not feeling, like, ‘Whoa, hey, steady on there, trigger. Whoa, slow down there.’ So that’s what Simon brings to it — there’s stability. And he’s doesn’t try to be Nicko. You can’t be Nicko. I mean, there’s only one Nicko; he is unique. That’s why we didn’t pick a clone. And there were plenty of drummers who could copy what Nicko did, but we don’t want one of those. We wanted somebody that had a different feel,” he said (Transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Simon Dawson has been the drummer of British Lion, Steve Harris’ side-project, for the last 12 years.. He is known for being a praised session drummer and already was a touring member of the British Pop Rock/New Wave group The Outfield.
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