Bruce Dickinson turned up unannounced in San Diego on Thursday night and gave the room a moment it did not see coming.
The Iron Maiden singer walked on during a set by The Coverups, the covers band fronted by Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong, at the annual Fandom party that unofficially kicks off San Diego Comic-Con. Five songs into the night, Armstrong waved Dickinson out, and the two fronted a version of “All The Young Dudes” together.
It was a pointed choice rather than a random one. “All The Young Dudes” was written by David Bowie, who handed it to Mott The Hoople in 1972 when the band was on the verge of splitting; their Bowie-produced recording became the hit that saved them. Dickinson has his own claim on it too, having cut the song for his 1990 solo debut Tattooed Millionaire.
The 67-year-old only stayed for the one number, but the surprise of seeing a heavy metal institution front a punk icon’s bar band sent the crowd over the edge.
The Coverups are billed as Armstrong‘s side project, though in practice they are close to a Green Day operation moonlighting. The lineup includes the band’s touring guitarist Jason White, longtime tour manager Bill Schneider and their audio engineer Chris Dugan. The premise is simple: no Green Day songs, just a fast, loose run through the punk, power pop, new wave and classic rock the members grew up on.
Thursday’s 26-song set bore that out. It opened with Cheap Trick‘s “Hello There” and worked through covers of the Ramones, the Pretenders, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers, Nirvana, Ozzy Osbourne and Mötley Crüe, among many others, before and after Dickinson‘s cameo.
Dickinson‘s presence in San Diego was not a coincidence. Alongside his music, he is a serious comics enthusiast, and he was at Comic-Con to present the Eisner Awards and to appear at a signing booth for Z2 Comics — the publisher that co-hosted the Fandom party.
He and Z2 have worked together before. The company published his science-fantasy graphic novel series The Mandrake Project, the companion piece to his 2024 solo album of the same name — his first solo record in nearly two decades.
The event took place at FLOAT in the Hard Rock Hotel and was presented by Xbox‘s “Halo: Campaign Evolved“, with additional backing from spirits partner Suntory -196 Vodka Seltzer and from Z2, which used the night to promote its graphic novel and film “…And Out Comes The Wolf“. Over the years the party has become one of the more reliable draws of Comic-Con week, pulling together creators, industry figures and fans — though a surprise turn from the voice of Iron Maiden is not a fixture even by its standards.
