BRUCE DICKINSON's Guitarist PHILIP NÄSLUND Shares Video Blogs From First Shows Of 'The Mandrake Project' Tour

Guitarist Philip Näslund, who recently joined IRON MAIDEN vocalist Bruce Dickinson's solo band, has shared two video blogs covering the rehearsals for, as well as the first three shows of, "The Mandrake Project" world tour. Check them out below.

Näslund is a Swedish guitarist, songwriter and producer, known for several production credits, including Paul Gilbert's "Stone Pushing Uphill Man".

After playing two warm-up shows at the Whisky A Go Go in West Hollywood, California, Dickinson officially kicked off his first solo tour in more than 20 years on Monday, April 15 at The Observatory in Santa Ana, California.

As was the case with the two Whisky A Go Go shows, Dickinson was joined at The Observatory by his current backing band, featuring Dave Moreno (drums),Mistheria (keyboards) and Tanya O'Callaghan (bass),alongside the group's latest additions, Näslund and Swiss session and touring guitarist Chris Declercq (who played on Dickinson's "Rain On The Graves" single). Bruce's longtime guitarist and collaborator Roy "Z" Ramirez is not part of the touring lineup.

During an appearance on the April 16 episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Bruce was asked if there are plans for him to stage a full U.S. tour in support of his recently released solo album "The Mandrake Project". He responded: "I brought the [booking] agents and the promoters, and everybody came down and saw the Whisky show [in West Hollywood, California over the weekend], and now they know what they've got to deal with in terms of doing a U.S. tour. So, we're looking at it, we're planning it.

"I absolutely wanna do a full U.S. tour with 'The Mandrake Project'," he added. "I obviously can't do one for the rest of this year [due to commitments in other parts of the world and MAIDEN's upcoming touring activities], but there's '25 and there's numerous opportunities that will crop up. So the answer to that is yes, of course, we wanna come and do the U.S."

Prior to Friday night's (April 12) Whisky A Go Go show, Bruce last performed with his solo band on in August 2002 at the legendary Wacken Open Air festival in Germany.

Roy played guitar on Dickinson's 1994 album "Balls To Picasso" and went on to produce, co-write and perform multiple instruments on Bruce's subsequent three solo albums, "Accident At Birth" (1997),"The Chemical Wedding" (1998) and "Tyranny Of Souls" (2005).

O'Callaghan is an Irish musician who joined WHITESNAKE in 2021 and toured with the David Coverdale-fronted outfit the following year. She also hit the road with Dickinson last year as part of a performance of Jon Lord's "Concerto For Group And Orchestra" on nearly a dozen dates in Europe and South America.

Californian drummer Moreno previously played on "Tyranny Of Souls" and has worked with BODY COUNT, Jizzy Pearl, Dizzy Reed and Steve Stevens, among others.

Italian keyboard wizard Mistheria has collaborated with an array of artists live and in the studio, including Rob Rock, Mike Portnoy, Jeff Scott Soto and Joel Hoekstra.

"The Mandrake Project" arrived on March 1 via BMG.

Bruce and Roy recorded "The Mandrake Project" largely at Los Angeles's Doom Room, with Roy doubling up as both guitarist and bassist. The recording lineup for "The Mandrake Project" was rounded out by Mistheria and Moreno, both of whom also featured on Bruce's last solo studio album, "Tyranny Of Souls", in 2005.

Dickinson made his recording debut with IRON MAIDEN on the "Number Of The Beast" album in 1982. He quit the band in 1993 in order to pursue his solo career and was replaced by Blaze Bayley, who had previously been the lead singer of the metal band WOLFSBANE. After releasing two traditional metal albums with former MAIDEN guitarist Adrian Smith, Dickinson rejoined the band in 1999 along with Smith.