Vodka, kilos of caviar and a Russian minder: Iron Maiden’s 1984 World Slavery tour behind the Iron Curtain

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. As in the song, ‘Iron Maiden’s going to get you, no matter how far’!” “We thought, ‘how do we even know we’ve got fans there?’” says Maiden bassist Steve Harris, “and they said, ‘Well, you get radio play.’ It was probably the only place in the world that was actually playing us back in them days. “We got there and went down the steps and there were lots of guys with guns like they expected something to happen.” open image in gallery ‘Iron Maiden’s going to get you’: Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris, Nicko McBrain and Dave Murray in September 1984 What happened, a few hundred yards later, was akin to The Beatles hitting America in distressed denims. “One particular gig we had armoured cars out there, but those people very quickly realised that we weren’t going to corrupt the youth or anything like that, and they really wanted to be part of it.” Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial Sign up In their dealings with the Polish fans and authorities, it became increasingly clear that the country at large resented its communist shackles. “We murdered ‘Smoke on the Water’ because everybody knew it,” says Dickinson “I’m not sure they had any idea who we were.” It’s possible Dickinson didn’t know who he was either, having “discovered” Polish vodka.