Michel Bega

By Michel Bega

Multimedia Editor


Battling for the Beast

Three months ago, 28 bands started, six played in the final and only one could earn the right to open for Iron Maiden. Four Joburgers have won the right to share a stage with the supergroup.


Iron Maiden is one of the most acclaimed and successful heavy metal bands in history – and they will soon be landing in South Africa. While these behemoths of metal, known for songs such as Number of the Beast and Fear of the Dark, have had sold-out concerts worldwide, a group of aspirant local rockers were battling it out on a much smaller stage at Rumours Lounge in Roodepoort in The Battle 4 Iron Maiden.

The lucky winners were Jasper Dan, a Joburg four-piece formed in 2011. To learn more about them and what you can expect to hear ahead of the Iron Maiden concert, visit their website here.

The competition pitted 28 bands against each other, with one given the ultimate honour of being selected to open for the metal legends from Britain. Photographer Michel Bega waded through the mosh pit to bring you this picture feature on SA’s slaves to heavy metal who were vying to share a stage with the men who brought all those gorgeously terrifying Eddie the Head posters to every second teenager’s wall in the ’80s and ’90s – and made their parents feel just a little bit of misplaced concern about their sanity.

Maiden 3

De Wallen

Lead vocalist of De Wallen, Jeandre Swanepoel, from Stellenbosch, performs. The Battle 4 Iron Maiden was hosted by Barney Simon, who has been at the forefront of promoting alternative, rock and heavy metal in South Africa since the ’80s.

(EDITORS NOTE: As part of picture feature "Battle 4 Iron Maiden", Image 1/12) The Jack Rolling Dandy from Potchefstroom performs at Rumours Lounge, 3 May 2015. The battle of the bands has taken place over the past three months, with the finals happening on the 7th of May. Picture: Michel Bega Intro: Iron Maiden are one of the most acclaimed, succesful and important heavy metal bands in history, and they will soon be landing in South Africa to perform in Cape Town and Joburg. While these behemoths of metal, known for songs like Number of the Beast, Fear of the Dark and Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter, have been selling out stadiums across the world a group of aspirant rockers have been battling it out on a much smaller stage at Rumours Lounge in Roodepoort in The Battle 4 Iron Maiden. This competition has pit 28 bands against each other, where one band will be selected to open for the metal legends. Photographer Michel Bega inserted his ear plugs and waded through the mosh pit to bring you this picture feature.

The Jack Rolling Dandy

The Jack Rolling Dandy from Potchefstroom performs. The battle of the bands took place over the past three months, with the finals happening on Saturday, May 7 2016.

Maiden 10

Jasper Dan’s guitar

A guitar belonging to the band Jasper Dan is seen on stage. Iron Maiden’s tour has been billed the Book of Souls World Tour to promote their 16th studio album, released last year. Overall, the band has sold between 80 and 100 million units worldwide.

Maiden 6

Crowd shot

A reveller in the crowd headbangs during a performance by Jasper Dan. The Raven Age, featuring George, the son of Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris, will be accompanying Iron Maiden on this tour.

Maiden 2

Deadline

Members of the band Deadline, from Pretoria, pose with a reveller wearing a mask of the iconic Iron Maiden mascot Eddie. At each event bands played four original compositions, plus one Iron Maiden song. Bands were judged on musicality, stage performance and crowd interaction.

Maiden 7

Gunslinger

Gunslinger, from Roodepoort, performs. Lead singer of Iron Maiden Bruce Dickinson, who is also a commercial airline pilot, is currently piloting an ex-Air France Boeing 747-400, known as Ed Force One. The plane allows the group to carry the band, their crew and stage production.

Maiden 9

Rescind

A masked entertainer with a ukulele forms part of the band Rescind’s stage show.

Maiden 8

Deadline

Deadline peforms at Rumours Lounge in Roodepoort. The bands that performed in the final are were New Born Fire, Deadline, Jasper Dan (the winners), De Wallen, Man As Machine and The Slashdogs. Tickets cost R50 per person and the bands will start at 7pm.

Maiden 4

Hope is for Heroes

Hope is for Heroes, from Bloemfontein.

Maiden 5

Jasper Dan

Jamie Hendry, lead vocalist for Jasper Dan, from Roodepoort, with guitarist Daz Roux, perform. Jasper Dan will open for Iron Maiden on 21 May at Carnival City’s Festival Lawns. This is the second Iron Maiden tour to South Africa. In 1995 the supergroup performed in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town during their X-Factor world tour.

Read more on these topics

music

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.