The Iron Maiden Soviet Shopping Spree Bruce Dickinson Called “Most Decadent Thing I’ve Ever Done”

When Iron Maiden found themselves in 1984 Poland with loads of currency unspendable west of the USSR, they embarked on a Soviet shopping spree that vocalist Bruce Dickinson called the “most decadent thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

When in…Zabrze, right?

The Soviet Shopping Spree Iron Maiden Took On Tour

Iron Maiden’s 1984 World Slavery tour was memorably the first time a Western rock band traveled through the USSR since the fall of the Iron Curtain. But perhaps even more memorable (or not, given how much vodka the band consumed) was the shopping spree Iron Maiden went on when they realized they had pockets full of Polish zloty, which they couldn’t spend anywhere else.

In an August 2024 interview with The Independent, Dickinson said the band set out to lighten their load. “We bought all kinds of stuff—china, porcelain, just to get rid of the money.” Some of that “stuff” included five kilos worth of caviar and all the vodka they could afford (read: a lot). “This is the most decadent thing I think I’ve ever done in my life, eating a tablespoon of caviar and knocking it back with vodka,” the singer recalled.

Their extra cash also proved useful on the road, as local police officers routinely stopped the band’s bus, demanding they pay exorbitant speeding fines. “Every 20 miles or so, more would appear and stop us and demand more US dollars. They were obviously calling ahead,” Dickinson said.

The Tour Was A Political Milestone, But It Wasn’t Political

The Iron Curtain separated Eastern and Western Europe from 1945 to 1991, making Iron Maiden’s 1984 tour through six Polish cities particularly notable. Bruce Dickinson remembered the crowds as denim-clad and eager to experience heavy metal music in person. Yet, despite the political implications the rock band’s tour might have had, Dickinson told The Independent that it wasn’t a political act. 

“It was an act to go and entertain some fans,” Dickinson argued. “You can characterize it as a political act. When I was an undergraduate, there was no such thing as a non-political act. The act of taking a p*** could be construed as political, depending upon where you did it. Sometimes, people just want to have fun. They just want to rock. That’s what we were there for.”

Even amidst the lavish rock and roll lifestyle Iron Maiden continued throughout their USSR tour—including drinking so much vodka that their eyes would be bloodshot and their vision would be pink the next day—the grimness of the Soviet nation was not lost on the band. Dickinson recalled looking at 100-yard-long bread lines, Nazi symbols, spy holes, and more.

Iron Maiden was there to rise above it all, if only for a few hours each night. “For young people, people who wanted to have joy and color, rock music really was the sound of freedom,” Dickinson said. “We were aware that we made a huge difference to those people’s lives. They’re probably still talking about it now.”

Photo by Fraser Gray/Shutterstock