Nicko McBrain Brings Titanium Tart to Intimate U.S. Venues This Fall

Forty-two years behind the kit with Iron Maiden means Nicko McBrain has played for hundreds of thousands of people at a stretch. This August, he will be playing for a few hundred at The Barn in Sanford, Florida, and that difference is everything.

McBrain confirmed a five-date U.S. run with his Iron Maiden cover project Titanium Tart, beginning August 29 at The Barn in Sanford before moving to Culture Room in Fort Lauderdale on September 5, The Albatross in Jacksonville on September 11, Center Stage Loft in Atlanta, Georgia on September 13, and closing at OCC Roadhouse in Clearwater on September 19.

For a project that has largely operated in Florida's club circuit, the Georgia stop signals an outward push, and the band has acknowledged the stretch directly. "Going up to Jacksonville and Atlanta is taking us out of our 'comfort zone,'" Titanium Tart stated, "but you know we will still scorch the earth!" Alongside McBrain, the lineup features vocalist Paolo Velazquez, guitarists Mike Rivera and Mitch Tanne, bassist Rob Stokes, and keyboardist Eldad Kira.

What these shows offer that no Iron Maiden stadium night can is repertoire depth and physical proximity. At their July 2025 debut at Captain Hiram's Resort in Sebastian, Florida, Titanium Tart ran a 10-song, hour-and-40-minute set that included two songs Iron Maiden had never performed live. McBrain has made clear the setlist runs on personal favorites rather than a greatest-hits obligation. "Apart from opening with Number of the Beast, it's pretty much me tipping my hat to my favorite Maiden songs," he said. "We're doing The Parchment and Darkest Hour from Senjutsu, two songs Maiden haven't even played live yet."

For drummers, that translates directly into a technical education that arena footage simply cannot provide. At 200 feet, McBrain's right foot is invisible. In a 300-capacity club room, you can track his bass drum timing through the cascading gallop figures in "The Trooper," watch his ride arm angle shift across the dynamic swings in "Rime of the Ancient Mariner," and clock exactly which cymbal he pulls for the crash accents in "Number of the Beast." Watch his microphone placement above the snare and hi-hat, note the beater type and pedal geometry, and pay attention to how he shapes triplet fills into the longer epic tracks like "No More Lies" and "The Clansman," both confirmed from the 2025 Sebastian set. These are the details that define a career's worth of feel and that no live video has ever rendered clearly enough.

McBrain stepped back from Iron Maiden's touring lineup at the end of 2024 after more than 40 years with the band, following a 2023 stroke from which he recovered. Simon Dawson, known for his work with Steve Harris' British Lion, has since taken on live drum duties for Iron Maiden. McBrain has said he is "still part of the family" and has not ruled out playing with Iron Maiden again in some capacity.

Three of the five venues, Culture Room, The Albatross, and Center Stage Loft, are new Titanium Tart stops. That means no pre-sold floor, no house preference on positioning, and a legitimate shot at front-row sight lines for the first time McBrain has ever played those rooms. Tickets are on sale now, and the window for the good spots in a club-sized room closes fast.