PAUL DI'ANNO's Australian Tour Kick-Off Described By One Reviewer As 'The World's Slowest Heavy Metal Car Crash'

Fan-filmed video of ex-IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno's January 17 concert at The Gov in Adelaide, Australia can be seen below.

The Adelaide show was the second stop on Di'Anno's five-date Australian tour, which kicked off on January 16 at the Amplifier Bar in Perth.

In his review of the Perth gig, Gareth Williams of Wall Of Sound described the performance as "the world's slowest heavy metal car crash", explaining that Paul — who has been wheelchair-bound for the last few years before and after undergoing knee surgery — stopped the concert "halfway into 'Murders In The Rue Morgue' to "rant at his drummer" and "complain he couldn't hear himself". Williams went on to report that Di'Anno complained "between every song" about a variety of issues, including "jetlag, being tired, the weather, the sound and his microphone. Paul wanted a cordless one so the lead wouldn't get tangled in his wheelchair," the reviewed added. "This was actually a fair call, but not one to make mid-show. The wheelchair also copped the man-child's wrath for being 'f^%king uncomfortable'. Like a toddler throwing a toy from their highchair Di'Anno pulled a cushion he was sitting on and threw it on the stage."

Williams wrote: "Di'Anno's favorite word contains four letters and begins with C — and just about everyone was in the firing line. The bloke at the sound desk was one, multiple punters literally begging him to keep playing — all shared the same word. One punter got told to call a cab or he was going home in an ambulance. It would almost have been funny if it wasn't so sad. I wanted to follow the lead of a few others and just walk out, but morbid curiosity got the better of me and I stayed until the bitter end. Di'Anno was on a bizarre journey. Like the stages of grief, we saw the denial of it being anyone's fault but his own. Next was expletive-ridden anger directed at a female punter near the front being told to 'shut the f^%k up' and to either stop drinking, or drink more. It was hard to tell in his rambling rant. The bargaining started with a few songs from the end of the show, and although the sound guy was still a C — now came contrition, apologies, and the promise of a free show for when/if he returns. Depression is what we were all feeling and Di'Anno looked like a defeated man."

A short clip of the Perth concert can be seen in the Facebook post below. Nick Hopkin, who posted the Perth video, didn't seem to share Williams's opinion of the gig, writing in a caption: "OMG 43 years on from my first gig seeing IRON MAIDEN at Guildford Civic Paul DiAnno (OG singer) playing our local Perth rock club. Wowsa. - changed somewhat but still sounds awesome. 'Killers' and 'Iron Maiden' albums played in full."

Di'Anno recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN — a self-titled effort in 1980 and "Killers" in 1981 — before being fired and replaced by Bruce Dickinson. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS and BATTLEZONE, and released several solo records.

In December 2022, Di'Anno spent time in Split, Croatia recording an album with his new project called WARHORSE. The band was formed earlier that year by Di'Anno and two guitarists/authors, Hrvoje Madiraca and Ante "Pupi" Pupačić.

WARHORSE previously recorded three songs, two of which — "Stop The War" and "The Doubt Within" — were released in May 2022 as a special DVD single along with Paul's video message to all fans who bought the single and thus helped raise funds for his recent knee operation.

The WARHORSE single marked Di'Anno's first music release after a seven-year hiatus due to severe health issues.

Di'Anno, who finally underwent his knee surgery in September 2022, played the first show since the operation on October 1, 2022 at the Keep It True Rising II festival in Würzburg, Germany.

In December 2022, Paul was joined by Greek guitar virtuoso Gus G., well known in rock and metal circles for his work as Ozzy Osbourne's guitarist and as leader of his own band FIREWIND, for three concerts in Greece, where they played songs from MAIDEN's first two albums, "Iron Maiden" and "Killers".

In May 2022, Di'Anno came face to face with MAIDEN bassist Steve Harris for the first time in three decades before the band's concert in Croatia.

Harris, whose group kicked off the 2022 leg of its "Legacy Of The Beast" world tour at the 22,000-capacity Arena Zagreb, came out before the show to greet a wheelchair-bound Di'Anno and chat with him for a few minutes.

After his friendly meeting with Harris, Di'Anno stuck around long enough to watch some of MAIDEN's performance before leaving near the end of the set to avoid a huge traffic jam after the show.

Also in May 2022, Paul played his first full solo concert in seven years at the Bikers Beer Factory in Zagreb. The show was filmed and parts of it will be included in a documentary about the ex-IRON MAIDEN frontman which is being helmed by Wes Orshoski, co-director and producer of the acclaimed 2010 film "Lemmy" about the MOTÖRHEAD icon.