Hallowed be their band

Paul Saitowitz

Whoever said heavy metal was only meant for males better run to the

hills. The Iron Maidens, a Huntington Beach based all-female tribute band

hailing the originators of prog-metal -- Iron Maiden -- have been taking

the tribute-band world by storm.

With stints in Las Vegas and several shows on the horizon -- including

the Galaxy Theater tonight at 8 p.m. -- the feminine rockers have been

captivating metal audiences from a different point of view.

“We just all really love metal and especially Maiden, and the fact

that we are females doesn’t mean we can’t play this music,” said singer

Jenny Warren, a.k.a “Bruce Chickinson.”Warren started the band about

eight months ago along with Sara “MiniMurray” Marsh on guitar, Josephine

“Adrianne Smith” Soegijanty Taurus on guitar, Melanie “Steve Heiress”

Sisneros on bass and Linda “Nikki McBrain/Clivina Burr” McDonald on

drums. After spending about a year and half blazing the tribute metal

stages with Wrath-Child -- a coed tribute to Maiden -- Warren decided it

was time to move in a different direction.

“Wrath-Child kind of just ran its course and after Sara answered an

add I put out for a guitar player, I figured an all-girl band was the way

to go,” Warren said.

Although the Iron Maidens solely focus on the music of the late

‘70s-era British metal band, all members play original music on their own

time.

“At this point we all still have day jobs, but if this were ever to

take off and completely consume our time I think we’d be into it,” Warren

said.

However serious this project may be, the group still practices about

twice week and members sometimes drive for more than an hour just to get

there. They’ve already had interest from promoters in Canada and South

America.

“We have to be professional and sound good and know what we’re doing,”

Warren said. “If we don’t play the songs right the audience will know.”

In addition to the crunching guitars, earthshaking beats and soaring

vocals, Iron Maiden is known for it’s incredible live show featuring an

array of lasers, lights and everyone’s favorite metal skeleton mascot --

Eddie.

The Iron Maidens leave nothing to chance with the group’s own version

of Eddie, a 6-foot-6 cloaked fiend who comes out with a tray filled with

brains and serves the audience cookies. They also have a visit from a

Satan character during “The Number of the Beast.”

“We try to make it fun for everyone and audience participation is

something that we really try to focus on,” Warren said. “I also have a

background in theater so that is one of my favorite parts.”

Although they rarely play with other Maiden tribute acts there are

others in San Diego and in Los Angeles counties.

“We don’t really look at them as being our competition, I talk to them

quite a bit and we try to help each other with shows,” Warren said.

Warren has another connection to the tribute band world through the

Metallica tribute band Creeping Death. Her husband Bill fronts the group

as the James Hetfield character.

“We met when I was playing in Wrath-Child, we shared a lead guitar

player and we just went from there,” she said.

Sisneros, the group’s bass player, is the only member to meet the

members of Iron Maiden.

“Supposedly they know we exist, I’m just thankful they came around to

really influence the way all of us look at music,” Warren said.

For more information on the Iron Maidens go to o7

https://www.theironmaidens.com.

f7 * PAUL SAITOWITZ is a news editor. He can be reached at (949)

574-4295 or by e-mail at paul.saitowitz@latimes.com.