Band

UP THE IRONS: SAN DIEGO's PREMIER IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE

Up The Irons is a San Diego-based, high energy tribute to Iron Maiden!

Formed in 2015, Up The Irons is a collective of stellar musicians that pay homage to the world's greatest and undisputed pioneers of the new wave of British heavy metal!

Up The Irons performs material from the entire Iron Maiden catalog, including their biggest hits and fan favorites!

Learn more about the band members below.

Michele Whitlow (Lead Vocals, aka Bruce Dickinson / Paul Di'Anno)

Hailing from the Metro Detroit area of Michigan, Michele’s passion for singing grew from harmonizing to golden oldies with her mom and sister as early as she can remember. She developed an early love for singing rock music, and formally began her vocal endeavors by studying classical and choral vocal technique at the age of 10.

Michele has extensive experience with original and cover bands including current projects Naranca (original rock) and The Big Lewinsky (90’s rock and hip-hop tribute). She is beyond thrilled to be taking her vocal expertise to the next level with Up The Irons.

Melanie Jaquess (Bass, aka Steve Harris)

Melanie has been a heavy metal fan since the 1980s and she has been playing bass in Southern California bands since 1996. She started playing bass at 18 and immediately became obsessed with it. Within several years she was accepted as a music major at California State University Northridge and eventually completed her BA in Music.

Melanie is honored to play the challenging part of Steve Harris in Up The Irons. She is an alum of the Ronnie James Dio tribute band One Night in the City, Solarcade, and the flamenco/ jazz/blues/rock act, The Zinchiladas. She has played in venues such as The Staples Center, The Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, The Roxy, The Viper Room, The Key Club, The Knitting Factory, Brick by Brick, and many more.

Dan Calma (Guitar, aka Adrian Smith)

Dan started playing guitar at church when he was 8 years old, and again at 12 years old when he saw Led Zeppelin's "The Song Remains the Same" - Jimmy Page was so cool.

Dan is a tribute band veteran with years of experience in numerous successful tribute acts, most recently Smack This (Godsmack tribute band). His influences include Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page, Steve Vai, Randy Rhodes, Adrian Smith, and George Lynch, to name a few.

Dan was born and raised in San Diego and has been listening to such classic bands like Van Halen, Led Zeppelin, Iron Maiden over the years. He's also been influenced by some newer bands like Godsmack, Hellyeah and Halestorm.

Richie Klaar (Guitar, aka Dave Murray)