I do love Iron Maiden. While other bands of their era are chugging through the casino and state fair circuits, carting around numerous extra pounds, receding hairlines and tuning their songs down two whole steps so they can still sing their one or two hits, Iron Maiden is still putting on massive stage shows, releasing excellent new material and - well, still being RELEVANT!Maiden has been alternating between touring to revisit its extensive back catalog with performing their latest albums end to end. Case in point - the band got on the Ozzfest bill a few years ago and did a short set of songs from the first four albums. Next tour, they played their new album "A Matter of Life and Death" end to end, pissing off fans who wanted to hear Number of the Beast.
Then on the last tour, called the "Somewhere Back in Time" tour, the band revisited its first six or so albums, bringing back epics like Powerslave and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, in addition to the huge stage from the Powerslave tour. I reviewed that show here and here. It was truly epic.
If you missed that tour, you are in luck, as Maiden is releasing a film from the first part of that tour, on April 19.
A press release issued by the band says, with the usual hype:
Circumnavigating the globe, the band flew in a specially customised Boeing 757 airliner with their crew and 12 tons of music and stage equipment on board, playing 23 sold out stadium and arena shows in Asia, Australia and North, Central and South America in just 45 days. They played in 13 countries, also landing in Azerbaijan and Papua New Guinea en route for fuel stops, travelling 70,000km and performing to almost half a million fans – a schedule that was only made possible by having their own “magic carpet” enabling them to go where they wanted with all the key elements of band, crew and equipment on board one plane, which was christened Ed Force One. Even more remarkable was that lead singer and Airline Captain Bruce Dickinson was not only to perform 23 shows, but piloted the plane for much of the way.
Iron Maiden: Flight 666 is an honest and revealing portrait of one of the world’s most successful rock bands, a must see for their millions of fans around the world and anyone else with an interest in Rock Music and World Tours, giving an inspirational account of the chaotic and often humorous world of a band touring the four corners of the world in the most extraordinary way. Shot in High Definition, the movie will be screened in 2K digital cinema, with superb 5.1 surround sound, mixed by the bands producer Kevin ‘Caveman’ Shirley.
I don't think they have released the lineup of cinemas yet, but here is the trailer:
Epic, no?
3 comments:
Holy cow, the hairs on the back of my neck just stood up. I am such a geek for Maiden I can hardly stand it.
Mmmmm I should have gone to them when they were close. I will be going to this film!
Mmmmm I should have gone to them when they were close. I will be going to this film!
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