"Iron Maiden: Flight 666" follows the rock band Iron Maiden on their last tour. But this is no ordinary tour! Having been told by accountants constantly that certain locations were too expensive to play Bruce Dickinson, the band's singer, hit upon the idea that if they flew directly to anywhere with an airport, joining the dots across the globe, they could complete the most insane rock tour ever planned! Being a trained pilot himself who better to fly "Flight 666" than Bruce himself?! This is what they did.
Already impressed you then will see the band, its entire road crew (who are quite obviously insane) and their entire kit, 70 tonnes of it, fly across 5 continents over 45 days, cover fifty thousand miles and perform 23 huge gigs in India, Australia, Japan, USA, Canada, Mexico and South America.
I'm a huge fan and have been for a long, long time (since me Dad bought me Number of the Beast in 1986!) but this film will interest anyone with an interest in rock music. Or travel. Or just plain effort!! These guys deserve their enormous following. As artists they're great anyway but this documentary demonstrates the energy these guys have and the reason they still tour a quarter of a century after I first heard of them! I feel old now!
The band members are thoroughly dissected under the lens. Bruce Dickinson - lead vocals (1981–1993, 1999–present) - is clearly deserving of the legendary status he holds among the rock following. Rockstar, pilot, novelist, international level fencer, script writer and actor this is the definitive renaissance man. Nicko McBrain -drums, percussion (1982-present)- is a star too - sensational drummer and just one funny guy. A gentle giant. Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals, keyboards (1975-present) - is interesting in interview. Dave Murray – guitars (1976-present) - has a few choice stories to tell. Adrian Smith – guitars, backing vocals (1980–1990, 1999–present) - describes the techniques the band use to avoid killing each other. Janick Gers – guitars, backing vocals (1990-present) - shows off his guitar flinging skills as well as his exceptional playing. Michael Kenney – live keyboards (since 1986) - tinkles his ivories.
The gigs themselves become ludicrous as Bruce pilots the band into South America. Locations such as Bogota, Mexico City and Santiago are viewed from crowd level outside where people have been camping on the roadside for 10 days to get prime positions in the stadiums. Heavy handed policing, which is needed in truth, adds to the sense of occasion. By the end of the gig Bruce is sitting on a monitor speaker while the people of South America chant "Maiden, Maiden, Maiden" as though they were all supporting the world's most popular football team (forget Manchester United!) or worshipping at the alter. This is ironic, as Mr Dickinson points out, because they have previous been banned from playing these countries by the Catholic Church around the time of "Number of the Beast". The Truth will prevail!
The side of the film which showed a couple of the members playing golf to unwind disappointed me initially. I'm not a golf fan and to me rock and golf don't go together. BUT, if that's what floats you boat then do it. Alice Cooper or Nicko McBrain teeing off just seems wrong to me. However, in true Spinal Tap fashion Nicko manages to turn a game of golf into a tour threatening incident when he gets whacked by a ball! Even the golf is entertaining in the end!
To conclude, if you're after a behind-the-scenes look at Iron Maiden with the added bonus of the pressure of a ridiculous schedule, then this is your bag.
Excellent, entertaining stuff. I recommend watching the end credits as well!!
"Up the Irons!!!"
7/10.
Review: Mark Woods, 2009 (LordBeanpod@GMail.com)
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