Saw the documentary "Flight 666" in Inox today. This film depicts the legendary world tour conducted by Iron Maiden during which they covered 45000 miles and did 23 concerts in 21 cities all across the world (except Europe) in 45 days.
Iron Maiden got their own Boeing 757 customized to carry tons of music instruments as well as the hell lot of speakers, amplifiers and all the stuff along with 70 crew members which includes the band as well. And the most stunning thing is that the band's lead vocalist Bruce Dickinson was also the one who piloted the flight which has been rechristened as Ed Force One.
The movie shows how it is when the band is on road. What sort of compromises they need to make once they start touring. Right from performing the show even when down by fever till braving an injury so as not to affect the schedule of the tour which may cost a bomb.
Also the band members provide the insight as to how do they feel when they face the audience like us. The most humbling thing about Iron Maiden is that in spite of being such a successful band all over the world, they always give their best. Their spirit shows that they are not at all interested in making big bucks but just to enjoy their music and give their faithful fans one hell of a show. That is why Iron Maiden is so famous all across the world inspite radio never played thier songs, neither do music channels used to support the band during their heydays. It is just because this band has been touring consistently since thier inception and still believe that live shows are the ones which should be used to reach out the fans. It took almost 30 years for thier own country UK to realise what Iron Maiden really are and finally in 2009 they were rewarded with the Best British Live Act award.
But as humble as they are, Iron Maiden dedicated the award to thier audience. They are as good as any normal person like us are. They dont think themselves as celibrities, just a bunch of musicians who want to make amazing music and nothing else.
What truly shocked me during the movie was the amount of fan following that Iron Maided get in Latin America. People there just worship Maiden, just like our very won Sachin is worshipped in India. For them Heavy Metal is religion and Iron Maiden are Gods. It was really amazing stuff to watch.
One more amazing thing which has amazed even the band members is that more and more young people are turning towards Iron Maiden which is rather surprising because IM is quite an old band now. This shows that Iron Maiden's music is their for long......very long.
All in all a great documentary movie which has provided us Maiden fans of all the inside stuff that goes on behind the stage. I really dont care if this movie at all gets any recognition or not, anyways neither any of the band members nor any true Iron Maiden fan across the world would care a damn for the award. But thanks to this documentary, I have started to respect Iron Maiden much more than ever.
Up the Irons!!!
Forever a Maiden Fan
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