Iron Maiden - Rock In Rio
Performance
Production
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Iron Maiden - Rock In Rio
Performance
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I have never been a huge Iron Maiden fan, but they have continued to grow on me over the years, and I find myself enjoying them now more than ever. I have seen Iron Maiden twice in concert, both times were back in the early 80's when they were in their prime. The first time was opening for Judas Priest when they were touring in support of their Number Of The Beast album. As the opening band, they got virtually no stage show, a poor sound mix, and a short thirty minute set. I was not too impressed. The very next year they rolled back into town as headliners supporting their monster Piece Of Mind album. This tour would be where they raised the bar in terms of heavy metal stage show production, pulling out all the stops in terms of lighting, lasers, bombs, smoke, fire, monsters, and head decapitating volume. Their new stage show made Kiss look like an Allman Brothers concert. Being the impressionable teenage metal-head that I was at the time, they were definitely luring me over to the dark side - but I was not ready to submit to Satan just yet. During the next ten years I had practically forgotten about Iron Maiden until around 1996 when I found myself floating around the Arabian Gulf, on a U.S. guided missile cruiser for six months, with a shipmate who just happened to be an Iron Maiden fanatic. This guy could do a hilarious, spot-on, imitation of Bruce Dickinson, especially his trademark "Let Me Hear You Scream (insert your city here)!", which left me in stitches every time. He introduced me to their Seventh Son album, which I loved due to its more melodic and accessible qualities than their previous albums. I picked up the Brave New World album as soon as it hit the stores, and it has grown to be one of my favorite Iron Maiden albums. I though this album had a more progressive edge, as well as a continued emphasis on rhythm and melody. Picking up the Rock In Rio DVD was an obvious choice for me since it was the tour in support of Brave New World, and lucky for us they played no less than five great songs from that album. Rock In Rio is a recording of Iron Maiden's headlining performance, in front of 250,000 fans, at the Rock In Rio festival of 2001. The DVD begins in extraordinary fashion, as a helicopter flies over the famous giant statue of Jesus Christ on the massive cliff overlooking the city of Rio De Janeiro, and then sweeps over the festival grounds to witness the thousands of fans pouring into the concert stadium. The scene soon switches to the band's helicopter as they are about to touch down backstage just before the start of the show. When the stadium lights go out, the sounds of "Arthur's Farewell" pour out of the speakers, and the massive, empty stage is displayed, highlighted by an enormous backdrop display of the band's mascot, Eddie. The band took to the stage with a powerhouse performance of "The Wicker Man", the excellent opening track from their Brave New World album, and then tore through two more songs, "Ghost of The Navigator", and the title track, from Brave New World. As soon as I could catch my breath after hearing this great trio of new songs, I noticed how exceptional the audio mix sounded, especially the DTS surround mix. Guitarist Adrian Smith recently rejoined the band after a ten-year hiatus, and they decided to keep his replacement Janick Gers around to give them a powerful three guitar attack. I now can understand why they did not dismiss Gers after Smith returned, because this guy is an awesome guitarist. I found him even more impressive than Smith and Murray, and that is a huge compliment. The mix expertly locked Gers into the right-front channel, Smith in the center-front channel, and Murray in the left-front channel, which also matched their stage positions. The separation between the guitars was flawless and made it easy to distinguish exactly who was playing what part. This was the most satisfying guitar mix I have ever heard on a concert DVD. After a few more classic songs, they returned to the Brave New World album with a great performance of "Blood Brothers", my favorite from that album. This song has a slow melodic breakdown in the center featuring some excellent keyboard playing and intricate guitar melodies that eventually lead into a ferocious guitar solo. Dickinson's vocals on this song are some of his finest. He has definitely improved with age, and this concert presents some of the best vocals I have ever heard him perform live. He doesn't seem to be straining as hard, and has much better command than in the past. Iron Maiden roll out all of the usual suspects including "The Trooper", "The Number Of The Beast", and "Run To The Hills", all of which sounded excellent. The band were all in fine form and gave an energetic and enthusiastic performance. These forty-something year olds are still bouncing around like it is 1980 again, and they all displayed a genuine commitment to giving their fans a memorable experience. Eddie, I'll assume you know "who" that is, made his appearance during "The Evil That Men Do". I really must be getting old, because it seemed kind of silly this time around to see him staggering around the stage being poked and prodded by Gers' with his guitar. I remember it being much more surreal when he took over the stage on the Piece Of Mind tour. This DVD not only has great audio quality, but the video presentation is outstanding as well. The picture is remarkably vivid and smooth, and the colors are exceptionally vibrant. There was no significant graininess, or other noticeable distractions. The only problem I noticed was that the main drum camera appeared very soft and almost looked black and white at times, but this was not a significant distraction. The sheer enormity of this event and the brilliant manner in which it was captured on filmed made this DVD cry out for a widescreen presentation. The 4:3 full screen presentation simply didn't do justice to the impressive magnitude of this Iron Maiden stage show, and their multi-acre encompassing horde of fans. My main complaint with the presentation is Steve Harris' over-aggressive editing job. He had many hours worth of footage, from numerous camera angels, to piece together for this two hour show, and he simply tried to squeeze in too much. The camera angle changes came too often, and too fast. This DVD would have easily scored a ten rating, if not for that. The exceptional guitar mix was not the only good thing about this audio presentation. Nicko's double bass drum sounded thunderous and you could literally feel his drum playing with the right amount of volume. I never realized this guy was so good, but he impressed the hell out of me his skin bashing this night. Surprisingly, Steve Harris' incredible bass playing was slightly subdued in the mix, considering his playing is normally so prominent on the studio albums. Iron Maiden are showing no signs of slowing down. Their new music easily holds up against their classic material, and their sound has continued to evolve and stay fresh. This DVD concert is most highly recommended. Reviewed by Paul M. Roy - May 2004 |
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Technical Details |
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Audio Transfer |
Video Transfer |
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Set List |
Performers Michael Kenney - Keyboards |
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Running Time: 124 Minutes |
DVD Release Date - June 2002 |