Iron Maiden: Flight 666 Page #6

about 300000 people.

and it was being televised live

throughout South America.

The whole of South America

suddenly went Maiden.

We came from upstate New York.

It was freezing cold.

Went down to Rio.

I'd never been to a hot country before.

Certainly not South America.

So it was all wide-eyed.

It was all a bit of a shock.

Excitable. passionate fans. and people

jumping up and down chanting "Maiden!"

Being British. we're not used to that.

You don't get that excited.

But the amazing thing is that it goes on

undiminished every time we go back.

You got both signed. Are you happy?

Very happy. man.

Heavy metal. The lrons. man.

Iron Maiden is my religion.

In Brazil. similar to Scandinavia.

it's got the Maiden religion.

because it means so much

to so many people in those areas.

But in some instances

it can get very exaggerated.

There's a priest

an hour and a half out of Sao Paulo

who does sermons sometimes

around the morality of Maiden lyrics.

Could you describe for us

some of your tattoos?

They are crazy.

With the success of the band

in South America.

you do get the corollary.

the price of fame.

which is that you're really

just stuck inside the hotel.

You can't just go and amble out

and take a stroll.

Argentina was just a bit less subtle.

It was just 24/7.

The fans do get a bit much sometimes.

when you've been travelling

and people expect you to stop and sign

and have photos and look all cheerful.

Once you're in a hotel.

that's my home away from home.

Outside the hotel. we're fair game.

Argentina!

..Santiago. where the local time

is five to one in the afternoon.

Maiden! Maiden! Maiden!

This was the most out-of-control reception

that we've had in Chile.

It's ironic that we're in that situation now

because we were banned initially.

The once all-powerful Catholic church

took exception to our "Satanic" lyrics

and. unbelievably.

they stopped us coming to Chile.

Maiden!

All they wanted to do was see the band.

That was it. End of story.

They didn't want to start a revolution.

They just wanted to go and see

a heavy metal band.

Scream for me. Santiago!

Santiago. Chile!

I want you.

And I want you!

And you!

And you down here. my friends.

Iron Maiden's gonna get you!

Iron Maiden's gonna get all of you!

This time around. you're playing

essentially a classic lron Maiden set.

It's like saying to the fans.

at least the fans in America.

"We're gonna revisit the catalogue."'

No.

- Not at all?

- No. Not at all.

We're not some old fossil dragging

the bones of old songs around.

What you'll see tonight

is not just a celebration of old songs.

It's the celebration

of a lot of young new fans.

who have never seen us

play these songs.

Any time you go out and you play songs

that you've played before.

there's going to be an element of people

going. "I've heard these songs before."'

But the purpose of this tour

was really very different.

because our entire audience

for the last eight years

has been getting steadily younger.

So. as a big thank you.

Iarge Christmas present

wrapped up in a box with a big bow on top.

here. have a classic

World Slavery Tour.

And that's why I get bent out of shape

any time anybody tries to play

"Pin the tail on the donkey"

and the tail they're trying to pin on us

is that this is some kind

of revival antique show.

And it's not that.

Is there a song or two

that you most look forward to doing again?

Tonight?

In general.

Tonight or as part of this current

Somewhere Back In Time tour.

Ancient Mariner.

- Is it really?

- Mariner. Yeah. by far.

Once that plane landed in Toronto.

we knew the show would go ahead.

we'd done it. and that was a great feeling.

And if you look back

over six and a half weeks.

we played 21 cities. 23 shows.

It's the equivalent of playing

a major concert every alternate day.

except those concerts

are 3000 kilometres apart.

And we pulled it off.

There was a sense of elation

that. "Wow. here we are."'

And then I just thought.

"Christ. it's bloody cold."'

Maiden!

Maiden! Maiden!

Definitely in the great white north now.

You see the kids outside queuing up and

they're not wearing much more than I am.

In the snow.

They're tough up here. man.

Looking forward to going home?

Yes. I am. I must say.

Just having my little bit of space.

One less documentary crew to contend with.

I think you guys

have been pretty cool. really.

I was dreading it. actually.

- So another successful tour?

- Yes.

Quite gruelling.

It's been amazing. It's been gruelling.

It's been one of the hardest.

Yeah.

In terms of audience...

it's been one of the best.

Yeah.

- How are you. Steve?

- I'm all right.

- Final show.

- Yeah.

We made it.

Finally we made it. yeah.

Feels like we've been out about six months.

doesn't it?

Dear boy. you must be happy

to be home on terra firma.

Indeed I am. thank you.

One more flight tomorrow.

I'll be home in sunny Florida.

And I shall be getting my sticks out

and going to get some lessons.

Have fun!

Thank you!

..fight on the beaches.

we shall fight on the landing grounds.

we shall fight in the fields

and in the streets.

we shall fight in the hills.

we shall never surrender.

I think the essence of us

hasn't changed that much as people.

We do the music

'cause we love doing the music.

It's not about money.

It's nice to make money but...

You can see we mean it and we enjoy it.

It's all about the music

and I think people know that.

We've done it our way.

We do it without radio. without any media.

We haven't become celebrities. We still go

and have a drink in the pub with our mates.

Nobody has to bow down to us.

We're just musicians.

We play music. we enjoy it.

and if you like our music. God bless you.

And if you don't like it. you know what?

God bless you too.

It's a beautiful thing

that we're still here in 2008.

doing the biggest tour we've ever done.

This is bigger than the '80s.

I'm doing something that I love doing.

being able to play music. travel

round the world. and have a great life.

and that sort of thing you never take

for granted. and enjoy every moment.

We've got a bunch

of your fellow countrymen out with us.

making a documentary

on the madness

that follows us around the world.

So I'm putting them on fair warning now.

They've been well behaved so far.

They've said all the right things.

They've been nice.

We've even bought them drinks.

But you know where they f***ing live.

Right?

That's all I'm saying.

It's fitting that we should end up

with the last bit of the tour

that's been done round the world

in this crazy schedule

in a place that we love.

in a place that embraced lron Maiden

before America ever knew we existed.

Having gone through

the gamut of so many countries.

and generating so much hope in people.

it's starting to occur to me now

that we are actually...

What's that expression?

Being thrust onto the tip of the spear

in terms of putting

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes