Still Bangin'

I will go completely off the reservation this time and tell you about a documentary I watched last night. It was about Iron Maiden, Flight 666, I think was the title. I have never been anything but a casual fan, ever since I was a little freaked out at Jeff Becker's house in high school, their mascot Eddie, always gave me the creeps. You can find their music sprinkled on my I Pod but that is about it. After watching this very good documentary, wow, is what I am left with.
I think it is good for Americans to see things outside the box of this country. This documentary crew follows the band, who were big when I was in high school by the way, on their world tour that started in India and ended in Toronto. 45 days, like 23 shows and over 50,000 miles traveled. The two coolest aspects of pulling this off, Iron Maiden has their own plane, a 757 named "Ed Force One", and the lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, is the pilot. And it is not like he is in the cockpit wearing a sleeveless t shirt and spandex, he is wearing a captain's uniform, shoulder boards and a tie.
When you see a band and it's influence it has around the world that is when you see something you are familiar with from the eyes of others in other countries. Massive crowds that seemed to get bigger the farther south they traveled in South America. The crowd was so big in Bogota it was a little scary.
Then there is the fact that these guys are not that much younger than my parents and the crowds seem to be very young. And it is not because their music has ever changed. Now I do remember them catching a little flack for the Somewhere in Time album, but these guys go just as hard as they did 30 years ago, good for them. If you have even the slightest knowledge of this band, check out this movie, I think the dvd is out on Tuesday the 9th.