Ed Force One Route To Brazil (Apocalypse Sound AS 144)
Gigantinho’s Giinasium, Porto Alegre, Brazil March 5, 2008
Running Time 1 hr 45 min, Region 0 Linear PCM Stereo
Intro: Transylvania, Churchill’s Speech, Aces High, Two Minutes To Midnight, Revelations, The Trooper, Wasted Years, The Number Of The Beast, Can I Play With Madness?, The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner, Powerslave, Heaven Can Wait, Run To The Hills, Fear Of The Dark, Iron Maiden, Moonchild, The Clairvoyant, Hallowed Be Thy Name
In early 2008 Iron Maiden finally released Live After Death, their concert video their 1984/ 85 tour to support the Powerslave album, on DVD. The tour has long been a favorite among fans for the Egyptian theme stage set and the huge mummified Eddie towering over the band during their signature song “Iron Maiden”. As the band did during their tour to support the “early Days” DVD release the band hit the road playing a set of songs covering the mid eighties, from the above mentioned Powerslave through Seventh Son releases. Ed Force One Route To Brazil captures the band during the first leg of the Somewhere Back In Time Tour and is source from the video shot for the giant video screens, a mix of 12 cameras with excellent stereo sound.
The DVD starts with a video montage of the band traveling on the 757 plane, dubbed “Ed Force One” converted to allow the band to travel from stop to stop and also haul the equipment. From there we get the Churchill’s speech going right in to killer opening of Aces High followed by Two Minutes To Midnight. The real highlight of the concert comes in the middle of the show, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner played for the first time since the 1986/ 87 tour. With a backdrop of a creepy sea faring ship Bruce tells the mariner’s tale dressing in a tattered looking cloak and during the slow narrative section on the middle of the track the stage is filled with dry ice fog adding to the atmosphere. The main set closes with the classic track, “Iron Maiden” and the arrival of band mascot Eddie in Somewhere in Time cyborg “persona”, after a short break the band return to give us another highlight, the opening track to the Seventh Son album “Moonchild” complete with Dave Murray acoustic guitar intro and the set is closed with the haunting “Hallowed Be Thy Name”.
The band is tight as they ever have been and the playing is fantastic, every song is full of energy. Their idea of shorter less grueling tours has reinvigorated their playing and you can tell they are enjoying themselves. The nice thing about this show is the camera work, you get nice long shots of the band doing their thing unlike their professional releases that switch angles every 10 seconds. In my opinion it is much more enjoyable to watch. The picture is fantastically clear and the audio is of excellent quality. The packaging is the usual tri-fold style with pictures of the band and Ed Force One on the cover and live shots from the tour in the gatefold, the back has the world map graphic from the tour program/ poster sold at the gigs and the track listing. The DVD menu is basic with song selection and is easily maneuverable. This DVD appeals to the casual fan and the hardcore collector and is highly recommended, another good job by Apocalypse Sound.
2 Comments
I did indeed pick up this DVD and watched it earlier this afternoon. Excellent performance and sound and picture quality. It’s nice to see that a label is willing to press a Maiden show.
A few weeks ago I saw one of the California shows and was completely blown away by Maiden. I picked up “The Beast In Milan” and it sounds like I need to seek this one out next. I also plan to purchase “Live After Death” now that it’s finally available on DVD.