Band : Iron Maiden
Album title : Flight 666
Label : EMI
Distributor : EMI
Release Date : 23/05/2008
Release : DVD

As well as a live album, Maiden released a DVD version from their Somewhere Back In Time World Tour, covering the full trip starting in Mumbai - India, and ending in Toronto - Canada.

The DVD consists of two disks, one holding 17 songs, all recorded in a different location.  I must admit it seems strange, to see them starting in Mumbai, where the public mainly exists of  males, and then going from country to country, you notice how the audience changes as well as the countries do.

As each song was recorded in a different country, we get to see a lot of locations, going from huge football stadiums, to smaller venues.  What's great about this tour is that they brought out the old Powerslave  stage as well.
Musical wise these guys have nothing to learn, they are completely zoomed in on each other, so it sounds and looks great.  The songs of course were all taken from the first seven albums, and are all classics for every Maiden  fan out there.

But then there's the second DVD, a rockumentary made by Scott McFadyen & Sam Dunn, whom you might already know from another documentary Metal -A Headbanger’s  Journey.  On this disc you get to see the whole tour business through different glasses.  Not all of it is fun and jokes, on the contrary, it's a though job, but someone's got to do it.  To play 23 concerts, on five contintents, in just 45 days their physical condition must have been top notch, or they wouldn't have been able to do it. 
It's an astonishing view on this band, one you'll never ever have seen before.  Had you ever thought Adrian Smith would play tennis with Pat Cash ?  Not only does it show that Maidenis some sort of family - hey Steve even took his kids with him, but most of all does it show their human side. What's even more interesting is the diversity in fans it shows.  The guy in India who admits it was the artwork that got him interested in the band for instance.  Would you be fan enough to go camping in a makeshift tent outside the venue 9 days before the venue ?  Well, in Colombia they do. 
For those out there that think that "Spinal Tap" was funny, and expect to find the same jokes in this documentary, I'm afraid to disappoint you, there aren't any. My final conclusion : this DVD shows that Iron Maiden, after thirty years of existence, still represent something in the Metal scene, and deliver us some pure music.  They do not need a lot of gimmicks or extra's, to give a fine show, unlike some modern bands (e.g. Rammstein - Slipknot).

Up the irons.

95/100

Erik Morren.