I watched the Behind the Beast documentary on Iron Maiden's En Vivo dvd last night.
What a fascinating film (It's 90 minutes) to go alongside a brilliant concert. The intricacies of pulling off a world tour, even at a mere three months, are so demanding and everything has to pretty much run like clockwork for the show to be ready each night in whichever country the band play.
From a well detailed look at fitting out Maiden's plane - Ed Force One - to setting up the stage, sound checking, catering and so on. The logistics of it all are amazing and utterly terrifying.
It's very much behind the scenes with little seen of the actual gigs, however the band are featured in interviews throughout the film, especially Bruce Dickinson as he was one of the plane's pilots working as he does for airline Astraeus when he isn't on Maiden duty. The bulk of the film is left to how everything works with the focus on the 'Killer Krew', Maiden's touring behind the scenes people of which there are many. From Managers Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor to, well, everyone you see listed in the credits of an Iron Maiden record, they are all featured here, even my old mate Ian 'Squid' Walsh (Seen at 33mins-36 during the film).
All in all, a brain expanding documentary and perhaps my favourite from all the Maiden concert dvds. I include the 'Years' docs in this as well.
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