Iron Maiden formed in the mid-seventies and have gone on to achieve huge success around the world from an extremely loyal fan base. Although popular in their own country of England and the rest of Europe, they have an incredible following in South America. Their sell-out Brave New World Tour of that continent in January 2001 came to a climactic finale at the Rock In Rio festival in Brazil.

The third Rock In Rio festival had attracted many of the world's most popular artists, such as Guns‘n Roses, Sting, Neil Young, N’sync, Britney Spears and Oasis to name but a few. Iron Maiden had secured the star billing, having been selected to perform the final set on closing night and in front of a crowd of 250,000 fans. They certainly put on a show to remember.

This six-piece band has never drifted far from their original sound, staying loyal to their diehard fans - when you buy an Iron Maiden record you pretty much know what you will be getting. With a very dark, Satanic grounding, the music is both hard and fast. The unmistakable vocals of Bruce Dickinson sound as good as ever. The distinct guitar sound achieved by dual lead guitars and the bass of Steve Harris, along with the drumming of madman Nicko McBrain are faultless. Although they may have aged and Bruce Dickinson is the only one who's been brave enough to cut the long hair off, the band really do look good and sound better than ever.

Track listing:

This two-hour show covers most of the band's big songs from their twenty-five year history and also includes tracks from their latest studio effort, Brave New World. Fourteen cameras were used to film this event, along with two cranes and a helicopter, which gives an idea of the massive scale of this concert. Although the show was broadcast to a global television audience, estimated at over one billion, this is completely edited by bassist Steve Harris and now available for Australian audiences to enjoy.

Fans of the band will love this release. It not only captures the band at their best, but it delivers on sound and picture quality, along with a decent swag of extras. For non-fans, the constant guitar posing can be a little annoying along with the Satanic undertones, but this is all part of their image and incredible stage presence. The stage is massive, the crowd is massive and the band is awesome.

Presented in full frame and therefore not 16x9 enhanced, this looks terrific. Picture is generally very sharp with vibrant colours. Blacks are deep and detail is generally very good, with the usual faults occuring due to stage lighting. There are the other standard problems also encountered with stage lighting, such as over-saturation and pixelisation, but these do not take anything away from the visual experience. Aliasing is minimal, but can be found occasionally in the usual places such as on guitar strings. Overall this really does look good and captures the concert very well. Another item deserving mention for this release is the cool menus available. They are all animated and put you in the right mood for what you are about to see.

Accompanying the terrific video transfer is an equally good and very loud audio transfer. Audio available is a choice between Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS. Both are terrific with clear sound and great separation. Music is kept primarily across the front speakers, with the rears being used for crowd noise, giving the feeling of being there. The subwoofer is in overdrive for most of the show. The only minor criticism with the audio was the occasional lower level of the vocals volume, causing the band to drown out Bruce Dickinson. Although a slight annoyance, it was by no means a major problem.

On disc two we have some very nice extras.

The Band
From a picture of the band, you can select each band member for a mini interview. The title of each interview is Days Off and looks at what that particular band member does for fun. Although there are six band members, one of the interviews is with two band members. The total amount of running time for these interviews is just under 36 minutes and it is great fun.

Day In The Life
Running for 10:40, this featurette takes a “behind the scenes� look at what the band get up to on the day of the big show.

Photo Gallery
This is a collection of photos taken by long time band photographer Ross Halfin during the South American tour. With Ross giving a guided tour through the photos, this is very informative and something fans will love.

Website
Simply a link to the Iron Maiden site.

Easter egg
For instructions on accessing the hidden bonus feature, please refer to the Easter eggs page.

Overall this is a terrific concert captured beautifully on this double DVD release. With a nice choice of extras and terrific sound and vision quality, this is a must have for all Iron Maiden and metal fans. Be sure to check out Peter’s review for the Classic Albums: Number Of The Beast DVD for an extra dose of this terrific band. Up the Irons!