Alright, so let me tell you guys a little bit about my experience in São Paulo.
This one was my 4th Iron Maiden show. First one was on TFF world tour and the other two were from Maiden England tour, including Rock In Rio 2013. This one was, without any doubt, the best performance I have seen from the band, including Bruce, ofc. I was very close to the barrier, maybe 2 or 3 meters from it. It's exausting but it is certainly worth it.
Maybe this concert was my favorite because this time they came to South America on the beginning of the tour instead of the end, or maybe because The Book of Souls is as good as any album from 80's. I don't know. What I do know is that I'm still "shocked" with Bruce's performance. The man is a legend. It's just a joy that he is singing as good as 5 years ago or even better. I'm not exaggerating: he could hit all the high notes just like in the studio album. His performance was MUCH better than on Maiden England tour. Much better.
Highlights (my opinion, ofc):
1- If Eternity Should Fail - I was shocked how everyone was singing to this song. You know, people normally don't sing the new album songs. It didn't happen with If Eternity Should Fail. It sounded like an instant classic and everyone was singing to it. Hell, the chorus was really, really loud. Amazing.
2- Children of the Damned - Bruce's performance on this song was out of this world.
3- Tears of a clown - Very emotional song - it works really well live and the crowd seems to love it.
4- The Red and the Black - Works really well live.
5- Powerslave - Wow, this makes me think that powerslave could have been as overplayed as the number of the beast or fear of the dark during all these years. It's a classic! Everybody sings to it, everybody loves it. What a great surprise to this tour!
6- The Book of Souls - This song is a masterpiece. Solos, everything. Unbelievable how Bruce "learned" to sing it live from the first show to this one. Now he is singing just like in studio or even better.
7- Hallowed Be Thy Name - Simply because it's probably the best heavy metal song ever written.
8- Fear of the dark - Yeah... Watch the videos from the crowd and you will understand why it will never be dropped from the setlist. Just beautiful.
9- Blood Brothers - What a great surprise for me! At first, I was against it on the setlist, especially because it was played on TFF world tour, but the fact is that it worked on encore and the crowd singing the chorus was so beautiful that I cried like a little kid.
Don't get me wrong - I liked all the songs but these were the highlights. The only song that sounded a little strange for me was Death or Glory. I'm not sure what's going on but the song sounds different, especially the intro. But yeah, the crowd was singing loud the chorus and Bruce did an amazing job.
To sum it up: Iron Maiden is still killing it and I am 100% sure that EVERYONE who was there in São Paulo was impressed enough so the next time Maiden comes to Brazil, we will go there again to sing out loud with our heroes.
).
