Rating: **
Review Date: 3/20/04
Cast: Paul Di'Anno
Hmmm. When I hear "beast in the east," I think of Japan, but this concert is actually in Poland of all places. Paul Di'Anno of Iron Maiden fame hits the stage again with a group of Iron Maiden covers and tunes from his band Killers. (no Battlezone stuff, though) And it's scary. Paul is not looking good. He's gained a lot of weight, shaved his head, and tattooed his body, and his body language is all gangsta. It's very unnerving to hear him lamping through "Wrathchild" only to follow it up with a "yo, yo, wassup?!?" ACK! His voice is also shot, and he has a very hard time singing on key, so he just yells and raps through all of his songs. Yikes. Ironically, his band is about twenty years younger than he is, and they cover the Iron Maiden classics even better than Maiden does these days. And then Paul's vocals just ruin them. What surprised me the most about these kids is that they truly understand the 80's metal vibe, and they channel the sound flawlessly. I've never seen any youngsters do this so well, and it's clear that they're Maiden fans.
Unfortunately, the production value of the video is pretty poor and the MPEG-2 compression is awful. The camerawork is very amateur and suffers from way too many zooms and tilts. Hold the camera still, people! If you can't see what's going on, then why bother trying to watch it? Sheesh. The marketing of the DVD was also pretty shameless, as it was released on the same day that Iron Maiden's new album "Dance Of Death" came out. Talk about taking advantage of cross marketing! I found it sickening, but being a die-hard Maiden fan, I had to pick it up anyway. Marginally enjoyable, but only if you're already a fan.