Bruce Dickinson revealed to the Estadão in 2019 that Rock in Rio 1985 was the best edition ever made in history because of all the chaos that surrounded it.
“There were more people than I’ve ever seen in one place in my entire life. It was a slightly chaotic atmosphere, maybe not as organized as most festivals, but that made it better because everyone was so excited and so crazy about how things were happening. It was a fantastic time” (via Rolling Stone ).
Back in 2020, the Iron Maiden Kerrang! more details about the performance: “It was an incredible show, but I was very nervous. I couldn't even sleep afterwards. Normally it takes me a few hours to relax, but this time I was so full of adrenaline that it wouldn't go away. The beer had no effect. I remember staying up all night, watching the sunrise and still being totally full of nervous energy. You can't do things like that too often or you might end up dying!”
“When I finally calmed down, I was exhausted. I remember thinking afterward that I couldn’t have done more; there wasn’t a single cell in my body that wasn’t exhausted. And you can see that in the footage. We conquered an entire continent overnight with that show. To have the reach and profile that we built in South America was simply extraordinary.”.
Nervousness, however, wasn't the only thing Bruce Dickinson suffered from. Besides technical problems, the performance was marred by blood spilled on stage. During an interaction with the audience in "Revelations," the musician cut his own face by hitting his eyes with his guitar.
The 1985 edition of Rock in Rio was a little different than usual, as it was a ten-day festival and each artist, except for Iron Maiden, played two shows. At the time, the band was on tour promoting the album Powerslave (1984). The group also returned to play at the event in 2001, 2013, 2019 and 2022 .
Watch below the complete Iron Maiden performance at Rock in Rio 1985 :
READ ALSO: Bruce Dickinson explains why he left Iron Maiden in 1993