Iron Maiden Concert at Ribeirão Preto

I'm not a fan of heavy metal and the musical genre figures very little in my playlists, but Iron Maiden is a band I always hear at one time or another. I know the classics and I can sing some choruses. I heard my brother and an old neighbor listen to "Fear of The Dark" and "The Number of the Beast" incessantly that that I have decorated.

The riffs are remarkable, and the voice conveys with great perfection sensations that the lyrics awaken. And writing is something that appeals to me a lot in the band's songs. I love reading, watching, and hearing stories, and songs that report facts, narrate events – real, fictitious or myths – is something that interests me a lot.

Also, Iron has the nostalgia factor. Every time I hear it, I remember my childhood. When my brother put his songs to play at a higher volume, he, who took care of me while my mother worked, would put me out with a bowl of water to play with. There in the hallway I was between the dolls, the water, and the sound waves of heavy metal.

I don't remember if I liked the situation or not, but I remember being afraid of some songs. I don't know exactly which ones, but, as I said, the chords and the voice of this genre of music can convey many sensations. Maybe it could also be just the fact that I'm alone in the hallway with a deafening noise.

And last Tuesday, 30, the British band brought their show to my hometown, Ribeirão Preto. Me and my girlfriend bought the tickets as soon as the sales started and we longed for the show and, I say with certainty, that the expectation we had was fulfilled with a large positive margin.

She already had experience with major international shows, but I didn't what to expect. I hadn't even watched the band's shows on YouTube. I knew the clips of some songs, but I had no idea of the concert that would take place at the Santa Cruz stadium that night. "What did I see? Can I believe that what I saw that night was real and not just fantasy?"

We called an Uber and long before we arrived on site, traffic was already heavy. We went down and finished the way on foot. On the sidewalk, many street vendors and I ended up buying a stylized t-shirt of the band in the form of a football team uniform. It made my girlfriend laugh, since I do not wear printed clothes, much less from bands.

Poser or not, I wanted to feel the full experience and I think the shirt was a great souvenir of a memorable evening. The opening band, Avatar, was something completely theatrical and visual, but nothing comparable to what the main band had prepared. The scenery, costumes and choreographies of the Iron Maiden show were simply sensational.

Everything was surprising and exaggerated. Fireworks, flames, and huge inflatable objects appeared on stage, such as Icarus flying into the sun, a large Royal Air Force plane, as well as, of course, a giant Eddie head and his incarnation as a samurai portraited by an actor who acted with the band members.

At the end of the show, pains in the feet, legs and back, sleep and general tiredness hid my excitement at having experienced an incredible and remarkable concert. But, as my girlfriend told me, we going to tell and retell this story about the day we went to the Iron Maiden show right here, in Ribeirão Preto, for a lot of people.