For The Rockeros: How Iron Maiden Became A LatAm Touring Force

Cleveland may have been the city that helped spark the fire that became rock and roll in the 1950s with radio DJs playing music inspired by rhythm and blues, but the fiery passion for the genre today may be burning brightest in Latin America.

The region is chock full of rock fans, or rockeros, with Latinos embracing the counterculture that the music inspires and sporting patches of their favorite artists. One of the most revered bands is Iron Maiden, who are automatic stadium acts all over Latin America.

Some of the band’s most successful outings have been in South America and Mexico. Last year, Iron Maiden performed seven sold-out stadium shows, including two promoted by Rodriguez’s Move Concerts at São Paulo’s Allianz Parque that grossed $6.9 million off 86,312 tickets, according to Pollstar Boxoffice reports. The iconic band also sold out Mexico City’s beloved Estadio GNP Seguros last November and grossed $3,925,013 off 57,500 tickets.

“The audiences in South America, as a whole, are absolutely mental,” Phil Rodriguez, founder and CEO of Move Concerts, says about rock fans in the region. “Latinos, as a culture, show their emotions. I mean, we hug, we kiss, we scream, we cry. Whether it’s Paul McCartney or Roger Waters or whatever, the older artists still love to go down there because they’re going to get a mixed demographic, young to old, and they’re going to get that emotion from the audience that sometimes is missing in other markets.”

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Rodriguez realized Latinos’ love for Iron Maiden long ago when he traveled with the band to Puerto Rico, which is known to have strict immigration and customs procedures for anyone entering the island. He worried that the band’s “long-haired metalheads” wouldn’t be received well by local officials when their plane landed.

“The doors open, and it’s lined up with guys from Immigration and Customs, and I thought, ‘Oh my God, we’re fucked.’ These guys are going to pull us into rooms to have us pull our pants down or whatever,” Rodriguez recalls. “As soon as we started walking out, these guys said, ‘Hey, dude. Can I get a photo? Can I get an autograph?’ It was the fastest entrance and exit I’ve ever had from the Puerto Rico airport.”

That kind of appreciation didn’t come from overnight success or album sales. The heavy metal pioneers earned love from Latin American fans by planting the seeds with their own blood, literally. Iron Maiden performed at Brazil’s first-ever Rock in Rio in 1985, and Bruce Dickinson played most of the set with a bloody face after running into a guitar head. It was the stuff of legend, and the visual of a bloodied Dickinson vaulted the band to rock icon status.

“A lot of artists who went to the first Rock in Rio have a special place in the hearts of Brazilians and South Americans,” Rodriguez said. “I’ve seen artists that never forgot South America and invested n the highs and lows, and there were those that never went. Tom Petty, the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac never went down during the prime of their careers. If they went today, because they didn’t invest, people may not know every song. Iron Maiden and other acts like Ozzy [Osbourne] made a point of going to South America. And Iron Maiden has always been very conscientious of the ticket price, and that’s something fans always respected.”

That effort from Iron Maiden created a “special relationship” that has only grown since that unforgettable performance, Rodriguez says.

“Few artists have maintained that and done it throughout the decades. That’s why Iron Maiden is on tour now with the 50th anniversary and still selling tickets and delivering a great show.”

Iron Maiden is embarking on the North American leg of its “Run For Your Lives World Tour” celebrating their 50th anniversary, and though no dates have been announced for Latin America, Rodriguez said that he awaits their return “with open arms,” as do the rockeros.