Monday, January 20, 2014

Tribute to Andy Matthews

It’s been a tough year for the wider Iron Maiden family. Last year we lost former drummer Clive Burr and Steve Gadd of drum tech and tour management fame. Now Andy Matthews, relatively recent addition to the Killer Krew with responsibility for IMTV and recent DVD releases as well as directing the filming of concerts on a nightly basis.

Andy Matthews (centre) died last week
He was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2013, and though it was thought to be treatable he died last week. He had been planning to take part in the latest charity bike ride of the Heavy Metal Truants in Cambodia.

En Vivo was the third Maiden concert to be officially released since the reformation of the band in 1999 and followed Rock in Rio (2001) and Death on the Road (2003). While both of those shows were good, the hasty editing and jumpy cuts in Death on the Road actually make it quite difficult to watch. While some thought the same about the many and varied split screens employeed in En Vivo, the overall viewing experience is enhanced.

I only ever met him once, at the last night of the most recent Maiden England tour at the O2. I was milling around in the venue waiting for the main doors to open and out of some side door comes Andy with his camera at the ready. “Are you filming for IMTV” I asked, “Sure am” he replied, “Can I be on it, I was here last night as well” as I proudly showed my two wristbands from the weekends gigs. The response, as he continued walking by, laughing “You’ve got more of a face for radio, mate”. I didn’t take it personally, I know of others who he said very similar things to, and I have had many others say similar things to me.

Andy was without doubt an integral part of Maiden shows since 2009. Whenever he came out on stage to film the crowd it signalled the serious build up to maiden coming on, they were never more than 10 minutes behind Andy, and he also did a much better job of whipping the crowd up than any support band I can think of.

Given the unenviable job he had of trying to organise the filming of, and spotlights for, 5 members of Iron Maiden on a nightly basis with an in-house crew who frequently didn’t speak English Andy always maintained his humour and good nature. There’s a great part in the documentary on the En Vivo release where he is trying to explain to a crew about the band members, before resorting to calling them by numbers.


The warmth of feeling from Fan Club members on the message board is testament to how much everyone enjoyed his company and appreciated his work. He was normally to be found in a local bar before (and frequently after) the gig, and always gave the impression that he was just like us, except he got to live our dream, travelling the world watching Maiden every night.

Matthews gave En Vivo something which was missing from previous DVD releases

2 comments:

  1. Hi,

    Just want to say thank you for such nice words about my father. It is the anniversary of his death today and i randomely came across this. Huge loss to the industry but he loved every minute.

    thanks, Daniel Matthews.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, Daniel. Your dad was very dear by Brazilians fans. Great guy!

      Vinicius Barbosa

      Delete