Location: Zagreb / Boogaloo / Croatia
Date: 25.01.2011
Helloween are one of the most important European metal bands, since they were one of the key acts behind the boom of heavy-power metal in Germany and Europe in the late eighties. They stick to the tried-and-tested formula and still put out studio albums regularly, which keeps bringing in new fans while holding on to the old ones. The latest chapter in their studio catalog is called “7th Sinners”, and to promote it Helloween set off on a huge European tour, their first since 2007 and the “Gambling with the Devil” tour. If four years ago the tour steered wide around our little patch of land, luck was thankfully on our side this time, and the Germans came not only to the middle of our country, but also to nearby Zagreb the day before, where Aleš and I headed off to “scout the terrain” and kick off this year’s concert season on the international level too.
Before the “Pumpkins” took the stage, the atmosphere was warmed up by Swedes Avatar. Even though they’re a young band, with members barely past 20, they already have an enviable amount of musical mileage and experience behind them, which they owe first and foremost to In Flames and Obituary, with whom they crisscrossed stages all over Europe in 2007 and 2008. In a half-hour set Avatar presented songs from their three albums so far, with an emphasis on the newest one, last year’s “Avatar”. An energetic show of generic melodeath with jumps into other subgenres of the metal craft didn’t leave a deeper impression on the power metal crowd, though as far as the performance itself goes, there’s nothing to fault the guys on stage for. The variety in the sound comes mainly from the vocalist, who switches between clean singing and growls, which together with the modern structure of the songs makes for an easily digestible bite, especially for fans of the more modern (core) tendencies in today’s metal. Avatar could make a name for themselves in the future, but with their more aggressive old-school Gothenburg style they turned out to be a slightly off choice as openers for heavy/power metal shows.
Up second were Stratovarius, a name incomparably better known to the wider metal community than Avatar before them, which brought the club to life too. Sitting behind the drum kit was Jörg Michael, who fought cancer in recent months and beat it, and has already rejoined his bandmates on tour, so this jaunt around Europe surely carries even more weight for the Finnish power metallers. The technically excellent Finnish musicians entertained the long-haired crowd with a pretty static setlist, one that mostly delighted those seeing Stratovarius for the first time. The repertoire leaned heavily on material released before the turn of the millennium, which is a big fiasco considering they went on tour to support the new album “Elysium”, from which they played only Darkest Hour. Stratovarius frontman Timo Kotipelto wasn’t having his day this time. Maybe a cold got to him, maybe the reason lies elsewhere, but the high notes were too tough a nut to crack, so he was forced to lean on and hide behind the crowd singing. It was a whole different story with guitarist Matias Kupiainen, who in just under three years has managed to fill Tolkki’s shoes, so his performance was far more relaxed and his stage presence more charismatic than at Wacken Rocks South two years ago (report here). With Speed of Light, Kiss of Judas, Stratosphere and the obligatory Black Diamond, Stratovarius confidently got through their set, though I’m convinced they’re capable of showing a lot more.
Almost to the day five years after their last Ljubljana show, Helloween returned to our corner of Europe. To the strains of the AC/DC classic For Those About To Rock (We Salute You), which has long opened Helloween shows, Boogaloo filled up to the last corner and loudly welcomed the five musicians onto the stage.
The show kicked off with the first single from the new album, Are You Metal?, and started pouring oil on the already fired-up vibe in the hall. Then came a leap back to the eighties with the classics Eagle Fly Free and March of Time, before the first breather with a short solo spot from Sascha Gerstner. Time to jump back to the album “7th Sinners” with Where The Sinners Go and World of Fantasy, where the Weikath/Gerstner guitar duo once again proved their great chemistry and mutual understanding. The guitar parts were played with precision and true to the album originals, it’s just a shame the people in charge didn’t deliver a sound worthy of Helloween standards. In my opinion the guitars sat a notch too far back in the overall sonic picture compared to the other instruments, although they were well tuned to each other, since the riffing and solo parts were clearly audible and didn’t step on each other. Andi Deris also handled his vocal duties successfully. The years have taken their toll, so he’s careful with the highest vocal registers and in places leaves them to the crowd, but even in 2011 he still carries the Helloween colors with dignity. But Deris isn’t just a vocalist, he’s a frontman from head to toe. He’s constantly talking to the crowd and has a great feel for controlling the band-audience dynamic, though he shouldn’t overdo it.
After another ancient sweetie, I’m Alive, came an acoustic descent into the depths of love’s mysteries, namely Forever and One in an acoustic collage with Gerstner and Deris on guitars. Deris is a cunning old tomcat of music and knew how to squeeze the most out of the calmer moments with a sensitive approach, putting a tear on the face of mostly the gentler part of the audience. Before the finish came one of the nicest surprises in the repertoire of the current tour, Hanful of Pain (“Better Than Raw”, 1988), before the show tipped into its last phase, when the German Pumpkins played their most recognizable tunes, but on the other hand racked up the most minuses, mainly thanks to Deris’s needless speeches. If the “medley” of three Keeper of the Seventh Keys classics still managed to satisfy us, it was a different story with the dismal rendition of the famous anthem I Want Out, where Deris, with (over)long speeches, warming up and egging on the crowd, and needless jokes, completely destroyed its epic feel. The final phase of the show belonged entirely to fans of the classic Helloween (the Kai Hansen era was, by the way, surprisingly well represented), who treated us in the encore to the charging Ride The Sky, Future World and, as the cherry on top of the Zagreb story, Dr. Stein. During the closing number nobody stepped up as a hero to dress up as the evil doctor and go wild on stage with the band in “The Stooges – Fun House” style.
Helloween left the audience with mixed feelings. It’s always a pleasure to meet the legendary Pumpkins live, but a bitter aftertaste remains, because a show an hour and a half long could have been much more intense. While Gerstner’s and Löble’s solo spots can still be sat through calmly and with pleasure, the same can’t be said for needlessly stretching out the classics and (over)repeating the choruses. Don’t get me wrong. The seasoned old tomcats do the show professionally, they enjoy it and have fun, and it’s precisely this sincere love of creating and playing music, shown once again, that’s the main reason we could call the Zagreb dress rehearsal before the Ljubljana show a success.
words: Urban Bolta
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
HELLOWEEN:
1.Intro (AC/DC – For Those About to Rock / Happy Happy Halloween / Who is Mr.Madman?)
2. Are You Metal?
3. Eagle Fly Free
4. March Of Time
5. Guitar intro (Sascha)
6. Where The Sinners Go
7. World Of Fantasy
8. Drum solo
9. I’m Alive
10. Forever And One
11. Handfull Of Pain
12. MEDLEY: – Keeper Of The Seven Keys – King Of A Thousand Years – Halloween
13. I Want Out
—encore I.—
14. Ride The Sky
15. Future World
—encore II.—
16. Dr. Stein
STRATOVARIUS:
1.Hunting High and Low
2.Speed of Light
3.The Kiss Of Judas
4.Winter Skies
5.Darkest Hours
6.Stratosphere
7.Phoenix
8.Forever
9.Black Diamond
AVATAR:
1. The Great Pretender
2. Roadkill
3. Shattered Wings
4. Reload
5. Deeper Down
6. Pigfucker
7. Queen of Blades
