HELLOWEEN
Capitol - Perth, Australia
October 20th 2015
German power metallers Helloween have been around for over 30 years now and the Australian tour proved that the band showed no signs of slowing down at all. With a massive back catalogue, one can only imagine how a setlist catered for the fans would be possible but as we found out at the last show on the Australian tour, the band managed to give us a balanced serving of both old classics and new songs.
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Opening up for the night was Silent Knight who had just come back from an east coast run in support of their new album "Conquer & Command". They were literally the perfect band to open for Helloween as their brand of power metal fitted nicely along with the headliners own material. One of the stand out things about this band is their general mood and vibe on stage, never have I seen a band as happy as they are to be performing live and it's a refreshing thing to see amongst a scene that is known for putting on a persona that can sometimes come across as completely fake and disingenuous.
Funnily enough, Helloween themselves put on the same kind of stage presence as well. As theatric as their music is and the colorful imagery that the band invoke, it's nothing but smiles from the band and making sure that the fans have a good time as well. Vocalist Andi Deris is a delight to watch, his animated performance a highlight in itself and despite a lack of interaction from the crowd early on in the night, Andi pushes on until he finally gets the crowd eating out of his hand. A sign of a true performer and something that has come down to years of experience. Vocally he was in top form, hitting all the notes and putting on one of the better vocal performances I have seen in some time.
The setlist was a great mix of old and new. "The classic "Dr. Stein" made it's way early on followed by the title track off the new album "My God Given Right" which is one of the highlights from the album. The band ended up playing a handful of new ones through the night including "Lost In America" which was inspired by a great story on their travels in South America and one of the best songs on the album, "Russian Roule" which has such a great riff driving the song. The band semed to really enjoy playing that one and rightly so, it's a fun song to hear! It was good to see tracks from 90's albums like "Master Of The Rings" and "The Time Of The Oath" but "The Dark Ride" had some heavier stuff like "Mr Torture" that was a definite crowd pleaser.
As much fun as the later Helloween stuff is, the crowd really responded to the older material, in particular "Power" and the medley of sorts including "Halloween" and "Are You Metal". Andi's inteeraction with the crowd and getting them to sing parts of the songs was instrumental in making it a top show for the fans as evident in closing track "I Want Out" which featured an extended bridge mid-way with fans chanting "Out" back at the band. It's hard not to fault the show, the band sounded fantastic, each member giving nothing but smiles and great energy back to the crowd and the setlist was enough to satisfy both casual and diehard fans. It was Helloween's first time in Perth but hopfully it won't be the last!
Photo Gallery - click to enlarge
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Review by Andrew "Schizodeluxe" Massie
Photos by Marc Buffman
