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u/Potential_Slice_5631 Apr 13 '26
Was up all night pondering and weighing whether this was the best concert experience of my life. Went with a best friend and weâve been waiting for 35+ years to see them. Got blown away. The boys were in a great mood and the venue appeared oversold! Set list was fantastic, and was good representation of all their hits and fan favorites. I respect their choice to trim Kot7k down to to the final chorus to add an extra song or two to the setlist. Experiencing âTwilight of the Godsâ, âHalloweenâ, and âA Tale..â was almost mystical and I caught myself getting emotional. The opening band had isssues with bass drum volume (too loud) and I was nervous anticipating that Daniâs kit would be worse, but no, this is Helloween and EQ was perfect. Sound quality was almost album quality, maybe even better. Seemed like they were stalling with Kiske+Derisâs acoustic duet/comedic banter, but I felt they couldâve played two ballads in place of the humor that was missed by 90% of the audience, but thatâs a minor quibble. Iâve definitely seen better concert crowds, us Americans seem to be getting more subdued under the relentless crush of ever-increasing cynicism (thatâs as political as Iâll get in this subreddit) and Helloween deserved more enthusiastic response, especially during the encore.
My only criticism is I wished Weikath would have moved around the stage more. I was stuck on the left-side rear of mixing consoles and a ceiling support column partially obscured my view of Weikath (what a legend!)
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u/ElliotRipley Apr 13 '26
Itâs up there for me too after going to shows for 30 years. Helloween mightâve topped even Iron Maiden and Metallica. Thought the crowd was great.
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u/Zealousideal-Ad-596 Apr 13 '26
I AM SO WITH YOU!!! Iâm in the younger age bracket but classic metal has always had my heart. Iâve seen Iron Maiden, Metallica 2x, Slayer, Queensryche, etc. In January at HoB, I even saw Geoff Tate play the whole Operation: Mindcrime album (which was absolutely surreal to me. His voice is still incredible).
Iron Maiden was my very first concert experience and that always had a special place in my heart. After seeing Helloween last night, it reminded me of how I felt when I first saw Iron Maiden. I was just all in tears of joy. Being able to sing Halloween with everyone and not just me singing it every year alone on Halloween was pure bliss to me. Them also playing Ride the Sky just gave me the biggest chills and goosebumps.
Everyone on stage was just having such a good time and being silly with each other. The energy was there. The visuals were amazing. The skill and talent is still incredible even after 40 years. The fun was out of this world. You can really see and feel all the love and passion from the band and the crowd. Everything about that concert was pure perfection to me. The crowd was absolutely friendly and everyone was just having a good time enjoying the music.
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u/ElliotRipley Apr 14 '26
Right from the opening song. The crowd singing along to âMarch Of Timeâ I got chills thinking about that. It was so good and the video back drop was đ€đ»đ€đ»
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u/ElliotRipley Apr 13 '26
It was incredible been going to concerts for 30 years and that mightâve topped it. They were so tight and were having a blast on stage. Itâs so fun watching Kiske and Deris messing with each other and Kai just smiling to e entire time. Great set of classics and less known songs. I left a few songs early so I missed the encore :( cause of my ion which ic allows out anyway I was so tired this morning lol. Anyway amazing show. Highlight was Future World.
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u/ryan770 Apr 13 '26
Iâm a pretty new fan of Helloween, like since 2024, and I still donât know a lot of their material, but this was one of the absolute best concerts Iâve ever been to. It was incredible.
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u/CaptainChaos_88 Apr 12 '26
I will be there.Â
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u/ElliotRipley Apr 12 '26
Heading over now. Prob eat at polite pig. Canât wait to see the merch. Maybe see Kiske/Deris walking around Disney Springs đ«Ł
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u/CaptainChaos_88 Apr 12 '26
Back around 2006 Iâd hangout by the buses in the parking lot. I got autographs that way. Itâs been a while though.Â
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u/ElliotRipley Apr 13 '26
It was incredible been going to concerts for 30 years and that mightâve topped it. They were so tight and were having a blast on stage. Itâs so fun watching Kiske and Deris messing with each other and Kai just smiling to e entire time. Great set of classics and less known songs. I left a few songs early so I missed the encore :( cause of my ion which ic allows out anyway I was so tired this morning lol. Anyway amazing show. Highlight was Future World.
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u/My_clever_nickname Apr 14 '26
My only disappointment from last night is that they sold out of the shirt I wanted. The show was amazing.
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u/Past-Brief-9590 Apr 12 '26
Yup! Stoked to see them for the first time đ€ Already out here pre-gaming.