Official Helloween thread v. Pumpkins United

[pg1067]

Who knew Lyft would create such controversy.

I'm just LOL'ing at this discussion.

I'm usually with Tim, but Uber and Lyft are no different than taxi service or car service at this point.  I think I've taken fewer than five taxi rides in my life, but I've used Lyft dozens of times (I used Uber once and, at the time, you couldn't tip on the app, but you could with Lyft, so that's the one I'm familiar with).  Yeah...I could rent a car, but it'll cost me $50+, plus gas, plus parking, whereas a Lyft from DEN to LoDo is probably $20-25 (and no, you're not walking/running that trip).

[Ben_Jamin]

Who knew Lyft would create such controversy.

I'm just LOL'ing at this discussion.

I'm usually with Tim, but Uber and Lyft are no different than taxi service or car service at this point.  I think I've taken fewer than five taxi rides in my life, but I've used Lyft dozens of times (I used Uber once and, at the time, you couldn't tip on the app, but you could with Lyft, so that's the one I'm familiar with).  Yeah...I could rent a car, but it'll cost me $50+, plus gas, plus parking, whereas a Lyft from DEN to LoDo is probably $20-25 (and no, you're not walking/running that trip).

Exactly. It was actually $18 from my hotel. I also got a hotel close to the airport for this very reason. It was astonishingly a lot more to get from the airport to my hotel.

All the drivers I had were very nice. Only one wasn't and I gave that person a low rating. The only way to rid of the bad drivers is to rate them low, it does affect their business and how many people they can pick up.

[Samsara]

TODAY! 😬🤘

[Samsara]

That. Was. Awesome.

And I am looking forward to doing it all over again on Saturday, with a better view.

More later...

🤘

[TAC]

Great pics Brian. Thank you. I've been afraid to text you too early. 

[Samsara]

Vids - https://youtube.com/@nexuschord

Already en route back home, Tim! Stryper tonight and encore with Helloween tomorrow!

[Grappler]

I'll have to watch each of those videos.  It's awesome that they're playing Save Us!

[Samsara]

It was weird. No one knew it. Even though it was on the main  tracklist of the US release (not in Europe), folks had no clue. I loved it!!!!

Really excited for Saturday. I may just prop the phone up in  front of me (not blocking anyone) and record the whole thing. lol. Prob not, but Ill get Keeper, I Want Out, Best Time, Skyfall, Mass Pollution at the very least.

[TAC]

Vids - https://youtube.com/@nexuschord

The video on the backdrop of Save Us is strange. 

[pg1067]

It was weird. No one knew it. Even though it was on the main  tracklist of the US release (not in Europe), folks had no clue. I loved it!!!!

Really excited for Saturday. I may just prop the phone up in  front of me (not blocking anyone) and record the whole thing. lol. Prob not, but Ill get Keeper, I Want Out, Best Time, Skyfall, Mass Pollution at the very least.

People didn't know Save Us??  It's one of the best songs on Keeper 2!

Oddly, I was playing Keeper 2 in my car yesterday, and screen came up with March of Time, but it played Save Us.  I didn't actually get far enough to see whether it would play MOT but display Save Us on the screen.

By the way, how was Hammerfall?  I'm trying to plan my afternoon and when I leave to go up to Inglewood.

[wolfking]

Wasn't Save Us a bonus track on some editions?

[TAC]

Save Us was on my original cassette.  I know when they started with CD, the running order got all fucked.

[Samsara]

HammerFall had a lot of fans. They played well. But honestly, not a big fan. Ill caputre a couple of the songs I liked on Saturday. But I probably won't buy a record or see them on Sumday when they headline.

[TAC]

By the way, how was Hammerfall?  I'm trying to plan my afternoon and when I leave to go up to Inglewood.

Paul, personally, I love Hammerfall. They're a perfect mashup of 80's metal/hard rock of Saxon, Accept, Priest, Helloween, and Dokken. I'd put their best songs against anybody's. They were a bucket list type band for me to see, as far as bands that I got into as an actual adult with a family. Their singer is great too.
My only beef was that I didn't love their setlist, and it tailed off significantly for the last few songs. And they used some piped in gang backing vocals. But they were quite tight, and they hit the spot for me.

[pg1067]

Save Us was on my original cassette.  I know when they started with CD, the running order got all fucked.

I've never known the album without it (I'm pretty sure I only ever had it on CD).

By the way, how was Hammerfall?  I'm trying to plan my afternoon and when I leave to go up to Inglewood.

Paul, personally, I love Hammerfall. They're a perfect mashup of 80's metal/hard rock of Saxon, Accept, Priest, Helloween, and Dokken. I'd put their best songs against anybody's. They were a bucket list type band for me to see, as far as bands that I got into as an actual adult with a family. Their singer is great too.
My only beef was that I didn't love their setlist, and it tailed off significantly for the last few songs. And they used some piped in gang backing vocals. But they were quite tight, and they hit the spot for me.

A guy at my office pulled up one of their songs on Spotify and it sounded good - at least good enough for me not to arrive late intentionally.

[TAC]

Hammerfall's catalog can be kind of a minefield, as most bands are. Their first 4 albums are outstanding. Their latest, Hammer Of Dawn, is excellent. Their lyrics can be a bit cheesey. Be ready to be amongst The Templars Of Los Angeles.

I got into them years ago after their second album, Legacy Of Kings, which is excellent. We used to drive to Disney, and I wanted to basically blind buy a CD by a newish band. I downloaded a song by Stratovarious, Sym X, and Hammerfall, and gave each band a one song audition. The Hammerfall song I downloaded was Heeding The Call, which ironically reminded me so much of 80's Helloween, and bought it right away.

[Grappler]

Heeding the Call is my favorite song from Hammerfall.  I love that one e.

[cramx3]

HammerFall had a lot of fans. They played well. But honestly, not a big fan. Ill caputre a couple of the songs I liked on Saturday. But I probably won't buy a record or see them on Sumday when they headline.

This is how I feel, but I think they are worth checking out if you are on the fence. Solid show.

[MirrorMask]

The point with Hammerfall is that they've been around long enough (and with enough line up changes, even though the mastermind and the singer have always been the same) that like all other bands had their average albums, but if you like this kind of music, their 10-15 best songs stand up good against most of the band of the genre.

I was a big fan in the beginning, kinda got bored with them, but still when they headlined a festival I was already attending for other bands I watched their full show and enjoyed it, they still got it. My advice for anyone going to the show for Helloween is to definitively not miss Hammerfall, I mean, you already paid the ticket anyway, just enjoy another show, it's power metal in the same ballpark of what Helloween do, at worst space out a bit during the songs you don't like or check your phone, it's not that they're two completely different genres...

[wolfking]

Hammerfall were my introduction to power metal.  Those first three albums blew me away.

[Samsara]

Round 2 for me tonight! Can't wait! 

Saw that Chris Jericho sang Best Time last night in LA with Andi and Michael. Blah. But hoping tonight if they have a guest, it's someone better. Last night of the U.S. tour I believe. Hopefully they pull out all the stops.

[TAC]

Chris Jericho? Who fucking cares??

[jjrock88]

Chris Jericho? Who fucking cares??

You're kicking Winnipeg and Kenny Omega right in the nuts.

[ZKX-2099]

Appreciate the ocho.

[pg1067]

Saw that Chris Jericho sang Best Time last night in LA with Andi and Michael. Blah. But hoping tonight if they have a guest, it's someone better. Last night of the U.S. tour I believe. Hopefully they pull out all the stops.

Who the heck is he?  He claimed that his last name was BECAUSE OF Helloween.  Fucking what?

Anyway, what a fucking amazing show!  For starters, it was at the YouTube Theater, which is a weird little add-on to SoFi Stadium.  Yesterday was my first time seeing it.  Pretty impressive.  The lake outside was a cool feature.  I got there early, and there was a group of high school graduates taking pictures.

After sitting in my car for a little while, I walked toward the theater.  Signage could have been better, but no problems.  Came upon the merch tent and bought myself a shirt with the Keeper 2 cover on the front.  There were a few food trucks, but I had already eaten (Fatburger!).  The odd thing was that I don't remember going through any sort of metal detector.  Didn't have take stuff out of my pockets, and no frisking.  Really nice building.  It's new, so it's still pristine.  Bought myself a $19 beer (including tip, which, in retrospect, I regret adding for nothing more than pulling a can out of a fridge and popping the tab).  Walked around a bit and then found my way to my seat.  They had a pit with no chairs up front and then theater style seating.  No carpeting, which I thought was odd.  The floor was entirely concrete.

Hammerfall came on.  Totally solid band.  My initial thought was that it was odd that Ian Hill and Johnny Winter had formed a band together.  Ha ha.  Tim, I definitely picked up on the piped in vocals - especially when Edgar Winter would walk away from his mic mid-vocal.  There was a lounge behind the middle seating area and I went and sat there for the last couple songs.

Helloween actually took the stage VERY quickly after Hammerfall finished (no more than 15 minutes).  Just amazing from start to finish.  A lot of the songs were relatively unfamiliar, except for listening to a playlist on Spotify on my way home from work and up to the concert.  I was surprised how much I liked Andy Deris and the Kiske seemingly hadn't lost a beat.  Holy crap!  Some of the notes that guy hit!  And the way they took turns and played off each other (with the occasional harmonization) was just brilliant!  The three guitarists really complimented each other (unlike another 3-guitar band I know where one seems completely superfluous).  I was really surprised how much Jericho material they played, and Forever and One was fucking beautiful.  The highlight, of course, was Keeper, although the placement in the set kinda ruined Perfect Gentleman.  I loved the intros they did - Andy and Michael introducing each other, and then Kai and Sacha Gerstner introducing everyone else.  But the biggest takeaway was that these guys were having a lot of fun, and that's infectious.  The only disappointment was nothing from Keeper 1.  One of the best concerts I've been to in a long time!

Just a few pics/links (last one is a video):

https://photos.app.goo.gl/FZnZ8K6AyDGoZaMj6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/pbiFtYwcQLWw8Han6

https://photos.app.goo.gl/xqqqGLcgPySu4Jm27

https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bm21YymfWLns7PJ99

[TAC]

Chris Jericho? Who fucking cares??

You're kicking Winnipeg and Kenny Omega right in the nuts.

Who in the hell is Kenny Omega??

[TAC]

Helloween actually took the stage VERY quickly after Hammerfall finished (no more than 15 minutes).  Just amazing from start to finish.  A lot of the songs were relatively unfamiliar, except for listening to a playlist on Spotify on my way home from work and up to the concert.  I was surprised how much I liked Andy Deris and the Kiske seemingly hadn't lost a beat.  Holy crap!  Some of the notes that guy hit!  And the way they took turns and played off each other (with the occasional harmonization) was just brilliant!  The three guitarists really complimented each other (unlike another 3-guitar band I know where one seems completely superfluous).  I was really surprised how much Jericho material they played, and Forever and One was fucking beautiful.  The highlight, of course, was Keeper, although the placement in the set kinda ruined Perfect Gentleman.  I loved the intros they did - Andy and Michael introducing each other, and then Kai and Sacha Gerstner introducing everyone else.  But the biggest takeaway was that these guys were having a lot of fun, and that's infectious.  The only disappointment was nothing from Keeper 1.  One of the best concerts I've been to in a long time!

Pretty sure Future World was on Keeper Pt. 1.

What was unfamiliar to you? Do you not have the reunion album? Walls Of Jericho?
There were only 3 Deris Era tracks in the whole set (Power, Perfect Gentlemen, and Forever And One), and they were all played last time and were all on the live album.

[gazinwales]

Chris Jericho? Who fucking cares??

Ditto Hammerfall 

[TAC]

Chris Jericho? Who fucking cares??

Ditto Hammerfall 

[pg1067]

Pretty sure Future World was on Keeper Pt. 1.

You're right.  Not the song I'd have picked, but still a really good one.

[The Realm]

Pretty sure Future World was on Keeper Pt. 1.

You're right.  Not the song I'd have picked, but still a really good one.

Really? Could be my favourite Helloween song. Couldn't imagine seeing them live and them not playing Future World.

[MirrorMask]

Pretty sure Future World was on Keeper Pt. 1.

You're right.  Not the song I'd have picked, but still a really good one.

Really? Could be my favourite Helloween song. Couldn't imagine seeing them live and them not playing Future World.

Once they didn't play it, but it was when they had Gamma Ray opening and they played the song. Kai Hansen showed up for a medley in the encore. Those were the first steps towards the reunion I guess   

[Samsara]

San Francisco...12 songs from show: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJI-MjWF9aD_PhVrzsSNYESPz_fvPPuPl

I'll have a lot to post tomorrow, review-wise/travel log about Vegas and SF. But man, Kiske was on FIRE saturday night. Way better than Thursday.

[TAC]

Been watching some, Sam. Your videos have tremendous sound.

Looking forward to your comments.



While last night was the final night of the NA tour with Helloween, Hammerfall plays their final show tonight. They hit it hard while they were over here, scheduling their own headline shows on the off nights. They played a total of 21 shows in 24 days, and tonight is their 15th show in 16 days. Amazing.

[pg1067]

Pretty sure Future World was on Keeper Pt. 1.

You're right.  Not the song I'd have picked, but still a really good one.

Really? Could be my favourite Helloween song. Couldn't imagine seeing them live and them not playing Future World.

Ranking the songs on Keeper 1:

1. Halloween
2. Initiation/I'm Alive
3. A Little Time
4. Future World
5. Twilight of the Gods
6. A Tale That Wasn't Right
7. Follow the Sign

Fourth out of six songs (FTS doesn't really count, and, really, there was no competition for the #1 slot) on an album that doesn't have a bad song ain't bad.