Official Helloween thread v. Pumpkins United

[NotePad]

I like the name Pumpkins United. As great as they are when they play it straight, ie Dark Ride, they've always had that quirky german humour.

I like the song. But i kinda wish it was just Andi and Kiske on vocals. I am not a fan of Kai's vocals. Although if there is a new album with the whole United crew, his songwriting would definitely be welcomed.

[MirrorMask]

Nerd stuff: when you register for the free download of the song on their site, you can see the legalities on the Impressum section of the site, and among other things it says:

LEGAL DISCLOsure

INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 5 TMG

HELLOWEEN GBR
KAISERALLEE 62
76185 KARLSRUHE
GERMANY

REPRESENTED BY

ANDREAS DERIS
MICHAEL WEIKATH
MARKUS GROSSKOPF

So the Helloween name / brand is located formally in Karlsruhe and it's owned by the two original members who never left and Andi Deris?

[NotePad]

Weiki once said the name Helloween was owned by Ingo's brother. Perhaps that has changed since then.

[wolfking]

I will obviously have to listen to it again. First listen was goid but didn't blow me away.

[Enigmachine]

Song is really cool, classic power metal with a nice bit of heaviness in the post-chorus (the "red hot" thing). I think the three vocalist thing was a little muddled though. I think that it should've been one verse = one vocalist rather that switching every few lines. It was all just a bit "oh look there's Kai Hansen, now there's Michael Kiske!" in the space of a few seconds.

I hope all of this Pumpkins United stuff doesn't get in the way of the band producing another album.

[wolfking]

Nerd stuff: when you register for the free download of the song on their site, you can see the legalities on the Impressum section of the site, and among other things it says:

LEGAL DISCLOsure

INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 5 TMG

HELLOWEEN GBR
KAISERALLEE 62
76185 KARLSRUHE
GERMANY

REPRESENTED BY

ANDREAS DERIS
MICHAEL WEIKATH
MARKUS GROSSKOPF

So the Helloween name / brand is located formally in Karlsruhe and it's owned by the two original members who never left and Andi Deris?

Interesting that Deris has ownership of the name too.  I wonder when that actually happened.

I hope all of this Pumpkins United stuff doesn't get in the way of the band producing another album.

This is my fear too.

[Kwyjibo]

The suffix GbR is the name of a legal form of a company in Germany. And the three members listed are the representatives of that company. Not sure if that means they own the band name too. Probably only when the company owns the band name and not one single person.

[Polarbear]

I have listened the new song a few times now, and really grown to love it!

This song to me is also further proof, that they could absolutely pull this off as a full time thing.

At first listen, hearing them sing together was weird and pretty distracting. Second and third time, their vocal harmonies felt like a second nature. This setup also allows them to utilize the different voices of Andi and Michael more effectively.

Let Kiske do the high-pitched choruses, since Andi is clearly not comfortable with that. Let Deris do the lower register singing, with the occasional scream like in the new song. Throw in some backing vocals from Kai!

[MirrorMask]

Let Kiske do the high-pitched choruses, since Andi is clearly not comfortable with that. Let Deris do the lower register singing, with the occasional scream like in the new song. Throw in some backing vocals from Kai!

Indeed! It's great how the song seems perfectly tailored to all singers - Kiske's parts are so, well, Kiske-ish, and Andi's "red hot!" harsh screams are something typical from his songs. This is a brilliant combination that works better than we could hope for!

[The Walrus]

It would be a dream come true to have a full album, at least, of Kiske-Kai-Deris, but then on the other hand I feel like it's just diminishing Andi's role in the band and all the music they've put out with him over the years. Not like they've ever really gotten out of filling their sets with Kiske material instead of just moving on and playing only-Deris sets...

[TAC]

, but then on the other hand I feel like it's just diminishing Andi's role in the band 

Isn't that the point?

[MirrorMask]

It would be a dream come true to have a full album, at least, of Kiske-Kai-Deris, but then on the other hand I feel like it's just diminishing Andi's role in the band and all the music they've put out with him over the years. Not like they've ever really gotten out of filling their sets with Kiske material instead of just moving on and playing only-Deris sets...

Well, last tour they opened with 2 Kiske songs, and closed with 2 Kiske songs. Everything in between was from the Deris era

[The Walrus]

It would be a dream come true to have a full album, at least, of Kiske-Kai-Deris, but then on the other hand I feel like it's just diminishing Andi's role in the band and all the music they've put out with him over the years. Not like they've ever really gotten out of filling their sets with Kiske material instead of just moving on and playing only-Deris sets...

Well, last tour they opened with 2 Kiske songs, and closed with 2 Kiske songs. Everything in between was from the Deris era

And then Kiske and Kai show up  But that's good, I didn't follow their tour for the last album, strongly disliked it.

, but then on the other hand I feel like it's just diminishing Andi's role in the band 

Isn't that the point?

[Samsara]

Re: ownership of Helloween brand

It would not surprise me in the slightest if Deris was an official owner of the brand. He's been with them for what now, 27 years? Makes sense that they would have worked him into the corporate ownership by now. I can't think of other examples at the moment off the top of my head, but it has been done before.

Re: Pumpkins United (the song)

I like it. It sounds like Helloween, and hearing all the singers is cool. I have always preferred Kiske to Deris. And Hansen is obviously a throwback to the band's first couple of releases, which are more thrash than anything. I appreciate the token track from this whole Pumpkins United "era" of the band, and hope it is a permanent thing. I enjoy post-Kiske Helloween to a degree, but as I said, to me, Kiske is the band's classic singer. Having all of them together (if it works both ego-wise and money-wise) would be a treat. Still fingers crossed for 2018 U.S. dates.

[The Walrus]

Still fingers crossed for 2018 U.S. dates.

On every email from enterthevault.com I've received the last several months at the very bottom it reads "Stay tuned for..." followed by several bands, one of which is Helloween. I fully expect a Pumpkins United tour, however small, to come to the USA next year.

[Samsara]

Still fingers crossed for 2018 U.S. dates.

On every email from enterthevault.com I've received the last several months at the very bottom it reads "Stay tuned for..." followed by several bands, one of which is Helloween. I fully expect a Pumpkins United tour, however small, to come to the USA next year.

[devieira73]

A brazilian rock site reported that the 2 shows in Brazil will be filmed for a bluray release:
https://whiplash.net/materias/news_774/271880-helloween.html
I found interesting that these are the second and third shows of the tour, right?

[MirrorMask]

They're probably picking the crowd, rather than the show. They'll know the south american fans will go nuts, and the singers will all be fresh and rested anyway. And delaying too late the recording may avoid also that Kiske and Weikath suddenly turn on each other again 

Anyway, tour's starting tonight, so now my quest to arrive at my own concert in an exact month without knowing the setlist begins. So long, thread!

[devieira73]

Yes, good points!

[Mladen]

I'm seeing the band in about a month, so there's no chance to avoid the set list until then. I'll stick around and discuss it with you guys.

[MirrorMask]

I'm seeing the band in about a month, so there's no chance to avoid the set list until then.

Don't read this thread.
Don't watch on YouTube Helloween videos, 'cause the newest ones will be shown as suggestion.
Don't follow on Facebook groups or pages about Helloween.

That's what I did with Iron Maiden last year, and I was able to know next to nothing of the setlist; I stumbled only on clips of Fear of the Dark (uuuuuh who would have guessed) and Death or Glory (which I thought they'd play, but I didn't want proper confirmation until the show).

Yeah, I'm kinda an extremist when it comes to avoid setlist spoilers

[Mladen]

Don't read this thread.
Don't watch on YouTube Helloween videos, 'cause the newest ones will be shown as suggestion.
Don't follow on Facebook groups or pages about Helloween.

Not reading this thread isn't impossible, but what might be a problem is that suggestions would pop up on YouTube all the time, and I would immediately have to unfollow dozens and dozens of friends on Facebook that could spoil the set list for me. That's quite difficult. 

[MirrorMask]

Yeah, FB friends are the real wild card. Luckily, even though I have many metalheads on FB, no one miracolously posted YouTube videos of Maiden concerts in the months before the concert, I was lucky 

[Samsara]

A brazilian rock site reported that the 2 shows in Brazil will be filmed for a bluray release:
https://whiplash.net/materias/news_774/271880-helloween.html
I found interesting that these are the second and third shows of the tour, right?

HELL YES.

[Evermind]

I'll see this in April 2018, there's no way I'm going to hold on. I'll search the setlist and look at it as soon as it appears anywhere.

[Eldomm]

There is indeed a setlist of Mexico show in their Facebook site! Some surprises I'd say...

[wolfking]

The setlist is actually totally different to the one we thought might have been from that video with Andi and the songs on the whiteboard.  I think they've put together a very good set, and fans can't really be disappointed IMO.

[Mladen]

The set list is tremendous. 

[Art]

Love the setlist, excited for the show next week!!!! 

[Samsara]

My Lord that setlist is absolutely amazing. Fingers and toes crossed for a west coast date or two of the U.S. next year. Man...incredible setlist.

[jjrock88]

Ok I'm ready for the live album today!!

[The Silent Cody]

Love the setlist, excited for the show next week!!!! 

Mine is 28th od November, can't wait too, and I don't want to see the setlist before the show

[Art]

Love the setlist, excited for the show next week!!!! 

Mine is 28th od November, can't wait too, and I don't want to see the setlist before the show

Have a great show! 

[TAC]

Link to the setlist or a PM please.

[Art]

Link to the setlist or a PM please.

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/helloween/2017/escena-monterrey-mexico-be3c13a.html