Official Helloween thread v. Pumpkins United

[TAC]

Seeing this lineup in just a few hours, holy shit! Never thought I will actually see Helloween with Kiske on board. I saw Kiske a few times with Avantasia, but this just isn't the same. Sooo excited now.

[Evermind]

Holy shit, the place was packed.

Great gig, except setlist could've been better. They took out both ballads from the set (which I was really looking forward to, never saw Tale That Wasn't Right with Kiske live) and included the new Pumpkins United song (which I don't really like). It was awesome to see other classics from Keepers and even some older songs with Kai. Two epics were the absolute highlight of the night.

But yeah, fantastic gig overall.

[MirrorMask]

I remember my comments at the show two songs in: "I'm already happy this way"  everything else was just a bonus. Indeed a glorious concerts, glad that you're all having fan those of you who are seeing it now!

[Grappler]

US tour is coming up.  Sad that I'm going to miss it, but at least we will be getting a....

NEW ALBUM WITH KISKE AND KAI!   

UNBEATABLE! 💥

Among the massive PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR's absolute open air highlights were, of course, the headliner slots at Wacken, Barcelona's Rock Fest and Masters of Rock – but also the mega gigs with Iron Maiden at Sweden Rock Festival and Florence's Firenze Rocks in June definitely were shows for all eternity.

For those, who mysteriously missed the tour, goosebumps footage of the PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR, will be released as a live CD as well as on DVD and Blu-ray beginning of 2019!!! As of now, the wait until the release can be shortened with a stream of the full Wacken show at Magenta Music 360 right here:

https://www.magenta-musik-360.de/helloween-pumpkins-united-...

BUT HERE IT COMES!

As we are still indulging in the Wacken encore or preparing for the show in Las Vegas/ USA, those maniacs are already launching the next sensation: For starters, Nuclear Blast has insisted to keep the band on their roster for a few more years, and – double bass drum roll – there'll actually be a brand-new STUDIO ALBUM with KISKE AND HANSEN. When the band around songwriting trio Weikath, Hansen and Deris will be retreating to the studio together with these two exceptional singers in 2019, it's clear that the album scheduled for 2020 will be no less than EPIC. If this news doesn't make you go all dewy, your proper rock baptism might not have happened yet – the rest of us are way over the moon as of now, because:

THE PUMPKINS UNITED DREAM CONTINUES!

Thanks to everyone who has been with us until now!

Photo: Patricia Patah

FINAL SHOWS IN 2018

07. Sep USA / Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues
08. Sep USA / Los Angeles, CA The Palladium
10. Sep USA / Chicago, IL Concord Music Hall
12. Sep CAN / Montreal, QUE Metropolis
14. Sep USA / Worcester, MA Palladium
15. Sep USA / New York City Irving Plaza
16. Sep USA / New York City Irving Plaza

26. Okt COL/ Bogota Knot Fest
28. Okt SVL/ San Salvador CIFCO
31. Okt CHI / Santiago Movistar Arena **
02. Nov MEX / Mexico City Arena CDMX **
04. Nov MEX / Guadalajara Foro Alterno
08. Nov ARG / Buenos Aires Luna Park **

** special guests: KREATOR & ARCH ENEMY

06. Dez POR / Lissabon Sala TEJO
08. Dez ESP / Sant. de Compostela Fontes do Sar B.E.C
14. Dez GER / Ravensburg Oberschwabenhalle
15. Dez GER / Karlsruhe Knockout Festival
18. Dez SWE / Stockholm Arenan
21. Dez GER / Bamberg Brose Arena
22. Dez GER / Hamburg Sporthalle

[The Walrus]

Oh, another live album. That's wonderf-



DREAMS DO COME TRUE

[Indiscipline]

NEW ALBUM WITH KISKE AND KAI!   

[Samsara]

Absolutely killer. Can't wait for the show in LA, and now a new record with this lineup. Great, great news! 

[Mladen]

That's some good news right there.

[Mister Gold]

US tour is coming up.  Sad that I'm going to miss it, but at least we will be getting a....

NEW ALBUM WITH KISKE AND KAI!   

UNBEATABLE! 💥

Among the massive PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR's absolute open air highlights were, of course, the headliner slots at Wacken, Barcelona's Rock Fest and Masters of Rock – but also the mega gigs with Iron Maiden at Sweden Rock Festival and Florence's Firenze Rocks in June definitely were shows for all eternity.

For those, who mysteriously missed the tour, goosebumps footage of the PUMPKINS UNITED WORLD TOUR, will be released as a live CD as well as on DVD and Blu-ray beginning of 2019!!! As of now, the wait until the release can be shortened with a stream of the full Wacken show at Magenta Music 360 right here:

https://www.magenta-musik-360.de/helloween-pumpkins-united-...

BUT HERE IT COMES!

As we are still indulging in the Wacken encore or preparing for the show in Las Vegas/ USA, those maniacs are already launching the next sensation: For starters, Nuclear Blast has insisted to keep the band on their roster for a few more years, and – double bass drum roll – there'll actually be a brand-new STUDIO ALBUM with KISKE AND HANSEN. When the band around songwriting trio Weikath, Hansen and Deris will be retreating to the studio together with these two exceptional singers in 2019, it's clear that the album scheduled for 2020 will be no less than EPIC. If this news doesn't make you go all dewy, your proper rock baptism might not have happened yet – the rest of us are way over the moon as of now, because:

THE PUMPKINS UNITED DREAM CONTINUES!

Thanks to everyone who has been with us until now!

Photo: Patricia Patah

FINAL SHOWS IN 2018

07. Sep USA / Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues
08. Sep USA / Los Angeles, CA The Palladium
10. Sep USA / Chicago, IL Concord Music Hall
12. Sep CAN / Montreal, QUE Metropolis
14. Sep USA / Worcester, MA Palladium
15. Sep USA / New York City Irving Plaza
16. Sep USA / New York City Irving Plaza

26. Okt COL/ Bogota Knot Fest
28. Okt SVL/ San Salvador CIFCO
31. Okt CHI / Santiago Movistar Arena **
02. Nov MEX / Mexico City Arena CDMX **
04. Nov MEX / Guadalajara Foro Alterno
08. Nov ARG / Buenos Aires Luna Park **

** special guests: KREATOR & ARCH ENEMY

06. Dez POR / Lissabon Sala TEJO
08. Dez ESP / Sant. de Compostela Fontes do Sar B.E.C
14. Dez GER / Ravensburg Oberschwabenhalle
15. Dez GER / Karlsruhe Knockout Festival
18. Dez SWE / Stockholm Arenan
21. Dez GER / Bamberg Brose Arena
22. Dez GER / Hamburg Sporthalle

If ever there was a sign of a loving, benevolent God...

I am PUMPED for this!

[Polarbear]

Man, it's going to be a long wait for 2020!

I always wondered if this lineup could also work in a studio environment. I guess we are about to find out..

[wolfking]

Wow, a full album.  That's wicked.

[TAC]

FINAL SHOWS IN 2018

07. Sep USA / Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues
08. Sep USA / Los Angeles, CA The Palladium
10. Sep USA / Chicago, IL Concord Music Hall
12. Sep CAN / Montreal, QUE Metropolis
14. Sep USA / Worcester, MA Palladium
15. Sep USA / New York City Irving Plaza
16. Sep USA / New York City Irving Plaza

Finally got around to buying my tickets

Been waiting 30 years for this show.
Actually it'll 31 years almost to the day that I saw the original Keeprs Pt.1 tour.

[The Walrus]

TAC, has anyone told you you're old? 

[Samsara]

FINAL SHOWS IN 2018

07. Sep USA / Las Vegas, NV House Of Blues
08. Sep USA / Los Angeles, CA The Palladium
10. Sep USA / Chicago, IL Concord Music Hall
12. Sep CAN / Montreal, QUE Metropolis
14. Sep USA / Worcester, MA Palladium
15. Sep USA / New York City Irving Plaza
16. Sep USA / New York City Irving Plaza

Finally got around to buying my tickets

Been waiting 30 years for this show.
Actually it'll 31 years almost to the day that I saw the original Keeprs Pt.1 tour.

I am with you buddy. 31 years since I became a fan -- FINALLY going to see Kiske/Hansen and Helloween do those songs I loved from Keepers 1 and 2. Just a couple of weeks of waiting left!

[MirrorMask]

So Kiske's and especially Sacha's songwriting is not required? anyway, MORE THAN EXCELLENT NEWS

It was also the only logical step forward. Where do you go from a massively successful reunion tour? to another standard album with people complaining at shows about how Deris sings Eagle Fry Free? unless they all hated each other, this was the only way to go forward, let's hope they'll all ride into the sunset together.

[wolfking]

So Kiske's and especially Sacha's songwriting is not required? anyway, MORE THAN EXCELLENT NEWS

I wonder how much involvement Sascha will actually have.  He probably still will have some ideas, they probably worded it that way in the press conference to make it sound more vintage and impressive.  Marcus would obvioulsy have ideas also.

[Polarbear]

So Kiske's and especially Sacha's songwriting is not required? anyway, MORE THAN EXCELLENT NEWS

I wonder how much involvement Sascha will actually have.  He probably still will have some ideas, they probably worded it that way in the press conference to make it sound more vintage and impressive.  Marcus would obvioulsy have ideas also.

In the past I believe Sascha has penned a couple of songs per album, and Markus generally has penned one per album. Andi, Kai and Weiki were behind the "Pumpkins United" single, so it makes sense for them to be the main songwriters going forward. Andi and Weiki have been the most active songwriters in the post Kiske era of the band.

So "The band around the songwriting trio.." probably means: Andi, Kai and Weiki will be the driving force, with Sascha, Markus and possibly even Kiske throwing in some ideas for good measure.

I just can't wait to hear what a Helloween album with two lead singers and four backing vocalists will sound like. That is going to be friggin' huge!

[wolfking]

So Kiske's and especially Sacha's songwriting is not required? anyway, MORE THAN EXCELLENT NEWS

I wonder how much involvement Sascha will actually have.  He probably still will have some ideas, they probably worded it that way in the press conference to make it sound more vintage and impressive.  Marcus would obvioulsy have ideas also.

In the past I believe Sascha has penned a couple of songs per album, and Markus generally has penned one per album. Andi, Kai and Weiki were behind the "Pumpkins United" single, so it makes sense for them to be the main songwriters going forward. Andi and Weiki have been the most active songwriters in the post Kiske era of the band.

So "The band around the songwriting trio.." probably means: Andi, Kai and Weiki will be the driving force, with Sascha, Markus and possibly even Kiske throwing in some ideas for good measure.

I just can't wait to hear what a Helloween album with two lead singers and four backing vocalists will sound like. That is going to be friggin' huge!

That's pretty much what I was alluding too, and probably very accurate.

[TAC]

Just watched this video:
https://open.spotify.com/track/0rrbCnHIQ3XzeN5m159yVl?si=6oWkjVFvSSq-OQSmv2qxYg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZBGtjvWybU

There's literally tears in my eyes. My wife was like WTF are you watching? I say.....Helloween. Which of course was met with an eyeroll. 

Two weeks! I cannot wait.


And I have to say this....I have mad respect for Andi Deris. 

[The Walrus]

You were watching a still image of a song by an unrelated band? Fetch the hearing aid and the reading glasses!

[TAC]

You were watching a still image of a song by an unrelated band? Fetch the hearing aid and the reading glasses!

Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V....what's the difference?

[wolfking]

Just watched this video:
https://open.spotify.com/track/0rrbCnHIQ3XzeN5m159yVl?si=6oWkjVFvSSq-OQSmv2qxYg


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZBGtjvWybU

There's literally tears in my eyes. My wife was like WTF are you watching? I say.....Helloween. Which of course was met with an eyeroll. 

Two weeks! I cannot wait.


And I have to say this....I have mad respect for Andi Deris. 

What does Andi have to do with that vid?  Because he wasn't in it?

[TAC]

What does Andi have to do with that vid?  Because he wasn't in it?

That's why I respect him!

Seriously though, he sings quite a bit in the second half of the song. But It's not vocally that I respect him. I've always been lukewarm on him vocally.

But I meant in general, the interplay between him and Kiske is fantastic. I've watched a ton of vids from this tour, and their interaction feels so genuine. I like that. I mean, when do these kinds of things look like this? VH's tour with Sammy and DLR was a clusterfuck.

I just think that Deris comes off as a really cool guy, who is secure in his own thing, when obviously the draw here is Kiske and Kai. Deris stepped in for Kiske and has lead Helloween to a really successful career.

[MirrorMask]

Also, he's probably happy that he doesn't have to sing Eagle Fly Free (and be criticized for it) anymore. Which is basically all the thanks he gets for having, as you said, helped to recover Helloween which were basically done in 1993 and helming them to 20 years of sometimes good, sometimes great albums, to which he provided his songwriting skills, while being one of the very best frontmen of the entire genre. He was never afraid of the reunion (I remember a video interview of some years ago where he said that he wouldn't mind to let Kiske join in the encore and be backstage for 3 songs or stuff like that) and, as the true "master of the house" since 1994, welcomed Kiske back without ego or insecurities and eased him back into the fold.

He also looks like being actually a very cool and chill dude, maybe it helps that he lives on Tenerife. Think of it, the dude lives all the time on an island. He has his studio there, so when it's time to write an album, he works from home. And then whe he leaves home, he does it to tour the world and have concerts with screaming fans all around. No wonder he always seem happy and uplifted.

[TAC]

Dead on, Mask. Totally agree.

[wolfking]

What does Andi have to do with that vid?  Because he wasn't in it?

That's why I respect him!

Seriously though, he sings quite a bit in the second half of the song. But It's not vocally that I respect him. I've always been lukewarm on him vocally.

But I meant in general, the interplay between him and Kiske is fantastic. I've watched a ton of vids from this tour, and their interaction feels so genuine. I like that. I mean, when do these kinds of things look like this? VH's tour with Sammy and DLR was a clusterfuck.

I just think that Deris comes off as a really cool guy, who is secure in his own thing, when obviously the draw here is Kiske and Kai. Deris stepped in for Kiske and has lead Helloween to a really successful career.

I skipped through the vid to be honest.  I got into Helloween via Deris, I love him.

[Samsara]

This sucks. I can't go this weekend in LA. Still waiting to hear from EnterTheVault about transferring my ticket. If I can, anyone near LA that wants to go? I'd let it go for $30 (it cost me $62.25, total). Hopefully ETV gets back to me.

[TAC]

This sucks. I can't go this weekend in LA. Still waiting to hear from EnterTheVault about transferring my ticket. If I can, anyone near LA that wants to go? I'd let it go for $30 (it cost me $62.25, total). Hopefully ETV gets back to me.

Sam, THAT BLOWS!!!!!!

[Samsara]

I am not happy. But it is what it is. Other priorities. Thankfully, they are doing a Blu-ray/CD set, so I won't go without the experience completely. This is just a bad time of year. I knew when I booked it, there could be issues, so it is not a total surprise. Everything was refundable...except the ticket. So hoping to get SOMETHING back for it, or at least make sure it is used.

[The Walrus]

Saw them on Monday night. Extraordinary show, easily top 5 I've ever seen. Playing stuff from their whole career but there was a big emphasis on the early years and Kai, Kiske, and Deris all slayed their material. Sometimes they'd have two or all three on the same part and scream the high notes together which gave me chills a few times. Never thought this show would happen in my life.

Kiske fell off the stage at the end of How Many Tears, the last song before the encores started. He took a step back and his heel hit the edge of a section of the stage that was 'cut out' (don't know how else to describe it) and fumbled, took another step back and went straight down. Thankfully he got right back up and was okay. Here are some pics, click here for more.

[TAC]

Great shots K-lox. Seeing them on Friday.

[The Walrus]

Great shots K-lox. Seeing them on Friday.

Thanks! You're going to have such a great time. It's a show for the ages, no doubt.

[jjrock88]

Great shots K-lox. Seeing them on Friday.

Considering how much you love the Keeper albums, this upcoming concert will be huge for you!

The new live album should be awesome whenever it comes out.

[TAC]

You know it Jason. I am so psyched to see Kiske live. And Kai Hansen. I think Kai Hansen is an all timer.

Saw the original Keepers Pt.1 tour in 1987. I can't believe 31 years of waiting is down to 48 hours.

[The Walrus]

Tim is gonna nut when he hears all three singers hit high notes at the same time