Concert Reviews - Gamma Ray/Helloween

Ah, Helloween. Helloween is one of the first metal bands I got into after Iron Maiden, along with Blind Guardian and Iced Earth. You can imagine my elation upon discovering their imminent concert at the Mac Hall Ballroom with Gamma Ray.

Gamma ray is, for lack of a better description, old Helloween. They were formed by Helloween's first singer (Uli Kusch also played for them before joining Helloween) and Kai Hanson sings for them to this day. So seeing Gamma Ray with Helloween is like seeing a band that sounds just like old Helloween playing with Helloween. Translation: pretty cool.

I've heard a song or two of Gamma Ray's here and there but otherwise I haven't paid much attention to them, being a bigger fan of new Helloween over the old stuff. So, being unfamiliar with most of Gamma Ray's songs, I was quite pleasantly surprised.

Kai Hanson from Gamma Ray, formerly of Helloween

The music was good, Kai Hanson sounds just like he used to and is really quite enjoyable to watch onstage, and, to my true enjoyment, they did a great rendition of Ride the Sky off Helloween's first CD, Walls of Jericho, which Kai Hanson sang on.

They played some pretty good songs, a newer one called Empress that was about being bitten by a vampire, or a princess, or perhaps both, and they got the crowd going pretty good to Heavy Metal Universe. Gamma Ray is also the first "opening" band I've ever seen to come back for an encore, though I suppose technically they were touring together, not so much as an opening. But to my elation, they played Send Me A Sign, which is pretty much the only Gamma Ray song I know, and I'm rather fond of it.

Gamma Ray, Calgary 2008

Helloween was, ah, well, what can you say about Helloween? I really didn't know what to expect from Helloween. There were a lot of songs I was dying to hear but I didn't know what I was going to get because this was their first time in Calgary, and I would say that for a first time concert, a good selection of old favorites in with a couple newer ones is probably the way to go. That's pretty much what we got.

Andi Deris of Helloween

Andi Deris was phenomenal to watch. He's not quite as pretty in real life as photoshoots would lead you to believe but his voice is still unreal. He's also quite funny to watch, giving us lessons in German profanity and the like. He was also really good at getting the crowd all hyped up.

Michael Weikath of Helloween

Michael Weikath was an interesting sight to see. His visage is, like in most of his pictures, not unlike an old potato that's sprouted a quaff of fuzzy hair. He's a great player but has a bit of a cocky thing going on and tends to flick his wrist in a rather affeminate way, which I admit bothered me after I noticed it.

Sascha Gerstner of Helloween

Sascha Gerstner, I actually saw walk by me when I was buying a shirt but didn't recognise him as the newest and youngest member of the band. He was, along with Andi Deris, the one I enjoyed watching the most. He was far better looking than anyone else for one. Also, his style was just overall great. He's great to watch, he looks like he's having fun and not trying to impress anyone, he's just having a good time. And the music is great. I didn't know they had a second guitarist but I was pleased with the result for sure!

Markus Grosskopf of Helloween

Markus Grosskopf adds another member to the strangely misshapen old men of Helloween, however, his bass playing was catchy and enjoyable, as you can only hope from a bass player. Without him, it wouldn't have been Helloween right?

Dani Löble of Helloween, during a drum solo

Lastly is Dani Löble. If anyone has heard me talk about the drummer that has been with Helloween since Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy, you'd have heard a glowing report. In his own words, he is a "symbiosis" of Helloween's two former drummers and I couldn't agree more. He takes the styles that both of the others had and uses the parts that work from each to make it his own. He actually did a drum solo in the middle of the show that rather blindsided me with amazement. He to this day remains one of my favorite drummers to listen to. It's nice to see the drumming in a band stand out to me.

Musically, they did have a pretty good selection in the manner I had expected - old favorites with a few well-known (singles) new ones thrown in. They had a nice creepy-ish intro, just as I expected, and opened up with Andi Deris belting out Kai Hanson's old tune, Halloween! After a brilliant rendition of Halloween, they also played such old favorites as Sole Survivor, Mr. Torture, If I Could Fly, Eagle Fly Free, Dr. Stein, and a couple others I couldn't place. They did play two songs off Gambling With the Devil, which were As Long As I Fall (one of the songs I wanted to hear) and Paint a New World, which I didn't care much about hearing, but was still really good.

In regards to the song selection, I really can't complain. Hearing Andi Deris sing those old songs of Kai Hanson's really was a treat. I absolutely love Deris's voice and I was really stoked to hear it in those old songs. I mean, I would've loved to hear songs like Time of the Oath, The Departed (known to many as my all-time favorite song ever), and Mrs. God (my theme song). Mrs. God was the only one I was truly disappointed not to hear. I didn't expect to hear the other two but I had hoped that they'd play at least one song off KotSK: Legacy and I knew if they did, it'd be that one. I mean, it's only their second oldest CD, you'd think they might've done it. But alas, no such luck for me. Not that I'm complaining, they've got a lot of great music and you can't expect to hear everything you want in one concert. Looks like I'll just have to go see them again, yes?

The encore was a particularly good treat. They did two, for starters. The first was kind of a mashup of Master of the Rings songs, including Where the Rain Grows into a very crowd-involved long version of The Perfect Gentleman, which was pretty killer. Then of course, they came back WITH Gamma Ray for the second encore to play Future World and I Want Out (old Kai Hanson songs from early Helloween), which was unbelievable.

Helloween and Gamma Ray, united, playing the second encore of Future World and I Want Out

So what can I say? I thought this show was bloody brilliant and I hope to see them again and maybe I'll get to hear a couple more of those songs I missed out on last night. Gamma Ray is exactly what you need to warm you up for Helloween and overall I just thought it was great. Just... you know... try not to stand behind a big fat guy whose farts smell like he's shitting his pants. I really advise against that. Way to almost ruin a great concert for me buddy.

So my advice to Helloween fans is to go see them. The live experience will not disappoint.

Helloween: Andi, Sascha, Markus, Michael, and Dani in the back

Year: October 2008
Opening bands: Gamma Ray
Who I went with: Michael Widmer, Mike Wiseman, Andrea Wiseman, Frank Coetzer, Jaco Coetzer
Location: Calgary - Mac Hall Ballroom

Concert Reviews - Iron Maiden Calgary/Edmonton

Before I start anything, I must say that if you've seen my other reviews, this will be different. Other concerts were concerts. Iron Maiden was more than just a show to me, it was a dream and an experience. That being said...

I saw Iron Maiden in Calgary and Edmonton this week on the Somewhere Back in Time tour for the promotion of their live video of Live After Death. When trying to describe it, the first thoughts that come to my head are hhgahboralawfulyiocfvstvba

and then I start foaming at the mouth and gyrating a bit. Once the spell passes, I'm able to look back on it a bit more clearly.

Firstly, Lauren Harris, Steve Harris's daughter (the bassist from Iron Maiden), was the opening band. Her set was shockingly short at 30 minutes. My initial thought was, "this is cool." Then I thought that something seemed wrong. I felt like I wasn't listening to music. She could sing, and her musicians could more or less (for old dudes, way older than her) play their instruments, but it just didn't sound like music. She is gorgeous though.

Then came Iron Maiden. As someone who has loved Iron Maiden as long as I can recall loving music, this was a big deal. I hadn't really realized what I was doing, even when Churchill's speech started and the music for Aces High came out. It was only when I saw Bruce Dickinson step onstage that I realized where I was and what I was doing. I screamed instantly and almost fainted, collapsing a bit into my date.

I consider, and as far as I know my date concurs, that even if you don't listen to Iron Maiden, or if their music isn't really your thing, you will enjoy their concert. For me, I stood in shock, in a half-twitching/half-rocking out state, gaping blankly at the stage in disbelief. It took all of Aces High and 2 Minutes to Midnight for me to even regain proper function of myself. But then they played Revelations and I knew I would be able to die happy after hearing them.

I'm really happy to say these concerts were from the Somewhere Back in Time tour. It's like seeing them back in the day, sans Bruce with long hair. The Rock in Rio pants were exciting to see but it was all songs you would've heard if you had seen Maiden playing after their first 10 years of music, and that is an real treat, as they have so many CDs now that you'd be hard-pressed to hear all you wanted to hear in one show. The set was almost directly off their new best of, minus a few songs. Amongst those heard (along with the above listed) were The Trooper (featuring Bruce in Eddie's jacket waving the union jack flags in the traditional manner), Wasted Years (featuring a commentary by Bruce about how you shouldn't have any regrets, and as a band how they regret nothing), Number of the Beast (with Satan peering over the corner of the stage), Heaven Can Wait, Run to the Hills, Can I Play With Madness, Powerslave (featuring Bruce in a fancy mask), and an amazing rendition of Iron Maiden (which is SO much better with Bruce singing).

Highlights for me included Bruce's intro to The Rime of the Ancient Mariner: talking about how the original story is about having respect for God's creations, or in their version, how the song tells you what not to do when a bird shits on you. He made a rather cute/funny comment about how the Saddledome was the last remaining building of its kind (meaning its shape) and he was "concerned" about it being safe, as it was the only remaining one (leading us to jokingly think that the Saddledome is actually an endangered species). It was also an amazing song live... the backdrop was incredibly cool and Bruce wore some sort of fancy robe that seemed very fitting for the song.

Some more highlights included Nicko's birthday during the Calgary show, so Bruce and the crowd got up and sang happy birthday to the drummer. Edmonton highlights involved Bruce telling us that on that night they were supposed to be getting an award but they couldn't be there to accept it so they gave live feed from the concert with the raging crowd screaming for Maiden.

Another big moment for me was in Calgary, when Bruce went to start talking (he's amazing for talking to the crowd, incidentally, making jokes and just generally being interesting/amusing to listen to) and he got so blown away by the screaming that he just stopped talking and looked around with this massive grin on his face - for me, that is something I will remember for the rest of my life.

So the show ended with Iron Maiden (the song) but the encore was really intense. They played Moonchild, a song I NEVER expected to hear live, The Clairvoyant, and to my intense pleasure/joy/ecstasy, Hallowed Be Thy Name was the final song.

The best part about this show, is the expectant Eddie sighting. During Iron Maiden (the song), they actually play through the song once, and then a Powerslave Eddie face on the backdrop cracks open and the mummified Eddie comes out and they play through the song again while mummy Eddie waves his arms around and shakes the snakes in his mouth at the crowd. During the encore (The Clairvoyant), the Somewhere in Time Eddie came out (I can only assume a very talented man in a VERY large outfit) and walked around the stage, shooting people with his gun and playing some of the band members' instruments. Seeing Eddie was just something you HAVE to see if you are any sort of Maiden fan. Seeing two Eddie's is beyond comprehension.

So to summarize, even if you don't really like Iron Maiden... no... even if you don't like them, even if you've never heard of them... go to this concert. They are by far the best live band I have ever seen and more than likely ever will be. They have everything you could want in a concert, a cool stage, great performers (Adrien and Dave soloing and Janick's guitar tosses, as well as the classic Steve Harris style), the music and sound are fantastic no matter where you are in the building (I was in the stands and on the floor), they play as good if not better than it has ever been, Bruce's voice is an experience to blow you away, and generally, you get everything you could ever want out of a concert from them.

Seriously... go see Iron Maiden. Follow them from city to city. You will not be disappointed.

Year: June 2008
Opening bands: Lauren Harris
Who I went with: Ronnie Pendleton, Michael Widmer, Kelton Earl
Location: Calgary (Saddledome), Edmonton (Rexall Place)

Ps - As a last note, I want to give fair warning, not just to little girls like myself, but to pretty much anyone who goes to an Iron Maiden concert. Building up to this show, I had promised myself that I would be front and center on the floor in Edmonton. I got their plenty early and I was front and center with one guy in front of me. There were a good number of people around me that I had been talking to: Ronnie and Kelton were with me, two guys in their 40s-50s (an army guy and his friend) behind me, a biggish guy and his friend to my left along with his short fat wife and her shorter and fatter friend, a scrawny guy in front of me, his scrawny friend beside them, a cool girl from Grande Prairie (Alana) and her stalky friend Nathan (who were incidentally aquainted with the scrawny guys). We were all chatting before the concert and basically, Alana and Nathan were like Ronnie and I, a stalky guy protecting a little girl. However, it didn't turn out so well. After Lauren Harris finished, basically, we were unable to move. We were boxed in uncomfortably, and not so much from behind but from the sides. The more we all thought it couldn't get worse, the worse it got, until I was literally getting crushed to death. Before Maiden even came out on stage (under 30 minutes), I had to give up my front and center place for fear of dying because I was getting crushed. Everyone around us was really cool and the security people were very nice. I was choked that I didn't make it to the first song even, but I was able to linger on the sidelines long enough to see Bruce up close and right below him, which made it entirely worthwhile.

If I recall correctly, the army guy's friend was the next to bail, about 2 songs in, him or the two fat girls. Kelton got out sometime in there too. Then Alana got sent out after about 3 songs, and Ronnie himself bailed after 4 songs because he had someone's elbow in his neck and he was seeing spots.

So I want to give you fair warning - if you want to be front and center for an Iron Maiden concert, be prepared, it is likely to hurt and/or be very dangerous. If you can hold it, good, but be careful.