HELLOWEEN
Turbinenhalle - Oberhausen, Germany
April 8 2011

Helloween is one of my favourite bands so I always try to see a couple of dates on each tour. So, after the faboulous concert in Paris, the next step was to see them in Oberhausen.

The concert was orinally scheduled for February 5... and it was cancelled!

It seems that this tour is out of luck... Stratovarius cancelled in Paris and now Helloween cancels in Oberhausen because Andi Deris was sick.

Helloween moved the gig for April 8, but I had already my train tickets for february, so I ended up in the Netherlands, watching a great gig of Sodom in Eindhoven.

I went to Oberhausen in April and all 3 scheduled bands played: Pink Cream 69, Stratovarius and Helloween.
But this was just the begining of a Metal Weekend: The next day I saw the Swedish band Bullet with Enforcer and Skull Fist, plus Grave Digger was playing in Paris when I came back.

That was my answer to Helloween's question "Are You Metal?"!

Helloween's intro was AC/DC's classic For Those About To Rock.
Then the sinners came on stage with their new hymn: Are You Metal?
Good song to start the show!

Helloween were playing in their own country and they had all the support from their loyal fans. But I didn't expect to see that many people inside the Turbinenhalle!
I don't know if the place was sold-out, but anyway, the venue was totally packed!

Sascha Gertsner is a very talented guy and I think he has found his place in Helloween.

He moves a lot on stage and most of the times he stands in the centre of the stage to play his solos.


Michael Weikath was very discrete at the Paris show. Not here.
Maybe it's the fact of playing in his homeland, but Weiki was moving a lot, playing most of his solos in the centre of the stage, and replying to Andi Deris' jokes from his microphone.

Also, it seems like he's quitting smoking, because he only smoked one cigarette during the show, it was during the band introduction.

Dani Löble is a truly amazing drummer. Only in respect to Ingo Schwichtenberg, I won't say he's the best drummer Helloween has ever had.
He's impressive and fast.

Markus Großkopf completes the rythm parts perfectly, adding some fills that make Helloween's songs unique.
He loves to stand in front of the stage, side by side with Deris.

Andi Deris was dressed with a beautiful leather jacket customized with the 7 Sinners album artwork.

He also sang great tonight, and was in a very good mood, as he didn't stop making jokes (in German) with the audience.

Helloween setlist included some rare songs. First, we had the song I'm Alive, which hasn't been played for ages!

3 new songs made it into the setlist, and I was so pleased that You Stupid Mankid was replaced by a great version of World Of Fantasy.
But unfortunately, Ride The Sky and Steel Tormentor, which were two of the highlists of the Paris concert, were not played tonight.

By the end of the show, several fans dressed as Dr. Stein got on stage for a big party.

I was so pleased to see how popular and respected are Helloween in their own country.

It was a real high quality show, and the 7 Sinners World Tour is still going on, so be there, if there's a Helloween concert near your town!

And the weekend was just begining, as the following day there was Bullet playing in Essen...

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Setlist Helloween – Turbinenhalle - Oberhausen, Germany – April 8 2011

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