Helloween and Gamma Ray Review
Live in London at the Shepherds Bush Empire on the Hellish Rock Tour
Jan 24, 2008
Both Helloween and Gamma Ray played good sets, but the combined encore stole the show.
Gamma Ray
With Gamma Ray lead singer/guitarist Kai Hansen being a founding member of headliners Helloween, it was no surprise the venue was already packed by the time Gamma Ray took the stage. Touring in support of the excellent Land of the Free Part II, Kai and co rocked the Empire for a solid hour while making sure to strike every pose listed in the heavy metal handbook.
The band even made sure the people sat in the balcony got up on their feet for the crowd participation section of "Heavy Metal Universe". Their wildest crowd reaction came during the following song, "Ride the Sky", from the 1985 Helloween album Walls of Jericho. It's not often an opening band gets away with playing a song originally performed by the headliners, but exceptions can be made when the opening band's front man wrote and originally sang it.
Helloween
When a band opens their set with one of their best known and most loved songs, you know they mean business. Helloween did this by opening with their classic "Halloween" from the Keeper of the Seven Keys Part I. The rest of the set was a mixture of old favorites and three songs from the new album, Gambling With The DevilOf the new songs, "As Long As I Fall" received the best crowd response with large portions of the audience singing along.
After a drum solo containing a bizarre puppet show interlude with the band playing "Smoke on the Water", complete with Alvin and the Chipmunks-style vocals, Helloween got back to business before closing the set with "Dr Stein" from the Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II.
Gamma Ray Join Helloween For Encore
The first encore contained a medley of Helloween favorites from throughout the years. This would have been the high point of the show if not for what happened next.
It was power metal paradise as Gamma Ray returned to the stage, joining Helloween to tear through the Kai Hanson penned classics "Future World" and "I Want Out". Seeing Hansen playing on stage with the band he left nearly twenty years earlier ensured everyone went home with a smile on their face.
The two bands now head off to Japan and Korea for dates in February before Helloween travel alone to Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, and, for the first time ever, Australia. There are rumors of the two bands joining forces again to tour North and South America later in the year.
If you have even the remotest interest in power metal, this is a show that should not be missed.
