Celebrating their 40 year anniversary, Helloween rolled into London, promising a show of surprises and some songs we’ve never heard live before, we went along to check it out!
BEAST IN BLACK
Another early start this evening but that hasn’t deterred Londons metalheads from coming out their droves to celebrate 40 years of Helloween and as I arrive they are still pouring into the rather cavernous Eventim Apollo, ensuring it is well filled for the start of the evenings performances from Beast In Black hailing from Finland. Indeed it is obvious that a fair proportion of the masses have come to see Beast In Black as well as Helloween!
Slightly earlier than planned they burst onto the stage, launching into Power Of The Beast which is almost as much pop as it is metal with a super catchy hook and an excellent vehicle for vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos to shine, showing off his truly remarkable vocal range. Quickly followed by Hardcore which gets the crowd singling along, the first of many for this evening.
Papadopoulos is dressed head to toe in black leather, looking like an extra from the Matrix, the rest of the band are in more standard stage attire. Anton Kabanen complete with sunglasses, hangs back from the front of the stage for most of the performance, allowing Kasperi Heikkinen on guitar and Mate Molnar on bass to run around the stage like madmen. They both look like they are thoroughly enjoying the evening. The lineup is completed by Atte Palokangas on the drums, looking as cool as a cucumber, twirling and throwing his sticks at every opportunity. His precision on the drums does not go unnoticed, he is definitely the backbone of this band, super solid.
SHADES OF EUROVISION
Blood Of A Lion is another well crafted song that would not sound out of place in Eurovision, fine pop sensibilities mixed in with a heavy metal core. It’s interesting how these seemingly incongruous styles have been married together in this band to very good affect. All of the songs this evening are smart and not just thrown together, it feels like they have been lovingly put together, with fine attention to detail.
Papadopoulos comments “London, you are incredible!” following a fine version of Die By The Blade which has some serious dancey overtones driving it along. The whole band look like they are enjoying every second of being on the stage, clearly they are right at home here. The set contains songs plucked from all three albums, giving a very broad view of what the band is capable of.
IN THE HOME OF METAL!
One Night In Tokyo from the 2021 album Dark Connection provides yet another opportunity for singing and at this point in the evening the venue is filled to capacity, the gig is indeed a sell out. Blind & Frozen gives the vocal chords of Papadopoulos another workout, the man really does have phenomenal range! And the crowd are loving the performance, in fine voice and lots of fists and horns raised. Papadopoulos comments on how special it is to be in the UK and how you feel this is the home of heavy metal!
The performance is closed with No Surrender which sounds like a slogan we can all unite behind. Anton Kabanen & Kasperi Heikkinen trade solos with one another and we’re told that Beast in Black will return to the UK in October 2026, with a new album to promote and no doubt a clutch of new songs just waiting to be performed live. A cracking way to start the evening, the crowd are suitably warmed up!
HELLOWEEN
The crowd cheers as a massive Helloween curtain is raised in front of the stage and the stage is prepared for the arrival of Helloween. By this time of the evening the whole venue was buzzing with anticipation, especially given that we’d been promised some surprises and some songs we’d never heard played live too.
LARGER THAN LIFE
We didn’t have to wait too long before the curtain dropped to reveal the stage, dressed with a huge video screen behind the also huge drumkit of Daniel Löble. Larger than life, the kit really is crazy big, 4 bass drums (all with pumpkin designs that change colour), and an assortment of toms and cymbals and the addition of mounted floor tom. The whole kit is mounted on large riser at the back of the stage.
Opening the set with March Of Time from 1988’s Keeper Of The Seven Keys: Part II allows Michael Kiske & Andi Deris to trade vocal lines as the band shift straight into top gear. We are treated to an animated version of The Keeper talking to us on the big video screen, and he returns at various points during the evening. At this point, I should note that the graphics on the big video screen are absolutely first class, both in execution and concept. The visuals themselves are beautiful and blended with live feed they really do enhance the show.
SERIOUSLY IMPRESSIVE
That’s not to say they detract or distract from the live performance, rather they augment and elevate it, seriously impressive. As with Beast In Black, the whole band look like they are absolutely enjoying themselves on the stage and the energy on the stage is reflected back onto the crowd who are also lapping it up. There is an unmistakable chemistry between the members of Helloween, no showboating just a tight cohesive unit, ready to deliver some powerful metal this evening.
Having three guitarists could be a recipe for egos and a muddy sound but they manage to straddle both potential issues. The solos are shared and everyone gets their share of the limelight. Sascha Gerstner looks like a super cool dude, Kai Hansen looks like a man at one with his guitar and Michael Weikath looks like a man completely in the music, together they bring a triple guitared attack that is like a wall of supercharged sound!
Andi Deris comments on the venue tonight, noting that even Tom Jones has played here! Future World with its Hall Of The Mountain King intro echoes around hall and we’re on a journey to metal heaven! The crowd sing along and raise their horns. Twilight Of The Gods is introduced by Michael Kiske, stating the last time he sung this live he was a “pretty boy”, referring to the fact that this song comes from 1987s Keeper Of The Seven Keys, Part I and is not played often live!
SUPERBLY CO-ORDINATED
Ride The Sky played at a furious pace is well received and gives Kai Hansen another chance to sing, more fantastic graphics accompany the song. Into The Sun from the latest album, Giants & Monsters see’s both vocalists back on the stage and gives us a breather from breakneck speed onslaught. A giant animated sun on the large screen accompanied by orange stage lighting. The whole thing is superbly coordinated and quite beautiful. The song itself is quite beautiful too and performed with breath taking elegance, probably the highlight of the evening for me.
Hey Lord! has the fists of the crowd punching the air and Hell Was Made In Heaven has the whole venue clapping along. We then have the inevitable drum solo which was OK although a little too long for my liking, with Daniel Löble milking the crowd for applause. I Want Out is another song just made for a singalong, then the band leave the stage and darkness falls. Michael Kiske & Andi Deris then return for a couple of acoustic numbers which breaks the rhythm of the set up a little.
Kai Hansen appears with a police cap on for Heavy Metal (Is The Law) while it is great to have these old songs in the set, and they are celebrating 40 years, it is abundantly clear how much the song writing has matured over that period. Halloween keeps things moving along and the song is once again accompanied by some gorgeous graphics, in keeping with the song, really stunning stuff. This ends the set on a suitably high note and prepares us for the encore, which starts with Eagle Fly Free and then comes bang up to date with A Little Is A Little Too Much.
GIG OF THE YEAR?
Andi Deris tells us we’re running short on time and we finish the evening off with Dr Stein which is undoubtedly a crowd pleaser and a shortened rendition of Keeper Of The Seven Keys to close off the performance. So, a worthy evening celebrating one of the forefather bands of power metal, fantastic music and don’t forget the sumptuous graphics. This was definitely a show worthy of the hallowed place Helloween find themselves in, definite contender for best gig of the year.
All concert photography by Graham Hilling. You can check out more of his work on his website, here.
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