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#40thAnniversary

Monstrous Alamo City return for German power metal giants Helloween

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Monstrous Alamo City return for German power metal giants Helloween

When Helloween embarked on its Keeper of the Seven Keys journey in 1987 — and as a German power metal quintet force in 1985 that would storm the globe with its double bass drum fury — San Antonians had no idea their part of the world would experience two significant gaps between visits.

One: Helloween’s most recent stop was 2003 at a half-filled White Rabbit, ironically, on the Rabbit Don’t Come Easy tour

Two: the last time the band played here with vocalist Michael Kiske and guitarist / vocalist Kai Hansen was on the 1989 Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II trek.

Or to put it another way: 1989 saw Helloween touring in support of its third album, and 2003 was its 10th.

In the minds of San Antonians, 23 and 37 years ago may as well have equaled a trip around the moon.

But that all rectified itself Wednesday night at the Aztec Theatre as the pumpkins — who united in 2018 by bringing Kiske and Hansen back with original bassist Markus Grosskopf and original guitarist Michael Weikath, vocalist (and Kiske replacement) Andi Deris, guitarist Sascha Gerstner and drummer Dani Loble — celebrated their 40th anniversary on the second night of a 16-show North American jaunt coinciding with their 17th album Giants & Monsters.

Although the seven keys locked up the seven seas, perhaps the band realized it needed a united septuplet pumpkin front to be the gatekeepers of power metal. Lineup changes, ill will and egos were put aside eight years ago, and at the Aztec, another set of keys may as well have been on display: friendship, hope, togetherness, happiness, redemption, forgiveness and success resulted in a blistering and entertaining 2-hour, 15-minute showing that more than made up for the distant memories of prior visits.

But this wasn’t just any return.

Helloween’s triumphant resurrection in 2018 only saw six U.S. shows in five cities, none of them in Texas. Their comeback self-titled 2021 album brought them closer geographically as they played in Dallas, which is also where the 40th anniversary tour kicked off Tuesday.

A chance meeting with Hansen by the River Walk several hours before Wednesday’s show resulted in the original vocalist from 1985 debut album Walls of Jericho admitting he couldn’t remember his previous San Antonio stop but that “It’s been a while.”

That made the fact Kiske and Deris quickly reminded their Dallas audience of their 2023 visit but didn’t attempt to banter with the Aztec’s patrons as to just how overdue and welcome this occasion was a bit shocking. Also understandable given that the 2003 gig didn’t feature the band as we know it today.

Taking the stage after all of the album covers passed through time on the big screen, and with the help of the reaper introducing several songs, Helloween unleashed absolute power and fury in an unforgettable night.

Having played 2 hours and 40 minutes on the 2018 tour without a support act (ATM coverage here), Helloween this time brought along Finnish friends Beast In Black.

The beasts had planned to release their fourth album late in 2025. Instead, they collaborated with gaming company Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate the Diablo IV and Berserk crossovers tying into the game’s eighth season Belial’s Return, punctuated by their standalone soundtrack single “Enter the Behelit” (ATM footage below).

As a result, the quintet was without founder and guitarist Anton Kabanen, who’s sitting out the tour to finish writing the forthcoming album. Nevertheless, vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos, bassist Mate Molnar, drummer Atte Palokangas and touring guitarist Daniel Freyberg (ex-Children Of Bodom filling in for the recently departed Kasperi Heikkinen) squeezed in 10 powerful tracks in a 50-minute set (see setlist in 84-photo gallery). See more ATM footage below of “Die by the Blade.”

In addition to being able to hear and watch Helloween span most of its catalog live once again at last, the best component of the band’s resurgence is watching Kiske sing with Deris on songs the latter recorded solely when he replaced the former beginning with 1994’s Master of the Rings.

When ATM interviewed Kiske by phone in 2012 during his Unisonic days, the vocalist confessed he had not listened to any Helloween music that didn’t include him. Fast forward to 2018, and the fact the two singers have become best friends and thoroughly enjoy performing together on stage regardless of who originated the music is a godsend and proof egos can be put aside to make one’s lives healthier and more prosperous.

Whether they’re going back and forth on classics such as “Halloween” or acoustically before being joined electrically by the band on 1987 ballad “A Tale That Wasn’t Right” (ATM footage below), the singers’ joint efforts and enthusiasm were sights to behold that other bands with storied singer histories would never attempt (imagine Judas Priest’s, Motley Crue’s or Van Halen’s multiple vocalists trying to co-exist).

Kiske’s and Deris’ humor also came to the forefront when they began out-of-the-vault track “In the Middle of a Heartbeat.” With Kiske playing acoustic guitar to Deris’ vocals, Deris joked that Kiske “really fucked it up” in Dallas the night before. Deris then asked fans up front if there were any witnesses to that moment, and when he found a couple, Deris added with a smile, “I’m not making this up, right?”

The ‘80s Keeper material is always at the forefront of Helloween shows such as opener “March of Time”, “Future World,” “Halloween,” and “Dr. Stein” (setlist in photo gallery). But that’s only half the enjoyment.

The surprise inclusion of 14-minute track “King for a 1000 Years” from 2005’s Keeper of the Seven Keys: The Legacy, which marked Loble’s first album with the group (ATM interview here), was a bombastic second tune even though the band shortened it by nearly four minutes to fit in as much as possible for the show’s duration.

Loble’s four bass drums took center stage during a crowd-infused drum solo and on the new album’s first single “Universe” (ATM footage below). Not to be outdone was the return of Part 1’s “Twilight of the Gods,” which had a certain audience member flirting with vocal loss a mere six songs in.

Helloween also marked its long-awaited return by breaking out Deris-era favorites “Hell Was Made in Heaven” and “Power” and dusting off “We Burn” and “Hey Lord” (ATM footage of the latter below).

Hansen, Weikath, Grosskopf and Gerstner yukked it up on stage while filling both levels of the 1,093-clad Aztec (according to a staffer) with killer riffs. Hansen also harked back to his first-album lead-vocal and guitar duties on “Ride the Sky” and “Heavy Metal is the Law” (ATM footage of the latter below).

Fortunately, the entire 13-minute rendition of 1987 MTV hit “Halloween,” the track that got American fans hooked on the band due to “Headbanger’s Ball” was included after the band skipped it altogether on the previous tour.

A bright orange “40” appeared on the screens with the zero morphing into a sinister pumpkin during the “Invitation” intro to “Eagle Fly Free,” another moment that confirmed the shot vocals of most diehards, before Helloween ended with a brief reprise of the 13-minute “Keeper of the Seven Keys” opus.

But make no mistake. It will not take 23 years for voices to recover. In fact, a trip to Las Vegas for the tour finale May 2 is already in order. Because a night like Wednesday’s bears repeat witnessing.

And that is the best trick o’ treat of them all.

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Return of W.A.S.P. leaves Tech Port blind in Texas, deaf to anti-censorship

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Return of W.A.S.P. leaves Tech Port blind in Texas, deaf to anti-censorship

For the past decade, iconic W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless spent most of his touring adventures in nations other than the good ol’ U.S.A. You’d have to go back even further since W.A.S.P. was last in the Alamo City.

Blind in Texas, indeed.

As such, local promoters Din Productions have been attempting to bring one of metal’s most don’t-give-a-bleep bands back to San Antonio the past eight years. That finally came to fruition last Friday night at Tech Port Center + Arena as W.A.S.P. headlined its 40th anniversary tour with Michael Schenker (celebrating his 50th year) and openers Armored Saint, who have also been around for four decades.

The rare appearance brought out South Texas metal royalty in the form of Dangerous Toys singer Jason McMaster — fresh off a stint filling in for Accept vocalist Mark Tornillo — Fates Warning and George Strait drummer Bobby Jarzombek and Riot bassist Don Van Stavern, along with musicians from local bands Jessikill, Even In Death and X.I.L. to name a few.

What they saw was a set comprised of W.A.S.P.’s good ol’ days. What they heard, but may not have immediately recognized, was a Lawless who shunned some of his most angst-ridden lyrics for PG-rated versions no one would have expected.

Lawless had billed the tour as going “back to the beginning” with an emphasis on the first few albums. He reportedly had also stated the stage would represent a carnival-like atmosphere.

Taking the platform at 9:51 p.m., the 76-minute performance that ended at 11:07 p.m. comprised nearly half of the 1984 self-titled debut album while most of the remainder spotlighted the 30th anniversary of fifth record The Crimson Idol.

Perched behind his mammoth and menacing skull-adorned mic stand, Lawless was joined by guitarist Doug Blair, bassist Mike Duda and drummer Aquiles Priester. W.A.S.P. took to the stage with a medley of first-album tracks starting with “On Your Knees.” The next two snippets in particular, “The Flame” and “The Torture Never Stops,” sounded eerily like the album versions of Lawless’ 1984 voice — at least while being witnessed from the photo pit in front of the stage. Even if that was the case, “The Flame” deserved a full-length performance not only for being one of the best tunes in W.A.S.P.’s arsenal but a track that’s rarely played live and doesn’t appear on either of the group’s live albums.

Lawless and Co. ended the medley with a portion of the title track to 1986’s Inside the Electric Circus. The carnival banners, one of which was titled “Arena of Pleasure,” would’ve led one to believe that most of the ‘86 album and/or the latter 1992 track would be played. But that was a smokescreen.

For Lawless, limiting some tracks to a medley is a good problem to have. W.A.S.P. has so many signature songs (no, they’re not going to be referred to as “hits” within this space), it’s impossible to leave dedicated fans who own every single album completely satisfied unless the band performed for three hours.

Given the decade-plus absence, three hours wouldn’t have been too much to ask for.

On the stage’s printed setlist (see 21-photo gallery below), Lawless scratched off previously played-in-Texas tracks “Crazy” and “Heaven’s Hung In Black” — from 2009 and 2007, respectively — along with a half-and-half of “Hellion” and “I Don’t Need No Doctor.” He made up for the pleasant surprises those would’ve been by inserting the 9 1/2-minute “The Great Misconceptions of Me,” although the timing was a bit off and the band didn’t appear in sync at the start of it.

But even more than the medley’s pros and cons, two other aspects of the night were the most glaring:

1) Lawless never addressed the crowd other than his customary, “All I need is my L.O.V.E. Machine” intro and at show’s conclusion with “Good night, San Antonio! We’ll see you next time” before he and the band abruptly left the stage. It was as if he had turned into Alice Cooper, playing a character rather than being a human who engages his audience. But even Cooper becomes human at the end of his gigs and fully introduces his band during a jam session after his theatrics have completed.

2) Lawless stunningly inserted cleaner lyrics during “Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue),” shunning the 1992 album version and demonstrating that he apparently no longer cusses, at least in concert.

When you’re listening to The Crimson Idol and hear Lawless bellow, “I’m a cocksucking asshole, that’s what they call me,” you can’t help but headbang and go bonkers while flipping a middle finger or two to Tipper Gore as if you were taking part in that mid-’80s PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) hearing. However, not only did Lawless not utter those words true to his original lyrics, he changed them to omit the curse words.

Album version:

  • I’m the president of showbiz, my name is Charlie

    I’m a cocksucking asshole! That’s what they call me

    Here from my Hollywood tower I rule

    I’m a lying motherfucker

    The chainsaw’s my tool

Friday’s live version:

  • I’m the president of showbiz, my name is Charlie

    I’m a bloodsucking rat’s hole (or rascal)

    That’s what they call me

    Here from my Hollywood tower I rule

    I’m a lying little monster

    The chainsaw’s my tool

Lawless also changed “Don’t mind the faggots, and the ruthless scum” to “maggots.”

W.A.S.P. had given new meaning to “shock rock.”

Lawless in fact had done the very thing he stood against for all the prior decades while helping to fly the flag of heavy metal: he censored himself, in effect placing a parental advisory sticker over his own mouth.

At least it proved Lawless was really singing, erasing any blip of prior doubt that may have existed during the first 20 minutes of the gig spent in front of the stage. Watch it all unfold with ATM’s Facebook Live footage of “Chainsaw Charlie” here.

The first part of that footage is “The Idol,” which peculiarly saw Lawless and Duda leave the stage during an outstanding 3-minute solo by Blair. The vastly underrated guitarist also shines on other more recent, somewhat lengthy ballads such as “Miss You” on W.A.S.P.’s last album, 2015’s Golgotha.

A PG-rated W.A.S.P. is not the W.A.S.P. most in attendance grew up with and is not reminiscent of “back to the beginning.” Was this really the man who came up with an album called Kill. Fuck. Die? And what about the ultimate F.U. to Gore and Crew — “Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)?”

Glad you asked.

After much debate the past several years as to whether Lawless would ever perform that track again, the screen from behind some of the carnival banners that had showcased some of the group’s MTV videos spelled out the story behind the PMRC and its largest musical nightmare. W.A.S.P. would perform half of the track, allowing the roughly 1,300 in attendance to do the honors on the “Fuck Like A Beast” part before segueing into half of “The Real Me.”

The latter, W.A.S.P.’s intensely brilliant 1989 cover of The Who tune, was unfortunately the only taste of personal favorite album The Headless Children. But Lawless demonstrated an awesomely nice touch by giving thanks, via the big screen, to every past and present member of his band over the past 40 years by name and in photos where possible.

W.A.S.P. closed with “I Wanna Be Somebody,” a tune the vocalist revealed during a nationally syndicated 1987 radio interview with Z-Rock had been inspired after he heard the line uttered on an episode of TV classic “Barney Miller.” Watch ATM footage of the evening’s finale below right.

Meanwhile, the need-no-introduction “Blind In Texas” was played but came across as just another song (ATM footage below). How great would it have been to receive an extended version during which staples of the city would be shown on the screen as the band jammed during the “Hey dude, let’s party” part? “San Antonio” would’ve been a perfect spot for this given that its mention comes at the beginning of a verse.

Still, those on hand should’ve been grateful they got to witness Lawless and his band once again at last, especially given the alternatives that occurred prior to and after the Tech Port concert. For instance, “Blind In Texas” was not performed in Corpus Christi, according to those who attended that show. And, the next night in Dallas, W.A.S.P. did not play at Amplified Live after the gig was halted by the fire marshal following Schenker’s and Armored Saint’s performances.

Yours truly has always considered Lawless and Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine two of metal’s brightest lyricists — a pair of men you’d want to go to battle with should anyone ever try to bring down the music millions of us worldwide hold so dearly.

And W.A.S.P. will always be one of this writer’s favorite bands whose songs will never grow tired or old to these ears.

But while there was nothing wrong with Lawless toning down his angst and language compared to the past, there was also nothing wrong with wanting a Blackie filled with the seduction of silver and Lawless greed we’d grown accustomed to love. The Lawless who was ruthless and stuck to his principles.

I wanted my Blackie live . . . in the raw. Only the former occurred. A future visit, without waiting another decade for it, would be most welcome for another chance at the latter.

SETLIST: Medley (On Your Knees, The Flame, The Torture Never Stops, Inside the Electric Circus), L.O.V.E. Machine, The Great Misconceptions of Me, Wild Child, The Idol, Chainsaw Charlie (Murders in the New Morgue), Blind In Texas: ENCORES: Animal (Fuck Like A Beast)/The Real Me, I Wanna Be Somebody

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