A spectacular end of tour – review of Helloween’s show in Stuttgart 22.11

All good things must come to an end. Unfortunately, so does the Helloween tour, celebrating their 40 years of career with Beast in Black. This is why the Chaoszine team decided to go on quite an adventure to Stuttgart, to witness the closing chapter of this triumphant trek. A huge thank you to Vanessa of RPM for having us!

Beast in Black

The Saturday evening at the Hanns-Martin-Schleryer-Halle begins at 7:15 with Beast in Black, taking the stage one by one. While I’ve had the chance of seeing bits and bobs of their shows during Wacken last year and this year’s Summer Breeze, this was my first time sitting (well, standing actually!) through the entirety of their set. Yannis spoke about this being the 10th year of activity of the band, and that they will release their 4th full length in 2026. He also told a funny story about him and Atte do a kebab eating spree, and that was the reason that they’re so active on stage. I mean, that’s pretty valid to me! This was Beast in Black’s 7th time playing in Stuttgart, and their ser was very enjoyable. I particularly liked Máté’s bass decorations that light up! During one of the last songs, Atte was throwing one of his drum stick back and forth to his tech person, and that made it so funny! A very energetic and powerful way to begin the night.

Photo: Dario De Marco.

Helloween

At 20:45, that’s when all the lights went out and “Let Me Entertain You” started playing. Oh, well that’s exactly what we’re here for! We definitely want to be entertained. An omnious creature appeared on the screen, welcoming us to the show and then the band opened with “March of Time“. If you know me and you’ve been reading us for a bit, you’ll know that the first and only time I ever saw Helloween was in 2023 when they headlined Wacken Open Air (the year of the mud). So I already sort of knew that it was going to be a spectacular performance, but I didn’t expect to be crying right at the second song (“The King of a 1000 years“)! I must admit, I fell completely in love with Andi Deris’s voice. While also Michael Kiske is a fantastic vocalist, Andi delivers emotions like no one else. The two singers, after the second song, made a poll in the audience asking where people were from. It’s too bad they they were only inquiring about German cities, because I was ready to shout, would they have mentioned people coming from abroad.

The band had loads of graphis and effects to enhance the performance, and two big screens just like the ones in Wacken. Their performance wasn’t just amazing to hear, it was a 360 degrees experience! What made me laugh was that the three guitarists made synchronised movements just like the two (+ bass player) from Beast in Black. Sooo… who’s homaging who? I guess I don’t have the answer to this. At a certain point, Michael Kiske pointed at a microphone that was recording the show, so perhaps we will have some official release or footage of some kind from this night? That would be memorable! The acoustic bit of the notorious duo Kiske/Deris had my heart melting, and for the encore they didn’t spare anything. “Eagle Fly Free“, “Power“, “Dr. Stein“, and “Keeper Of The Seven Keys” closed out a magnificent evening. It’s safe to say that with 40 years of experience, Helloween delivered exactly what we were hoping for. Long live Helloween!

Photo: Dario De Marco.