Hellfest 2026. Clisson, France. Helloween are on their 40th anniversary tour. Blueprint writers of the Power Metal genre, they are a heavyweight warm-up act for Iron Maiden and Sabaton to follow later in the day. Warm it is too, the heatwave here is roasting the crowd as the band come on to March Of Time.
Having first seen them, supported by Overkill, almost 40 years ago, it is a poignant moment. Time waits for no one, and the long-haired, blonde Adonis who was an eighteen-year-old Michael Kiske when he first laid down some of the vocals is much changed.
With age comes experience. The three vocalists, Kiske, Kai Hansen and Andi Deris, work through their back catalogue with aplomb, whilst their established guitarists bring technical precision, layered harmonies and crisp, clear riffing.
Their act is now supported by a superb digital movie backdrop to support their screens, which, in the searingly bright sun, is rarely done justice except for the sequences with The Keeper Of The Seven Keys, a purple-robed figure with a galaxy of stars in its hood who exhorts pumpkins to stay united.
Twilight Of The Gods is a beautiful song and goes down well with the crowd who are singing, clapping and punching the air in time to their favourites. Future World gets the best reaction and even a crowd surfer or two. This Is Tokyo, a recent release, is a modern classic, showing their continued relevance.
Bright streamers of blue and white, red and white and multi-colours are fired from cannons over the gathered masses. A spectacle in the bright white light of the French summer.
Finishing with a medley of Eagles Fly Free and Dr Stein, this generates a spontaneous ceilidh in the crowd. Probably due to time constraints, there is only a short homage to their most loved fourteen-minute track, Keeper Of The Seven Keys, the band are lovingly cheered as they happily throw plectrums and drumsticks to the smiling faces.
Pumpkins once more united.
relentless
