I just came back from seeing Avantasia here in Mexico City. HOLY FUCKING SHIT, yeah, I'm a huge fan of german Power Metal, but all bias aside, this was my favorite concert in the whole year (and maybe my favorite in many years actually). Everything was perfect, the cast, the setlist, the audience, everything.
I'm also a huge fan of the late 80's/early 90's Helloween, so I was looking forward to the appearances of Kai Hansen and Michael Kiske, both were members of the golden age of the band. It was the first time ever for Kiske in Latin America and one of the first live shows he has ever had in more than 15 years after he was fired from Helloween. I was kinda nervous, he is my favorite singer ever but a bad show was a possibility after all those years inactive.
The setlist had a little bit from everything, fast and epic songs from the first "Metal Opera" albums; "Avantasia", "Reach out for the light" and "The Tower" are great examples. It also had great tunes from the newer "Scarecrow" saga; things like "Lost in space", "Dying for an angel" or "Shelter for the rain". More than 2.5 hours of pure win.
The singers?, well:
Tobias Sammett: Awesome, he has endless energy and a very powerful voice. His interaction with the audience was essential for the great experience I had.
Amanda Sommerville: She was doing mostly backing vocals, but had her moment at the lead of "Farewell". Sings better live than on her own records :lol
Jorn Lande: I already liked him, but I confirmed that he is a beast live. The only thing I can say right now is that he is like Dio on steroids.
Bob Catley: Veteran from the band Magnum. Still has a very strong voice but didn't have much activity. It was also his first time in Latin America.
Kai Hansen: Was very underused in my opinion. Made a very good job in the Alice Cooper parts of "The toy master". His highlight anyway was on guitar at the encore and fooling around with Kiske and Oliver Hartmann 80's style. He has lots of critics, but today I learned that most of them have not seen this man live, because his style might be different from your generic power metal vocalist, but has an undeniable power on his voice. He can really scream like Halford on his better days.
Michael Kiske (Warning, this paragraph may contain lots of irrational fanboy love 
): Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, this man is not from this fucking world, period. He fucking sings perfectly note by note in "recording studio" quality. All my fears were unfounded, his '88 voice is untouched. Having seen both live in recent times, Kiske easily shits on current Bruce Dickinson and most of the classic "melodic Heavy Metal" singers; it's not even a contest. He took a risky job by singing the Klaus Meine parts of "Dying for an angel", because the Scorpions voice is very iconic and the song is pretty good. After he opened his mouth and sang 2 or 3 words, I was like "Klaus fucking who?".
He still has his frontman abilities intact; everytime he took the stage, everyone's eyes were at him, undeniably. He's still into making funny things, interacting with the crowd. I really felt I was in a "keeper era" Hellowen gig of the 80's anytime he went to Kai Hansen to see his solos. My faith is totally restored, all hail Lord Kiske-sama... :lol
Overall, an absolute blast. This and the fact that my brothers came from my hometown to see the gig with me, made december 10th one of the best days of my life. Depression begone!
