Helloween pumpkins conquer the first night of the Rock Imperium

Thus, the park on the slope of El Batel, more than the right space to hold a festival of these immense characteristics, is transformed by the art of shared electricity into a monument to permanent forcefulness, endless ovations, long hair on the air, a reason for healthy envy for those of us who live with baldness, lighters as an obvious symbol of the arrival of the ballad and the resounding earthquake as a comfort zone. And if it is necessary to point out a concert from this first Rock Imperium venture that demonstrated each and every one of these statements in a big way, the one offered by Helloween when the clocks just passed ten o’clock at night is the most reliable option.

Accompanied on the stage by a giant pumpkin that symbolizes the group since it began its journey in cold Hamburg in the mid-eighties, these fathers of power metal, a label with which they happily coexist, more than fulfilled their condition of headliners. With a dazzling staging and a fine-tuned repertoire that included a good handful of his most admired classics, beginning with an excellent opening with ‘Skyfall’, Helloween signed a magnificent path of nerve and muscle guided by Daniel’s savage drums Löble. Of course, the best moments of his concert were related to the return to the two most indisputable masterpieces of his discography, the duo of ‘Keeper of the seven keys’, especially in the cases of ‘Save us’, ‘Future world’ , ‘Eagle fly free’ or the homonymous song, a prodigy that added the first indelible category memory to the account this edition of Rock Imperium.

Birthday Party

A few hours before, on the stage called Cartagena Stage, the also veterans (and Germans) Blind Guardian delivered a show that convinced from the bombast, excess, storm and fascination generated by the most furious musical stampede. Of course, the group proved to be fully aware of what the majority of the public wanted, that is, to sing the songs of their best work: ‘Somewhere far beyond’. A fundamental album within European metal whose echo resonated with differential power throughout a live show of high pulsations and vigor to the test of the vocal chords.

For his part, Saratoga knew how to balance nostalgia with his present in an admirable way. With more than three decades of experience behind them, the Madrid group has decided to tour with a kind of devastating birthday party that works both as an act of vindication of their work and as a heartfelt thank you to their unconditional audience. And so, of course, it’s impossible not to fall in love with a concert like the one offered at the Rock Imperium. In little more than sixty minutes, something from festival schedules, Saratoga managed to summarize his career through a repertoire based exclusively on greatest hits. From the beautiful ‘Si amaneciera’ to ‘My city’, passing through ‘Perro treason’, an even wilder ‘Winds of war’ with the collaboration of an unstoppable Leo Jiménez, ‘I will never suffer for you’ or ‘Damn heart’ , the group was full on this route shared by the best of their extensive legacy, thus achieving one of the most successful shows of the day.

With regard to the rest of Friday, it is worth noting the tremendous closing of the party with Stratovarius, a band that underlined the importance of melody in the middle of the guitar gale, and the extremely pleasant surprise of the Finns Steve ‘n’ Seagulls, responsible for putting together a good party in the middle of the afternoon fusing traditional bluegrass and rock pulse to generate the most addictive madness and fun. A success whose merit is even greater if we take into account the very high temperatures of an initial stretch of the afternoon where the Valencian Jolly Joker also made us enjoy with attitude, charisma and desire to turn upside down a first and fantastic day of the Rock Imperium Festival that ended up kneeling before the kingdom of pumpkins.