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Live Focus: “Save Us” From Thank You Wacken

Captured on a muddy, electric summer evening at Wacken Open Air, the live video for “Save Us” distills the essence of Hansen & Friends in full flight. It is a snapshot of a singular moment: the first and only performance of the band that helped Kai Hansen craft his 2016 solo debut, XXX – Three Decades In Metal. The new concert release, Thank You Wacken, documents that one-off show in full and arrives on June 23, 2017.

“Save Us,” a speed-power metal staple from the Helloween songbook, is delivered here with the athletic precision and melodic fire that define Hansen’s legacy. The performance is both a reunion with his roots and a statement of present-tense vitality, channeling classic high-velocity riffs, precision double-kick drumming, twin-guitar harmonies and a rousing, crowd-raised chorus that seems tailor-made for a vast festival field.

The Night Wacken Turned Into a Living Archive

Wacken Open Air has long been a proving ground for European metal of all stripes, and this set felt like a live chapter heading written in real time. The conditions were rugged, the ground wet, the sky unsettled, and the atmosphere charged. That volatility served the music. Hansen’s band leaned into the elements, delivering a taut set that threaded his past, present and collaborative spirit. It was a thank-you to the community that helped carry these songs across decades, and it sounded like it.

Inside the Arrangement: Speed, Melody and Muscle

The “Save Us” arrangement keeps faith with its power-metal DNA while letting this line-up’s character shine. Michael Ehré drives the song with crisp, insistent double-bass patterns that never crowd the groove. Alex Dietz locks the low end with a punchy, slightly overdriven bass tone that adds heft without blurring the edges. On guitars, Kai Hansen and Eike Freese trade clean, interlocking rhythms and lyrical leads, favoring clear pick attack and un-fussy sustain over flash. The result is a riff-and-melody conversation that feels aerodynamic rather than showy.

Corvin Bahn threads keyboards just beneath the guitars, lending sheen to the verses and lifting the chorus without softening the impact. The choral power of Clémentine Delauney and Frank Beck reinforces the hooks, bringing a classic, stacked-vocal feel that suits the song’s plea for perseverance. The vocal arrangement balances grit and clarity, letting the words cut through while the band barrels forward.

Line-up: Hansen & Friends at Wacken

• Kai Hansen – vocals, guitar
• Alex Dietz (Heaven Shall Burn) – bass
• Eike Freese (Dark Age; noted producer/engineer) – guitar
• Michael Ehré (Gamma Ray) – drums
• Corvin Bahn (Crystal Breed; studio work with Neopera, Lord Of The Lost, Beyond The Black) – keyboards
• Clémentine Delauney (Visions Of Atlantis) – backing vocals
• Frank Beck (Gamma Ray) – backing vocals

A special moment in the full set finds Michael Kiske (Helloween, Unisonic) joining Hansen on stage for Helloween classics, a brief stretch that visibly and audibly raises the festival’s temperature.

From XXX to Wacken: A Career in Conversation

Hansen’s solo album XXX – Three Decades In Metal was a celebration of the stylistic currents he helped shape, and this live document extends that conversation to the stage. The Wacken performance fuses new-era camaraderie with foundational influences: speed metal’s velocity, power metal’s anthemic sweep, and the sharp, melodic focus that made these songs endure. “Save Us” sits at the crossroads of those threads. Its lyrical urgency, charging tempo and sky-bound chorus are classic markers of the genre, yet the execution here feels contemporary and unsentimental, more a reaffirmation than a sepia-toned tribute.

Sound and Presence

Professionally filmed and recorded on site, the “Save Us” video captures strong instrument separation despite the festival’s unruly conditions. Guitars occupy a bright, biting midrange, the rhythm section sounds tight and grounded, and the vocal layers are clearly delineated. Crowd response is part of the arrangement, becoming a fifth instrument during the refrains. The overall impression is of a band playing with conviction, aware this was a one-off opportunity to put a definitive exclamation point on a storied repertoire.

Release Details

Thank You Wacken is out on June 23, 2017. The release documents the first and only full performance by Hansen’s XXX-era band. It will be available in multiple formats, including CD+DVD, Blu-ray+CD, 2LP and digital.

Why It Matters

For fans of Helloween, Gamma Ray and European power metal, this release functions as both memento and milestone. It captures a rare convergence of players, a set built to honor the past while proving its continued bite, and a version of “Save Us” that underscores why these songs still level festival fields. It is also a reminder that Hansen’s catalog has never been only about nostalgia. In this setting, the old guard and the newer allies sound like a single, forward-moving unit.

“Save Us” may be the headline moment, but it is the spirit of the entire night—communal, gritty, focused—that gives Thank You Wacken its staying power.

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