The event at Fuzz club last Saturday was essentially a mini- doom metal festival. Five awesome, must- see bands was too good a deal to pass up, despite missgivings about the epic run time of the gig (the doors were opening at 5:00, so we were going to spend 6- 7 hours inside a dark venue, with only alcohol to sustain us). It was worth it though.

By the time Lord Vicar took to the stage with The Spartan, it was 5:30 and the place was 3/4 full. Lord Vicar had a lot to live up to, since their members used to be in legendary bands (Reverend Bizarre, Saint Vitus, Count Raven, etc.), but they pulled it off. They were in excellent form, warming up the crowd with crushing chords and crawling tempos and we got into the mood smoothly. I am looking forward to their upcoming second album.

Next up was Hell. The NWOBHM veterans were recently drawn out of cult obscurity by long- time fan Andy Sneap (ex- Sabbat guitarist and producer of just about everyone in metal, from Cathedral to Nevermore). They now have a new album out and are touring like there’s no tomorow. Live, they are preposterous and preposterously fun. Face paint, London Dungeon lyrics, back leather pants, whips, co- ordinated guitarist moves and all the theatrical metal crap that remind people of Spinal Tap (or Tenacious D for that matter). An acquired taste, but they gave it their all and I couldn’t resist being swept along.

I was really looking forward to see Ghost. I loved their debut album and- according to my C ‘n’ B comrades- they rocked Hellfest this year. Not everyone likes them round these parts. Many purists are annoyed by their wholesale appropriation of vintage Merciful Fate tricks but, I have no problem with that because the band has brilliant songs and because I love shock rock anyway.

The band came out to the sound of otherworldly ritual chanting (actually the soundtrack to the ceremony scene in Eyes Wide Shut). The singer was dressed as a satanic pope, inverted crosses and everything (classy!), while the rest of the band wore monks robes and hoods. They more or less played their debut album, along with a stunning version of The Beatles’ Here Comes The Sun, injecting the song with a wonderfully sinister feel.

Chicago legends Trouble have a new singer these days, and it’s none other than Warrior Soul’s Kory Clarke. This was always going to be a challenge. After all, Greek Trouble fans love Eric Wagner and I couldn’t imagine how Clarke’s punk rasp would suit the old songs. Well, it may sound heretic, but I loved it. Wagner’s voice is irreplaceable , but Clarke’s growl gave the material a more biker rock sound. It’s less doom, sure, but still fun. Clarke also shone as a frontman, swaying around like a wasted sex symbol, while Bruce Franklin gave us smoking lead after smoking lead.

After several hours, it’s time for the headliners. Candlemass have been in Athens many times now, but they never fail to deliver. The band started with Mirror Mirror, while images of medieval engravings, horror stills (from Fulci’s The Beyond, Night of The Living Dead, etc.) and pictures of the members flashed at the sides of the stage.  Current singer Robert Lowe raised the roof with If I Ever Die, Hammer Of Doom, At The Gallows End and Samarithan. His voice isn’t in top form- compared to when I caught them in Wacken- but his cheerful Texan demeanour won over the crowd effortlessly.

Next up, a rare treat. Their original singer, Johan Langqvist, came on stage to performed their legendary debut Epicus Doomicus Metallicus in its entirety. Predictably, the crowd went wide with Solitude and all through the album. For the finale, Lowe came out again with Well Of Souls and Emperor Of The Void and shared the mic with Langqvist for Darkness In Paradise. A fitting ending to a great night.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

After the successful 2010 campaign to Wacken Festival, the choice of Hellfest Open Air this year seemed completely natural after the announcement of the 2011 performing acts. The key element for that decision was diversity and a simple look of 2011 billing will answer all your questions instantly. Is it possible for Morbid Angel & Mr. Big to co-exist under the same stage? Is there a connection between Morgoth and UFO? YES OF COURSE THERE IS if you are an open minded friend of hard rock/metal music, without putting stupid barriers between genres, recognizing that there is a deep artistic connection in our favorite music capable to overpass time and individual categorizations. Having all these in mind a league of fine young gentlemen begun their journey to Clisson (France) in order to attend one of the greatest European rock festivals. Of course nothing is as easy as it seems….

Among other organizational problems the most important was the lack of free camping space. The guys responsible were not prepared to face the fact that the camping site simply wasn’t large enough to welcome 70.000 metalheads in human terms (for the first time the event was sold out). After a long search of one hour and a half we managed to put one tend (the second one was simply impossible to be placed) over sacred ground = a place where hundreds of Gaulls decided to use as a toilet. Speaking of toilets the situation was getting seriously dangerous in overcrowded places where we unanimously decided that craping under these circumstances is a crime against humanity. I believe that a Hellfest survival guide is going to be issued by Manoc real soon…

Musically the situation was completely different of course.

DAY ONE Friday 17^th of June:

Under heavy weather I decided to check out IN SOLITUDE, a New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal (NWOTHM) band, currently loved by metal magazines/sites, mentioned always with positive comments. The truth is that they are decent enough but not as good as Enforcer, Portrait, Cauldron or White Wizzard.

In Solitude

Metal Market seemed promising enough so the next few hours were spent buying metal goodies. Three or four large tents were available with tons of records, cds, t-shirts etc capable to satisfy every taste in mostly fair prices.

An act of crazy Japanese extreme metallers (MAXIMUM THE HORMONE) managed to wake up the French audience for good this evening. Their extreme metalcore with the crazy singing/screaming seemed a little to much for my ears but the fans liked them enough.

After their fiasco live performance a few months in Greece (their drummer was drunk near death during the show) my expectations for PRIMORDIAL where high. For our satisfaction their show that evening was supreme! The theatrical singing of Nemtheanga is one of the most important assets of the band apart from their great songs (check out their latest album).

Primordial

A short stop to check Phil Anselmo and DOWN was necessary. Their Pantera/sludge/southern songs are always a warranty for quality entertainment and the French seemed to enjoy them.

Down

Some months ago I had the honor to see MESHUGGAH in Athens in a medium capacity club (Gagarin). Their show was strong, psychedelic, technically astonishing, the perfect form of extremity in music. The Hellfest show had all the above mentioned characteristics but for sure Meshuggah music cannot be fully experienced in open venues.

The present of cold and rain cannot stop us from watching MORBID ANGEL later that night.

With the worst album ever in their discography I was very curious to check people’s reactions. They played three or four songs from the new album without managing to take audience on their side. The old songs saved the day of course, transforming concerts’ early negative vibe, letting us concluding at the end, that the show was successful enough, beyond any expectations.

Morbid Angel

One of the most important motives for my journey to Clysson was the upcoming show of POSSESSED. The first notes of “the exorcist” were simply led me to ecstasy! I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears, i was living in a dream!  Not to mention the great performance of the lead singer Jeff Becerra who was singing from a wheel chair (he was shot in a bank robbery in which the incident left him paralyzed). The crowd’s reactions were truly fantastic contributing significantly to the success of the show.

Possessed

After these fine last moments was time to get some rest in our one and only tent with the two other friends and two large camping bags (each one with a height of a twelve year child as Manoc pointed)…the glorious sleep of the Warriors…

DAY TWO Saturday 18^th of June:

Coffee, smokes, shiny sky and CRUCIFIED BARBARA, the best recipe to wake up smoothly and in a good mood! These girls apart from their unquestionable rock and roll beauty know how to play their instruments offering well played sleaze/hard rock songs.

Crucified Barbara

The next acts, WHIPLASH and ANGELWITCH, offered us a nostalgic trip to the past with their tunes, in time when both of them were some well promising bands.

MEKONG DELTA was the biggest disappointment of the festival by far! Without energy and feeling didn’t manage to capture the true essence of their music. I tend to believe that Mekong Delta is only good for studio performances. Or Mr. Ralph Hubert is incapable to find session musicians who can support efficiently his musical vision on stage.

Mekong Delta

In Rock Hard tent HAIL OF BULLETS kicked asses with their brutal death metal. Any friend of extreme music has to check their sound (it is similar enough to Asphyx).

The time for MUNICIPAL WASTE came and you could feel the excitement in the air! Sort bursts of crossover thrash led to endless moshing, French metalheads have some guts after all! For me this was one of the most impressive shows of the festival. A great band, making pounding music with a strong sense of humour and being unstoppable on stage! Say no more…

SEPTIC FLESH is a band with an artistic vision and this is clear form the first moment on stage. Their atmospheric extreme metal (with death metal influences) won the audience very quickly. The fact that the band’s record company is French (Season of Mist) helped them to increase the number of their supporters among the French metal fans.

Septic Flesh

After a necessary break to restore energy, a walk to Rock Hard Tent seemed obvious for the upcoming BOLT THROWER live. With the fury and weight of a battleship proved once again the value of their name unleashing their war hymns without mercy. Not to forget of course the Bolt Thrower fans who are the most loyal supporting their favorite band constantly.

Bolt Thrower

One hour after midnight and CORONER begun their show…My first reaction when I heard the news was cautious, I didn’t know what to expect after all these years. One of the most influential and underestimated bands in the metal world decided to reunite and perform on stage again after fifteen years approx.

With complete confidence I declare that the Coroner show was the best of the entire festival for me! With surgical accuracy the band deployed some of their finest technical thrash metal songs. The bit of Coroner music (influenced by electronica in many cases as T.Baron has admitted) sounded to my ears that night very psychedelic, beyond the boundaries of thrash metal. It seems that Coroner’s point of view see music as a whole, making a clear statement about the true meaning of the term “progressive” in music.

DAY THREE Sunday 19^th of June:

Last day’s schedule included ATHEISTfor a starter and unfortunately their performance wasn’t something special. They had sound problems which made their complex music difficult to understand. For sure, smaller venues are most suitable for them and the kind of music they play (technical death metal).

KNUT and their powerful performance in Terrorizer Tent rightfully place them in the premier league of the progressive metalcore bands.

Many accused GHOST members that they are just a rip-off of Mercyfull Fate and King Diamond bands and probably they have a point.  From my side I could add that King is stealing from Arthur Brown and Alice Cooper. Do you see where I’ m getting at? IT DOESN’T MATTER because for me the difference between inspiration and stealing is very obvious when artist’s motivation is clear! GHOST that Sunday evening kicked some serious ass with their theatricality and their heavenly (or devilish?) inspired songs! A superb cover of the Beetles song “here comes the sun” left me with my mouth open standing as “malakas” (asshole in Greek), wondering what the fuck just happened!

Ghost

After the sock with Ghost I I went to Rock Hard Tent to check out MORGOTH. The Germans are relatively known in Death Metal circles from their first two albums in early nineties. A Decent performance well enjoyed from the French audience.

The last gig of the festival for me was the JUDAS PRIESTshow. The news of K.K.Downing departure troubled me the past few weeks about the quality of the upcoming performance. The good news is that Judas gave a hell of show that night playing long forgotten hymns from their entire discography. Halford’s voice was magnificent as always (having in mind Rob’s age of course) placing him in the top category of metal performers. The fun part of the show was the replacement musician (Richie Faulkner) of KK.Downing who looked as KK’s younger clone! The clothes, the attitude on stage, his face, his haircut, all of them looked just like Downing’s! Hillarious!

The Hellfest experience ended successfully with our music batteries recharged and our bodies ready to drop off from exhaustion. I strongly believe that Hellfest is currently one of the best hard rock/metal festivals out there. Three friends with different tastes in rock managed to fully satisfy their hunger for some quality hard rock/metal music. I believe that this explains everything about the great mentality of the specific festival.

See you next year…

D. Kalamatas

Coventry doom legends Cathedral announced that they are calling it a day a while ago. This is their last tour, and while it’s a pity, at least they are going out with a bang. Gagarin club was 3/4ths full on Saturday, but there was a sense of occasion in the air that you rarely get to witness in gigs.

Infidel opened the evening with their slow, punishing, Candlemass doom. I can’t say I ‘m a fan, but they were very good and the sound was much better from the last time I saw them (supporting Pentagram). Violet Vortex won me over with their vintage 70s sound and tasty guitar licks, although the singer sounded a bit under- rehearsed.

But we were all there to see Cathedral for one last time and they didn’t dissapoint. Getting on stage to the sound of a funereal keyboads dirge, they blasted through Vampire Sun and the place simply erupted. Enter the Worms and Soul Sacrifice had everyone screaming the words in a daze and you cannot imagine what happened during Midnight Mountain.

The band seemed to be having fun. Lee Dorrian was never the most tuneful of singers, but live, his priest- of- Nyarlathotep growl and shamanic presence is a sight to behold. He screamed like a burning sinner, having a bit too much fun in Hell, staggered around in imitation of the zombie Templar’s from The Blind Dead movies and strangled himself with the microphone cord, while the band grooved around him. In fact, for doom metal, Cathedral always had a glorious sense of fun (especially for hairy people with a penchant for magic mushrooms) and Scott Carlson on bass held the groove admirably (speaking of Carlson, the world needs another Death Breath album). And Gary Jennings is one of the greatest guitarist’s I’ve ever seen live. His sound went from monstrously heavy riffs, to beautiful psychedelic passages. Stunning.

There were crawlingly slow jams (Ebony Tears), whimsical prog (Funeral of Dreams) and modern metal classics (Carnival Bizarre). My only complaint is that their more stoner- flavored albums remained untouched (I wanted Fireball Demon goddamit!!), but with a back- catalog like that, you can’t have everything. They finished with the NWOBHM stomp of Corpsecycle, but came back to rapturous applause with Ride and Utopian Blaster. And then- of course- they did a second encore with the legendary Hopkins, which sounded like a celebration. Verdict? It was an epochal night and you should run and catch them live at all costs.

Setilist:

Vampire Sun
Enter The Worms
Soul Sacrifice
Midnight Mountain
Funeral Of Dreams
Cosmic Funeral
Carnival Bizarre
Night Of The Seagulls
Ebony Tears
Upon Azrael’s Wings
Corpsecycle
Ride
Utopian Blaster
Hopkins (Witchfinder General)

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

The mood in Athens and Greece in general, feels like a ticking bomb these days- due to the fucked- up state of the economy and the sense that we are being governed by a committee of clowns- so a Sunday gig was just the thing to alleviate the sense of malaise. Suede are back together and I ‘d never seen the live, so I thought I’d give it a go.

Entertainment Stage is a new venue near the Gazi area. Gazi is hipster central in this town (full of people with oversized glasses, skinny trousers and Arcade Fire T- shirts), so I was a bit weary  that the place would be full of annoying indie bastards, but I was pleasantly surprised. The usual indie bastards were there of course, but so were people from many other musical tribes. The venue itself is fantastic. You can see the stage from almost everywhere and (crucially) the bar at the back is easily accessible.

We got there just as Matisse (the Greek support band) were finishing their set. Excellent timing, as I am really not a fan of their cheerful / melancholic indie pop. For what is worth, their previous singer is back and the crowd seemed to like them just fine. I got a beer and looked around at the crowd- which consisted mostly of beautiful girls, and boys who were more interested in Brett Anderson than the girls. I did see severeal punks and metalheads as well. Suede were always popular across the board round these parts.

And when they got on stage with The Drowners, it became pretty obvious why. The years have been kind to Brett Anderson. He struts, writhes and jumps around like a dandy in an absinthe binge and his voice is in great shape. The rest of the band sliced through their back catalog (She, Trash, Filmstar, Animal Nitrate) with a glam enthousiasm rare for an indie act and even included a couple of songs from their great B- Side collection Sci- Fi Lullabies. Suede’s glam aspect was what made them different from the other Britpop groups, in an era of beer- soaked loudmouths and esthete indie darlings who were afraid to rock. Live, their darker, Scott Walker- influenced side isn’t apparent ever since Bernard Butler left, but no one was complaining when the riff of I Can’t Get Enough blastsed through the venue. They encored in a romantic mood with Saturday Night and everyone went home happy. The only problem that I can think of is that they played for only an hour- and- a- half, but, considering their fine form, I ‘ll let it slide.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

I will start by saying I never cought the PULP “culture” not in its time and especially not when those fucking hipster fags claimed Jarvis Cocker to be their idol. With that been said, PULP’s  2^nd live in Greece was AMAZING. Really the interaction  between the band and the audience was not what I thought it would be. ‘Oh  another reunion” I said and in my guts I knew someone was coming from far away to snatch my money and go home with it but NO!

These guys were actually feeling like playing for the no more than 3.500 people that went to see them, with Jarvis Cocker talking, shaking, bending, dancing, climbing and with an encore of 3 songs I really didn’t want this gig to end.

They started with “Do you remember the first time” which is the title of the tour and in the next 1 hour and 45 minutes they played (almost) every song everybody wanted to hear. “Disco 2000”, “Common People”, “Razzmatazz”, “Babies” and many more created the soundtrack for a wonderful night. The sound was great, the stage was great, Jarvis voice was even better as the years passed and the crowd, which was consisted almost entirely by 30-somethings, was the least to say emotional. Between the songs, Charles Darwin, Phyl Lynott, Plato, FIX (a Greek beer), a happy birthday to Robert Plant and other random subjects were brought up by Jarvis and everybody loved that. We are fucking bored with the rockstar thing when the guy comes on to the stage, says “hello Athens”, and 2 hours later “goodnight Athens”.

This live was as good as it gets, well as good as it gets for this type of music anyway. “This is propably the last time we will play here. Or maybe not” these were Jarvis’ last words after he said goodnight and I know for one that it won’t take them another 13 years to visit our little Country again. After all “she came from Greece…”

Petros Loukas

Setlist:
Do you remember the first time?
Joyriders
Help the aged
Bad cover version
Something changed
Disco 2000
Sorted For E’s & Wizz
F.E.E.L.I.N.G.C.A.L.L.E.D.L.O.V.E
I Spy
Babies
Underwear
This Is Hardcore
Sunrise
Bar Italia
Common People

Encore:
Party hard
Razzmatazz
Mis-shapes

Bon Jovi are one of those bands who keep filling arenas despite their zero credibility with the music press. This is partly because of nostalgia and partly because they have a reputation for killer live concerts. This was their first time in Greece, so tens of thousands of people showed up. Virtually every age, including a huge number of glamorous- looking women that looked like they’d never been in a gig before. Frankly, I felt a little underdressed.

Now, I ‘m not the world’s biggest Bon Jovi fan (too clean- cut for me) and any interest I had was killed- off around 1993 by Always, the sugary power- ballad to end all sugary power- ballads. Still, they ‘ve made a couple of fantastic records (can even the most dedicated indie kid deny that Slippery When Wet is great?) and I was sure they’d rock live. Unfortunately I have mixed feelings about their performance.

We made our way into the arena, as the support band The Breakers were finishing their set. Their soulful rock ‘n’ roll wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. We had a few beers and waited. Bon Jovi came out just as the sun went down at around 9:00 with Raise Your Hands (a song I wasn’t familiar with). The crowd obeyed and the band started You Give Love A Bad Name- while 80.000 people went crazy singing along.

The party continued with Born To Be My Baby, but this is where things started getting rather problematic. It was obvious that the sound quality sucked. While Jon Bon Jovi’s voice, the backing vocals and David Bryan’s keyboards sounded crystal clear, Richie Sambora’s guitar was buried in the mix, along with the rhythm section. The result was that- while you could hear Sambora soloing away and playing his ass off, the volume remained at low, “polite” levels. As for Tico Torres, I could see him pounding away on the drums, but I couldn’t feel much of a beat.

Have you ever seen one of those crappy American Idol episodes where they are doing rock covers, or inviting Slash or Aerosmith or somebody and they play hard rock? Only it sounds oddly homoegenous and watered- down for the masses? Karaoke- style, like an anodine facsimile of “rock”? This is what the band sounded like during the fast numbers. The musicianship was fantastic, but they weren’t nearly loud enough. It could be a problem with the sound man (and I ‘ve yet to ask friends who were closer to the stage), but I ‘ve seen the Stones and AC/DC in the same stadium and you could feel the riffs in your backbone. That and the fact that, in slower power ballads such as Bed Of Roses, Sambora’s lead was perfectly audible, makes me suspect that this is exactly what they wanted to sound like. After all, their audience and fan base involves many people who are not particularly into rock music anyway.

Look, I realise that complaining that Bon Jovi are too slick, is like bitching that Venom are not virtuosos. But when your stadium- forged, sugar- rush songs pack more of a punch in the studio, you have a problem. Add the fact that the new songs are dull and the momentum of the gig was lost on me early on.

It wasn’t all bad of course. Jon himself looks like he hasn’t aged a day since 1987, sex- symbol hair and everything and the ladies are going nuts (the less said about the barbarians at the front who were throwing flowers at him like they were in a Eurovision final, the better..)! Blaze Of Glory and In These Arms were uprorious fun, Bad Medicine predictably brought the house down and, by the finale with Keep The Faith, the crowd was eating out of their hand. The encore was even better, with Wanted Dead Or Alive being the best part of the night. Then, of course, they played Always and did it brilliantly, although I hate that bloody song. The celebration concluded with (what else?) Living On A Prayer.

So, that’s it. Good fun was had by all. The audience seemed to have loved the whole thing. And it was OK, don’t get me wrong. I was just not blown- away, that’s all. By this morning, Greek glossy websites and magazines took a break from covering fashion tips to call this “one of the greatest concerts ever in Greece”. Perhaps they watched a different band than I did. Or perhaps they should go to gigs more often.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

Lately I have made a resolution to try and go to European Festivals during the Summer. They are better organised, cheaper and you get to see more names. Still, I couldn’t make it to Hellfest with the rest of the Crows ‘n’ Bones team, so thought “what the Hell” and went to Rockwave instead. Despite my well- documented annoyance with the organisers (Di Di Music), I have had a lot of fun in Rockwave over the years (and this year the price was quite reasonable as well).

TerraVibe Park is located outside of Athens, so it’s a hassle to get there and find a parking spot, but the site itself is widespread and picturesque. This year there were two stages. We arrived relatively early (14:00) and the sun was burning. In the smaller stage, some band was doing a mediocre impression of System Of A Down with the usual touches of Gogol Bordello, Manu Chao etc., so we left them to it, got some beer and tried to find some shadow beneath some pine trees, facing the big stage.

Marky Ramone’s Blitzkrieg is essentially the Ramones’ legendary drummer with a band of younger musicians, playing Ramones’ songs. To add to the feeling of karaoke, the singer used to be in The Misfits after Danzig left. I was expecting to be dissapointed, but they were a lot of fun. These songs are timeless, Marky is a fantastic drummer and everyone had a good time. And my friend Yannis reminded me once again that he has seen the Ramones live (the BASTID!!!).

Anyway, off we go to the smaller stage for Therapy?. I never paid too much attention to Therapy? back in the day, when Troublegum was everywhere, so I had forgotten how fantastic they were. Loud and feedback- drenched, but also poppy. Punk and metal at the same time. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as well we appreciated that. Plus, it’s hilarious to see a crowd yell “JAMES JOYCE IS FUCKING MY MY SISTER”!

Round 18:00, it was time for the mighty Monster Magnet. I ‘ve seen them live twice in the past, but it’s never enough. They strode on stage with Nod Scene and the fanatics in the audience lost it completely. They look like something that was dragged into a time- machine from 1972 and ended up in the here and now. Dave Wyndorf’s appearance is a shock at first. He looks like he has spent the last few years eating. He looks less like Iggy Pop and more like Leslie West these days and doesn’t move around as much as he used to, but that voice is still a magnificent thing. He commanded the stage, flanked by Rickenbackers and Gibsons and sold us his Jack Kirby imagery ince again.

They blasted through Tractor and Dopes To Infinity and we sang every word. They played a couple of songs from their latest album and that slowed things down a bit for me (although no one else seemed to mind). They finished with the hits from Powertrip (Crop Circle, Space Lord MOTHERFUCKER, etc, etc.), in a blaze of wailing guitars and distortion. Awe- inspiring.

And if that wasn’t enough, Kyuss Lives! are appearing after them. They were in Greece a few months ago, but I didn’t get the chance to go (and it was sold- out anyway), so I was looking forward to them. I was a bit apprehensive though. Would Josh Homme’s absense affect things?

Well, no. Not really. I am not going to use some stupid, cliched phraseology and say that “they transformed TerraVibe into the desert” or something equally florid, but I will say that they were fantastic. Their bluesy, heavy material feels eternal. It’s easier to enjoy them while laying back from the mosh pit actually, as their music is more introspective than Monster Magnet’s. OK, they didn’t play Demon Cleaner, but I don’t care. As far as I ‘m concerned, they could have gone ahead and simply called themselves Kyuss and I wouldn’t mind at all.

I can’t say that I am familiar with Flogging Molly, but they were extremely popular, with the small stage being packed when they played. Their folk punk reminds me of both of the Dropkick Murphys and The Levellers and that’s a good thing. They were cheerful and funny and- for the second time that day- the Greeks and the Irish seemed to be getting along fine.

At last, the punishing sun started to set and we made our way to a huge crowd in the big stage, in time for Gogol Bordello. Now, Gogol Bordello are fucking huge here. They probably sell more albums than Rhianna and they enjoy the sort of credibility that is usually reserved for dead Cuban revolutionaries and latter- day Clint Eastwood movies. For the duration of their set, the crowd was going berserk, like a sea of demented lemmings. Respect.

I however, found them unbelievably irritating.

For the uninitiated, Gogol Bordello are a collective of musicians playing a sort of punk / pop / ska with a lot gypsy influences and lefty lyrics. All this sounds interesting on paper, but live is a different story. All the songs sound the same. All the songs drag on forever. Just when they get hold of a tune, it gets strangled by some “zany” violin playing, or an accordeon, or a dub MC toasting, or by frontman Eugene Hutz, jumping around crowing like a rooster, or yelling idiotic slogans (Party! PARTY!! PARTYYYY!!! Break the spell! BREAK THE SPELL OF POVERTY!!! IMMIGRANIADA!!!!!!) again and again and again and again… Ideollogically I agree with these people but musically they need to tone it down a bit. They are supposed to be influenced by The Clash, but they reminded me more of a Eurovision novelty act from some former Soviet republic. Nil Points.

Still, the crowd absolutely loved them and was primed for the return of The Prodigy. By that time I was rather exhausted and I had already seen what I wanted to see. I don’t mind The Prodigy, but I was never much of a fan.

Well, I really didn’t see that coming. They were fucking spectacular. They came on stage with Breathe and everybody started to mosh like crazy. Pretty soon, the whole crowd was swinging about with huge force. It was absolutely impossible to stay immobile. The heat was staggering and I saw fainting people next to us being dragged away by security over the barriers. It’s impossible to describe what happened with Voodoo People and Diesel Power. For Smack My Bitch Up, Maxim got everyone (meaning thousands) to sit down and jump up at the same time.

The great thing was that they weren’t interested in feeding peace, love and understanding to their audience. They were just here to fuck you up. The setlist was demonically intense (the extra guitar player helped) and everybody was frothing at the mouth by the end with Out Of Space. A fitting end to a great day.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

I didn’t expect The Cult to draw a particularly big crowd the previous Sunday. There was an important basket ball game on and the centre of Athens was experiencing the biggest demonstration in 30 years, so a concert seemed like nothing important. And yet, Fuzz Club was almost full with people of varrying ages.

 We made our way near the stage and waited- a bit impatiently- until just before 22:00, when the band came out (thank Christ there were no supporting acts busting our balls). The band appeared on the plain stage with Rain and everyone went batshit crazy. I noticed that Ian Astburry is following the Dave Windorf method of stage presence these days: Wear lots of baggy clothes, in order to hide the fact that you need to lose weight. I sympathise. He also wore sunglasses and is unshaven. In general, he looks more like a hobbo than a former 80s sex- God these days. Hobbo clothes or not, his voice is still a soaring thing of beauty and he’s got the shamanic rock star attitude thing down pat. We love it, frankly. Also, he had a tambourine. I liked that. The tambourine is a good rock ‘n’ roll instrument and people have forgotten that lately. Age has been a lot kinder to Billy Duffy and he strut around like the guitar hero that he is. The rest of the band look as you ‘d expect and hold their ground well, but this has always been the Ian and Billy show.

The Cult were never the sharpest or most original band. They had the riffs and the attitude though and it’s great to see it’s still here. The sound was a bit echoey, but that didn’t make much difference with songs like Sweet Soul Sister and an intense Saints Are Dead. The crowd at the back was rather sedate throughout, but up front people were screaming their lungs out. Unfortunately smack in the middle of the gig, Astburry stopped everything to show us a 3- minute short film about the massacre of the native Americans at Wounded Knee. Regardless of the band’s good intentions, the film was abstract nonsense, projected blurrilly at above the stage and it broke up the mood to say the least.

Thankfully, they returned after that cockblock and saved the day with Lil Devil, Wild Flower, She Sells Sanctuary and a spectacular Love Removal Machine. For the encore they blazed through Fire Woman and a good cover of The Doors Break On Through. Unfortunately I fucking hate The Doors, so the finale left me cold.

 Oh, and my friend Giannis grabbed a drum stick that they threw into the crowd in the end. A good night for all concerned.

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

Never trust pretty girls who offer you alcohol. They are dangerous.

But I am getting ahead of myself. This is a gig review. So, after decades of bad luck, the legendary Pentagram are on a well- deserved roll, with an excellent new album and a tour underway. It’s Monday night and I reach An Club with a couple of friends, as Lucky Funeral start playing.   

As we go in, a hot brunette offers us shots of Jägermeister. Some sort of promotional event. Now, it’s true that Jägermeister tastes like frozen cough syrup if you are not in the mood, by I ‘ll try anything if it’s offered free by someone pretty. In the meantime, Lucky Funeral are excellent. They look like they had bit parts in The Devils Rejects and play sludgy stoner / doom. On the record they sound a lot like Down, but live they reminded me more of Superjoint Ritual. Fun. I get a couple of Jack Daniels from the bar while Infidel get on stage. Unfortunately they don’t quite gel with me. The music is interesting, at times slow and doomy, with flashes of eastern melodies thrown in. The vocals go from brutal to a Messiah Marcolin- type wail. Frankly though, I remain underwhelmed, at least this time. Also, the sound is awful and my ears start ringing within 10 minutes.

My friend (and GangBang Zine co- conspirator) Dimitris has brought a flask with raki, so we take a few swings of that. At last, the headliners show up, looking good. Bobby Liebling takes the stage yelling “It’s the first time we play in Italy?”. Eh.., whatever, Bobby.  Unfortunately, as they start the set, The World’s Most Excitable Pentagram Fan^TM comes to stand in front of me. It’s a skinny, long- haired dude, who starts jerking about spasmodically, like he’s in the middle of a Slayer mosh pit, occasionally screeching “PENTAGRAM!!, PENTAGRAM!!!” like a castrated cat. Amazingly, he seems to be oblivious to the fact that he is in the middle of a packed crowd and keeps bumping against everyone joyfully. There’s one in every gig. This gets irritating fast, so I move to the center of the crowd, where the sound is actually better.

Not by much though. An Club is small and the sound remains an issue throughout Pentagram’s set (in fact they may have worse sound than the previous bands). It‘s hard to make out what Bobby is singing about, over the cacophony. It actually reminds me of the sound in their Keg Full Of Dynamite live album. Raw and messy, but not necessarily in a good way. Songs that are tight in the studio, like Sign Of The Wolf, loose some of their power in this setting. Still, it’s a rock ‘n’ roll concert not a space shuttle launch, so the lack of precision is not the end of the world. The band catches a groove and Victor Griffin’s guitar leads slice through the noise to grab us by the throat. Needless to say, the beer- soaked crowd LOVES THEM. We all sing along to Evil Seed, The Ghoul and All Your Sins. Relentless is stunning, perhaps the apex of the show. Liebling freezes for seconds and then comes back to life wide- eyed, howling, flirting with the girls and thanking the crowd. What a guy. They finish with When The Screams Come and I would like some more stuff, from Review Your Choices say, but there’s always next time. I want to see them in a concert setting in the future. Roadburn anyone?

PS: In the taxi home, I am struck by the realization that I have drunk 2 whiskeys, some raki, 1 shot of Jägermeister and countless beers. Which is how I end up in my house, for a session of projectile vomiting and a ferocious hangover the next day. Personally, I blame the Jägermeister girl. She started it. Fuck it though, Pentagram deserved it.      

(-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

When I heard that British doom priests Electric Wizard were coming to Athens, I knew I couldn’t pass on the opportunity. I might manage to get to the Hellfest Festival in the Summer, where they are also appearing, but I decided to check them out here as well.

Gagarin Club was roughly ¾ full with the standard Athens stoner / doom crowd and everyone was cheerful. I ‘ve never seen so many goat’s head t- shirts in one place and I ‘ve been to Wacken (I fell into a conversation with two black- clad fans in the underground before the show and one laughed: “Man, we are going to sacrifice somebody in there!!” I could see his point).

Promising newcomers Agnes Vein opened the show. They play concrete- heavy sludge with black metal overtones and the kind of screaming vocals you would associate with Sourvein or Bongzilla. Perfect opening for this kind of concert, if you are into that kind of sound (a few pints with Jägermeister chasers helped me appreciate them more).

Around 11:00, it was time for the Wizard. Jess Franco’s Exorcisme et Messes Noires was screened on the wall of Orange amps behind the band. A defrocked priest and two babes were entangled in a black mass, S&M bondage trip, while the crushing riff of The Chosen Few washed over us. How appropriate.

The sound is so heavy and deep, it makes the floor rattle and yet it’s not a cacophony. You can clearly make out the snaking guitar leads and the mastodon- sized rhythm section. And the band looks great. Drummer Shaun Rutter is a dead ringer for Anton Lavey, while bassist Tas Danazoglou with his facial tattoos looks like he escaped from a whaler or a pirate ship. Liz Buckingham is the ultimate guitar goddess and Jus Osborn is the ringleader (or high priest) of the whole Altamont vibe.

It’s an awe- inspiring, mesmerizing performance and I stop thinking about setlists somewhere between The Nightchild and The Satanic Rites Of Drugula. I am almost jolted back to reality when they finish, more than an hour later. Frankly, I would have wanted more, but there’s always next time. Unfortunately (and stupidly), most of us leave after 5- 10 minutes, thinking there will be no encore. We are proven wrong. It turns out that they went out again and played Funeranopolis. FUUUCK!!! A few days later, I am still kicking myself over this one. Never mind though, I won’t miss the chance to see them again.            

PS: Parts of the gig have already gone up to Youtube, as you can see for yourselves. Frankly though, you should have been there.

Setlist:

The Chosen Few
Scorpio Curse
The Nightchild
Return Trip
Satanic Rites of Drugula
Black Mass
Witchcult Today
Dopethrone (Encore)  

(-Dimitris Kontogianis-)