AmeliaMarina's Last.fm Journal

Diary of Dreams live @ Mylos Club, Thessaloniki, 21 April 2010

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 11:45:21 +0000

Wed 21 Apr – Diary of Dreams

Diary Of Dreams : Greek Tour 2010
21st April, Mylos Club, Thessaloniki

Two years have passed since Diary of Dreams last visited Greece for a tour, and now they are back again for 3 concerts! The first show took place in Thessaloniki and of course I was there. Although there was the trouble with the volcano ash, they finally made it to Greece. The three of them came by plane, while the other two drove all the way from Germany to come to Greece and that made us feel very honored and grateful! It is very touching to know that these people spent so many hours on the road just to be here with us.
The show started at 22:45 with Wahn!Sinn? and then… The Wedding! The crowd was small in number, yet very enthusiastic. It seems that Diary of Dreams are very loved here in Greece and this is probably why they honor us with so many concerts in so many different cities! The show lasted for almost 2 hours, with the setlist being something like a “best of”. New songs like The Wedding, The Chain, King of Nowhere mixed with old hits like The Curse, Butterfly:Dance, Traumtanzer, Chemicals, She and her Darkness, Soul Stripper, AmoK & MenschFeind. This was the second time I was seeing Diary of Dreams live and I have to admit that I would go to see them another 200 times if they came here again, cause they manage to make every concert even more special than the previous! I was surprised by their professionalism and modesty. They had taken care of every single little detail and the result was awesome, even better than the album! Especially in Traumtanzer, the female backing vocals of the keyboard player gave another feeling to the song and made it the ideal closing of the gig, with the crowd singing along even though the lyrics were in German.
Words are never enough to describe a concert when it comes to Diary of Dreams… It is something you have to experience to understand how it feels and I hope we will be given the chance to experience it many more times here in Thessaloniki!

Marina Arvaniti

Katatonia / Sirenia / SorrowfulAngels / Daylight Misery live @ Principal Club Theater, Thessaloniki, 10 April 2010

Fri, 16 Apr 2010 07:32:01 +0000

Sat 10 Apr – New Night Over Europe Tour

New Night Over Europe Tour
10th April 2010, Principal Club Theater
Katatonia, Sirenia, SorrowfulAngels and Daylight Misery

www.ice-vajal.com

Katatonia’s visit to Greece during their New Night Over Europe Tour was one of the most expected metal concerts of the last months. They shared the stage with Sirenia and two Greek bands: SorrowfulAngels and Daylight Misery. I got to the club a bit early cause I wanted to catch my usual spot at Principal (as always). After we had been waiting for almost an hour, they finally let us in and the show started!

Daylight Misery came out first and stayed there for 30 minutes, followed by SorrowfulAngels who played for 40 minutes. Both of them are upcoming, Greek metal bands. I can’t be objective about their performance cause I had never listened to their music before and I was waiting for Katatonia to come out, so I didn’t pay much attention to their songs. All I can say is that their music was nice and I’m glad that Greek metal scene is expanding little by little. Especially SorrowfulAngels were very energetic on stage and made me feel good with their attitude. They were a pleasant support act and they made me wanna hear more of them.

Then, it was time for Sirenia. I can say that this was one of the biggest disappointments I have ever experienced. I am sick and tired of these female fronted gothic bands that change their style from something unique and turn it into commercial indifferent garbage that you listen to and try to understand… “which band is this, of the 2000 similar ones??” Morten made clear from the very start that HE IS THE BOSS. He didn’t introduce the new singer, Ailyn. He didn’t even let her speak a word! Ailyn, on the other hand, was the most annoying singer I have ever seen. She was constantly raising her hands (showing us her dress??? I don’t know) and asking us to clap our hands. She was just trying too hard, singing all lyrics, even Morten’s (of course not to the microphone) and that was TOO tiring for me to see! Don’t get me wrong… I don’t have a problem with these things in general. It is just that all this lasted from the very first minute to the last. It was like a battle between Morten and Ailyn for attention. The setlist was good, containing songs from all albums, even the first ones. The bad thing was that the old songs revealed Ailyn’s lack of vocal range. And except all these… half of their music was a playback. They didn’t even have a bassist on stage! Having a playback for the backing vocals and the synths is ok. But a playback for the bass is just unacceptable! The only good thing was Michael’s cool performance.

And finally, at about 22:00, Katatonia came out! Their show started with mostly new songs. Night is the new Day, is a wonderful album, in my opinion, but not that appropriate for a live show. So in the beginning, I was kinda disappointed and wondering why I had come to this live. But then, old, powerful songs took their place in the setlist and the heat started to rise! Hearing Ghost of the Sun live was enough for me to have a great time! And after that… July, Criminals, For my Demons, Dispossession and Leaders!!! It seems they were holding the really great stuff for the end. What I loved about Katatonia’s performance is that they give you a feeling of calmness and peace even with their most powerful songs. Their show lasted for 90 minutes and they left us with the song “Leaders”, that the crowd had been asking for from the start of the concert.

In general, I can say that even though the evening didn’t start that great and we were fighting with exhaustion once more, it ended with the most beautiful way, leaving us wanting more and awaiting for Katatonia’s next visit to Thessaloniki.

Marina Arvaniti

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameliamarina/sets/72157623844946462/

Videos:

The Gathering live @ Block33, Thessaloniki, 27 February 2010

Tue, 2 Mar 2010 11:18:26 +0000

Sat 27 Feb – The West Pole / 20th Anniversary Tour

The Gathering - The West Pole/20th Anniversary Tour
Live in Thessaloniki/Greece, at Block33
27th February 2010

20th Anniversary Tour for The Gathering and they visited Thessaloniki once more in the frames of it. I was double anxious for this concert cause: 1. Three years have passed since the last time I saw them with Anneke and 2. This time, it would be different & special since the line-up changed and Silje joined the band. I was curious to see how Silje would be on stage and if the audience would correspond to the “new Gathering”. Unfortunately, my curiosity was dissolved 4 days before the concert when I heard that only 37 tickets were sold so far by Ticket House. Of course, the fact that there was no support band and yet the price reached the 30 € might had kept some people behind, but this is a lame excuse.
So, the day of the concert came and I reached Block33 at about 8pm. The Gathering came on stage at 10pm and by that time 200 people were gathered at the Club for the gig. 200 are way better than I expected, but still so much less than The Gathering worth! Fortunately, the band was not affected by it (or at least not obviously affected) and they gave a wonderful show. The show started with “When Trust Becomes Sound”, an instrumental to warm us up and prepare us for what is about to follow. The setlist was something like a best-of, containing old and new songs and a little surprise for us… a cover of “Daniel” from Bat for Lashes (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9v8MLxfEUg) , which they were playing for the first time live! Silje was unexpectedly good on stage as regards both voice and performance and she seemed to have overcome the stress of the first shows. She proved that she is much more than a capable substitute of Anneke and she erased the image of the “old” Gathering for me… You could see her shining while singing the new songs. Not that she failed at the old ones… On the contrary, she interpreted them as good as Anneke, which is admirable! It’s just that it is normal, in my opinion, to have an extra-sparkle while singing songs that you have written the lyrics for. And this is why I believe that as they go on, she will shine even more! While watching them, I was thinking of how lucky I am for being here and supporting this band, cause even after 20 years of success and recognition they remain modest and down to earth… truly thanking us for being here for them. Not just saying it, but also showing it with their attitude on stage (and after the show too). This is why I said that they deserve more than 200 people.
After 1,5 hour of playing, and a “waterfall” of all-time favorite songs like Saturnine, Travel, Leaves etc, they thanked us and left the stage, but soon came out to talk with the fans, take photos and thank us personally for our presence! Marjolein told us that they are about to start recording the new album which will probably be out in 2011 and gave us a promise of coming back after that. We will be waiting for it and I hope that the next time will be more successful as regards the correspondence of the fans…

Marina Arvaniti

Read my reviews at www.ice-vajal.com

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ameliamarina/sets/72157623401595571/show/

Pain of Salvation / Lake of Tears / Agua de Annique / Disillusion / Scar of the Sun live in Thessaloniki 24/01/2010

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 17:48:35 +0000

Sun 24 Jan – Pain of Salvation, Lake of Tears, Agua de Annique, Disillusion, Scar Of The Sun

Pain of Salvation / Lake Of Tears / Agua De Annique / Disillusion / Scar Of The Sun
Live in Thessaloniki/Greece at Principal Club Theater
24th January 2010

After almost 3 years Pain of Salvation came finally back to rock Thessaloniki! During their Linoleum Tour they visited Greece for 2 shows together with Lake of Tears, Agua de Annique, Disillusion and the Greek band Scar of the Sun.
The show was about to start at 18:00 (as mentioned on the ticket) but unfortunately we had been stood up for one more time. They didn’t even let us in until it was 18:20 even though we were freezing outside. Whatever… After we had been waiting for over an hour for the gates to open and the show to start, Scar of the Sun finally came on stage for about half an hour. I can’t say I was excited or that I liked them at all. In my opinion, they were an unlucky choice to complete the line-up, since they don’t even have a studio work yet but only some promo songs, which I found very similar and repeating!
Then it was time for Disillusion to give their show. I had listened to their album “Gloria” before the concert but I could never have imagined how their performance would be. A German band with American Sound and a British performance. They were very alive and kicking and they intrigued me to listen more of them. They were passionate and the vibes they were sending were very good! And this, in my opinion, is what made them stand out. Cause if you consider that almost no one knew them and that the club was half empty (most people came hours later just to see Pain of Salvation), they performed as if they were in a venue filled with their fans. The only bad thing was the terrible sound that made me straggle to hear the singer’s voice!
After 40 minutes of Disillusion, Agua de Annique came out! I was very curious to see Anneke live without The Gathering, cause my feelings when I saw them in 2007 were so strong that I doubted she could beat that! And I was right… I can say I was very disappointed by Anneke. She was happy and cheerful but that couldn’t make up for the lack of emotion. I was used to her as an unearthly presence, overflown with emotion and inner beauty. What I saw now was a cheerful lady with shiny clothes, dancing around with the music and singing. But her singing was empty words without meaning to me. Not to mention that she hardly spoke to us. Her only words were “Thank you” and “My acoustic guitar broke during my journey so I will have to play this acoustic version with an electric guitar”… not even “the next song is…” or “this will be our last song for tonight, thank you for coming”. When she said that her acoustic guitar broke, some guy from the crowd shouted “buy a new one” and she smiled and said “yeah, buy a new one. You give me the money” and I thought…. “Duh…we paid 38 euro to be here tonight. Are you really saying this?” Whatever… As regards the music, the sound was terrible once again, so even her beautiful voice was covered by the music during the groovy songs and the setlist included new songs mostly which I am not that fond of.
But the hardest time of the concert was when Lake of Tears came out. We were all so tired and impatient to see Pain of Salvation, so their show was a torment for most of us. Unfortunately, the band saw that and they were quite annoyed, trying (in vein) to cheer us up! Their music is not my cup of tea, but I can say I liked them as a performance. I wish I could have paid some more attention to them, but I had been standing upright for 4,5 hours before they came on stage and I was very tired! They left the stage at about 23:00 or so… The time came! We would finally see Pain of Salvation after so many hours of waiting!
Pain of Salvation didn’t come on stage until 23:40 which tired us even more, but I can say it was worth the waiting cause after 40 minutes of soundcheck, their sound was way better than before. It is unacceptable to pay for a concert and not be able to hear the singer’s voice. So I do not grudge the time I waited for them to play. The time was 23:40 and Remedy Lane sounded through the speakers. The crowd woke up from their lethargy and started screaming for PoS! I have never seen such an alive band before. They “filled” the stage literally and metaphorically! They kept us company for 2 hours with old and new songs. They covered Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOqcuhu1d18 ) and Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues (nice shot Leo ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOaj80J8LdI ). They didn’t stop rocking around the stage not even for a minute. Daniel justly gained the title of the most charismatic frontman I have seen live with his power, vitality and sense of humor! He was very talkative. I believe they are of the bands that you MUST SEE once in your life. The definition of LIVE! And the attitude of the audience showed all these too. It was like different people entered the hall. We jumped around, we sang, we shouted our lungs out for them, we sweat for 2 hours, and we danced the night away by the sounds of Disco Queen. There are no words that can describe my feelings for their performance.
You can check for yourselves at my YouTube page: http://www.youtube.com/user/AmeliaMarina

+ of the day: Daniel’s sense of humor and communication with the fans.
- of the day: the 8 hours of standing (YEAH 8 hours!) and Anneke’s indifferent presence.

Marina A.

Videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/AmeliaMarina
Pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/44478457@N06/sets/72157623177350521/

Read my review online at www.ice-vajal.com
http://www.ice-vajal.com/p/concerts/painofsalvation.htm#Jan2010_MA

Amorphis/Before the Dawn/Amoral live @ Principal Club Theater, Thessaloniki, 31 October 2009

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 19:04:22 +0000

Forging Europe Tour 2009
Amorphis / Before The Dawn / Amoral

31 October 2009
Principal Club Theater, Thessaloniki
Greece

http://www.ice-vajal.com/a/concerts/amorphis.htm#Oct2009_MA

The evening began for me at about 18:45 that I arrived at Principal Club Theater hoping to be of the first ones that will get in and be in the first line! Unexpectedly, there were only 10 people waiting there and the guard let us in immediately. The show was about to start at 20:00 but even until 19:45 the club was half empty. I guess people didn’t care to catch the show from the start, but that made me very nervous. By the time Amorphis came out we hardly were 300 people (which is a humiliating number for a city like Thessaloniki and a band like Amorphis!) Nevertheless, even though we were not many in number, we were one of the most passionate audiences I’ve ever seen and we got our “gift” for that! (I will explain later)

The show started at 20:20 with Amoral. This was one of the most hilarious appearances I’ve seen. I had listened to their songs before but I hadn’t seen them, so when they came on stage I was in shock! The singer was wearing sunglasses and a Vans hat, drinking coca cola light and he had an attitude I didn’t like at all! I was smiling (holding myself from laughing) for at least 10 minutes after they came out. His voice is cool but as regards appearance and performance they were indifferent and boring. The singer gave the feeling that he was doing us a favor. He was just standing or sitting behind when the guitarist was playing a solo. Maybe the worst live act I’ve seen.

At 21:00 Before The Dawn came on stage and the magic began! When the support acts for the show were announced I took a listen to their songs and I simply loved them from the very first second! They gained for sure a place in my favorite bands and I was justified by their performance. They totally aroused the crowd with their beautiful melodies and vocals. Personally they made me feel like I was there to see them. Like they were the headliners! They played 12 songs with My Room being the highlight, in my opinion. Drummer & guitarist left the stage and only Lars and Tuomas stayed to start the song. Lars interpreted it with emotion and calmed us down for a minute until the rest of the band came out again to finish the song hard and loud! Their performance was excellent! They were vivid, friendly, passionate and devoted. The only complaint I have is: 1. Even though in every webpage I found about them Tuomas is mentioned to be the soul & leader of the band, he didn’t even speak a word and 2. They were not moving a lot on stage, but that happens when both guitarist and bassist also sing! The other guitarist though was constantly moving and headbanging. In general I was very pleased by their performance and I think they were the perfect ones to prepare the crowd for Amorphis but also entertain us!
Setlist: Disappear/Faithless/Dying Sun/Unbreakable/Exile/Monsters/Morning Sun/Scar/My Darkness/My Room/The Black/Deadsong

And finally the time came for the gods: Amorphis! All the time I had been waiting for this day, I was thinking of the first time I saw them in 2008 and how perfect they were on stage (or actually Tomi was, cause the other members are rather passing unnoticed, standing in the background). And of course, Tomi was the master of the stage once again. Every time I see him on stage I am captured by his unearthly presence and the power of his voice! I just can’t compare him & Amorphis with any other band as a live act or studio performance. From the moment they appeared on stage the audience went mad, singing and jumping around along with Tomi and proving for once more that metalheads in Thessaloniki may be small in number but very big in passion and enthusiasm! I guess this is why Amorphis honored us with the song “Skyforger” at the encore, which was neither on the setlist nor they had played it at any other show of the tour! The greatest part of the show though was of course House Of Sleep (which I think is the greatest and most characteristic part of every show). People become lunatic when they listen to this song! All the love the audience has for the band reflects on how loud they sing on this song! Unfortunately, this great moment was followed by the end of the show, letting everyone yearning for more. Tomi thanked us all and shaked hands with the fans of the front lines, showing with this gesture his gratitude for the support. In a few words, this was the second best gig of my life, after their 2008 gig in Thessaloniki! First time: love at first sight! Second time: true love… And I am waiting impatiently to see how farther it can get with the third time.
Setlist: Silver Bride/Sampo/Towards And Against/Castaway/Smithereens-The Smoke/Majestic Beast/Alone/Silent Waters/Against-Cares-On Rich And Poor-Against-Better/From the Heaven of My Heart/Sky Is Mine/(M&M)-Black Winter Day/Encore: Sign From The North Side/Skyforger/House Of Sleep/My Kantele

PS.1: Except for Skyforger, Tomi granted us with another gift too: he came out shirt-less!
PS.2: If I could change one thing from the night, I would add Leaves Scar to the playlist!

Marina A.

Tarja live @ Principal Club Theater, Thessaloniki, 11 October 2009

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 10:46:43 +0000

11 October 2009

I am not good at writting reviews. I just wanted to post my videos and photos from the concert for those that are interested!

All i have to say is that Tarja proved wrong those who claimed her to be a diva! One of the best attitudes i've seen on stage ;)

(please do not use without credit)

(Click on image to see photo slideshow)