Monday, 16 October 2017

George Michael in Athens 10 years ago


Continuing on the series of concerts that I attended 10 years ago, the biggest name to come that summer to Greece was George Michael. It was the first time that he would play in Greece and the rumour that was going around back then was that this tour which was his first major one in 23 years was also going to be his last. He had already announced that after his 2004 album "Patience" he was not going to release any more records and he would distribute any new music he might make through the Internet. So this concert was an opportunity not to be missed. I had already seen Duran Duran, so why not see one half of Wham! as well? We had seen him arrive in Athens on TV the previous day (and my only remark was that "had put on some weight" - but otherwise he looked terrific.). Extended highlights of his visit are to be found on his "Live In London" double DVD.
So, as usual, on the day of the concert we made our way towards the Olympic Stadium.

My seat was not that close to the stage I'm afraid; after my summer trip to France combining holidays and The Rolling Stones, I bought my George Michael ticket at the last minute.


Still George, did not disappoint. He went through some of his old Wham! and solo favourites, including several recent (at that time) songs from "Patience". 

His most impressive performance was "Shoot The Dog". 

He even spoke some Greek AND his father was in the audience. 
I found a setlist on setlist.fm but it seems to be a copy-paste job of his early "25 Live Tour setlists. Howevver, by the time George arrived in Athens , he had changed the setlist considerably, a fact I was able to confirm from the videos I had taken that night. So, I am not going to post it here.
I wish that could have been one more regular feature on the "concerts I've been to 10 years ago". Sadly, George is no longer with us (he was one of the many that left us in 2016), so this was the last time we saw him...

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