Alphaville live in Athens March 2025

In recent years, and especially after the pandemic, there are not many interesting (to my liking) gigs taking place during the winter. For example my last concert in 2023 was Bruce Springsteen in Monza and the first of 2024 was Bruce Springsteen in Cardiff at the Principality Stadium. So the pattern went from 2023 to 2024, from Bruce Springsteen to Bruce Springsteen, from outdoor concert to outdoor concert. Well, that last bit was not absolultely true, since the roof of the Principality Stadium was closed on that day so that the stadium was effectively covered turning it into, technically, an indoor concert. (Te first time I saw Bruce Springsteen at an indoor venue!) And it looked like a similar thing would happen this winter since the last concert of 2024, Mikro, although a winter one, was also an outdoor one at Athens' Syntagma Square. However, a conversation I had at last year's Massive Attack concert with somebody I met there who turned out to be a friend of a friend, would, later in the year, change my mind. He was telling me about how, when he was in LA several years ago, he came across an Alphaville gig that was taking place there. So, when it was announced that Alphaville would play in Athens, I took that as a sign. Which meant that I would have to go.

As the day of the gig was closing in, I decided to catch up with Alphaville from where I left them back in 1985. At that time I had decided to move away from what in those days was called "eurodisco" and focus on British synth-pop. So I never got past their first album although I remembered the second and vaguely the third (along with some of their corresponding singles) being displayed at Greek record stores. During the pandemic I had ordered those two albums as they were released in deluxe editions and now it was time to listen to them.

When the ides of March finally came (yes, the gig was on the 15th) I went to Floyd to see Alphaville live!

There were no support acts so it would start with Alphaville. My first impression was one of surprise when I realized that the venue was full. As I've said countless times on this blog, it's rock gigs that attract Greek concertgoers so  I was not sure how a synth-pop one would go down with them. Then the gig started and more surprises were in store. They started with a b-side, "Golden Feeling" which was the flip side of "Jet Set" which they didn't play. Then I realized how much their lead singer, Marian Gold has changed after all these years. If you look closely behind that beard, you will recognize him, though!

Another surprise is that they're not strictly a synth-pop band anymore. They rely a lot on guitars now as we realized when "Big In Japan" was played very early in the set and after Marian had introduced the song with the story behind it. They have inserted a guitar solo into the song! I was thinking of jumping up and down shouting "THERE'S NO GUITAR SOLO ON BIG IN JAPAN!". And during that same song I had the impression that the singer could not hit the high notes anymore. I can't be absolutely certain about this, because I could hear some high notes but they were not coming from him. They were coming from the admittedly very good female backing singers.

Because of that, I thought that this was going to be the first bad review I was going to write on this blog for a gig I had attended but the bad impression was somehow softened by the rest of the set and me reflecting back on the gig during the days that followed. The rest of the singles from the first album ('Sounds Like A Melody" and "Forever Young") were played quite late in the set, but they played quite a few songs from the second and third albums, the highlight of which was "Red Rose" that he sang as a duet with his daughter Lily.

 

 

The final impression was a good one as it usually happens with 80's reunions which was what this gig really was. You could tell that by the people's faces although there were quite a lot of young ones who had probably learned "Big In Japan" from their parents.

SETLIST:
01. Golden Feeling
02. Wishful Thinking
03. Dance With Me
04. Big In Japan
05. Romeos
06. Call Me
07. Sensations
08. Heaven On Earth (The Things We've Got To Do)
09. Carry Your Flag
10. I Die For You Today
11. The Mysteries Of Love
12. To Germany With Love
13. Red Rose (Duet with Lily Becker, Marian Gold's daughter)
14. A Victory Of Love
15. Sounds Like A Melody
16. Forever Young
Encore:
17. State Of Dreams

Mikro live in Athens December 2024

Just as I thought that I was done with live concerts for 2024, and especially open air ones, a nice freebie presented itself to me on last year's Boxing Day. The municipality of Athens had organized "Christmas In Athens", a series of free concerts for Christmas in Syntagma Square, the city's central point. One of the bands taking part was Mikro who have recently made a comeback. As part of this comeback I had seen them at Release Athens Festival in 2023 for a (very) short set. This, however, was going to be a full set and what's more, it was going to be free!

 

 

 

 

 

Just as I got out of the metro and reached the stage (I made sure I was in the first row), the concert started. And along with the concert, the rain started as well. But neither that, nor Nick's accidental fall from the stage kept us from having fun as Mikro took us back to what was then the future. Nice to see they still play the Electro Medley they used to play all those years ago... And they even threw in a Moby cover for good measure!

Taylor Swift live in London August 2024

 

I had wanted to see Taylor Swift live since I got her "Reputation" album. My wish almost came true when I managed to secure a ticket for BST Hyde Park 2020... which of course never happened because of the pandemic. Three years later when I had gone to concerts abroad again, in fact I think I was in London for the Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel concerts, her European leg of The Eras Tour was announced and I got presale access. The reason I got presale access was that I had bought a couple of her CD's from her official store which goes to show how important physical media still are. Meanwhile she had gone from superstar to megastar status and people were complaining that it was impossible to get tickets for any of her concerts. So, for once, I would be attending a concert by the #1 artist in the world! Not bad...

So, on the 15th of August, which is a national holiday in Greece and most people are away on holiday on the Greek islands, I set off from an empty Athens towards London. I had chosen a hotel that was conveniently located near my favourite pub, The Pride Of Paddington.

After a couple of hours of rest I headed towards Wembley. On my way, I kept seeing women dressed like Taylor Swift. When I arrived I saw that there was the by now usual for those occasions information board created by London Underground staff at Wembley Park station (There was even a Taylor's version of the tube map). 

And the road from the station was filled with people heading towards the stadium, merchandise stands and street vendors. 

Before I went into the stadium I headed towards the huge merchandise store that had been created at one of the stadium's car parks. I had read that in the US leg, the special version of her Midnights CD was sold and I wondered if perhaps it was available here as well, but no such luck. The albums on sale were the ones that I already had, but it was interesting to wander through that place where you even had to wait in a queue in order to get in.

From there it was straight on to the stadium. Two people stopped me on my way to my seat to compliment me for my Bruce Springsteen t-shirt. The second one had been to Belfast, at the same concert that I had attended there.

Unfortunately I was only able to catch the end of the Paramore support set by the time I had sat down. Taylor's set would be a lengthy one (3 hours and 20 minutes like Bruce Springsteen's) and it had to start early. On top of that, let me remind you once again that concerts in the UK start early so that people will have a chance to get back home using public transport, unlike what happens in Greece.

The countdown for the main event then started and we could see it at the projections screens. This tour was using an almost 360 degree stage, somewaht like, but not exactly the one that was first used by U2 on their 360 tour. That's why most people were saying that "there is no such thing as a bad seat at a Taylor Swift concert".

As for the concert itself, you can get an idea if you have watched her Eras Tour Concert documentary, with separate sections for each albums, except that this time there was the added bonus of the songs from her latest album "The Tortured Poets Department", one of which, "I Can Do It With A Broken Heart", proved to be a highlight of the evening. If this looks like to you like one of the concerts by artists like Madonna where you get the same setlist night after night, it's not. That's because it has these acoustic sessions where 'surprise songs" come up (again like a Springsteen concert!).

As for me, I was waiting for songs from my favourite albums "Reputation" and "1989" (I just love "Blank Space") and also "You Need To Come Down" and "We Are Never Getting Back Together". And even though I am not a big fan of the two "folk" albums she released during the pandemic, I simply adore "August".

Like Coldplay, there were also wristbands on offer the lighing patterns of which would change depending on the song. However, these would stay on long after the concert. And yes, I've kept mine! (Again!)

The show came to a close after 3 hours and 20 minutes with the "Midnights' era section featuring 7 songs from that album.

Getting out of Wembley was, as usual, a challenge. We had to stop and wait at several points on the way to the station (which caused somebody to paraphrase that Taylor Swift song and claim that he "could do it with a broken bladder"). Thankfully, there was a party mood in the atmosphere and people kept waving at us from a room of a nearby hotel where apparently a party was taking place in one of the rooms.

 

To sum up, it was amazing to be part of the #1 tour by the #1 artist at that particular time!

SETLIST:

01. Miss Americana & The Heartbreak Prince
02. Cruel Summer
03. The Man
04. You Need To Calm Down
05. Lover
06. Fearless
07. You Belong With Me
08. Love Story
09. 22
10. We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together
11. I Knew You Were Trouble
12. All Too Well
13. Enchanted
14. ...Ready For It?
15. Delicate
16. Don't Blame Me
17. Look What You Made Me Do
18. Cardigan
19. Betty
20. Champagne Problems
21. August
22. Illicit Affairs
23. My Tears Ricochet
24. Marjorie
25. Willow
26. Style
27. Blank Space
28. Shake It Off
29. Wildest Dreams
30. Bad Blood
31. But Daddy I Love Him / So High School
32. Who's Afraid Of Little Old Me?
33. Down Bad
34. Fortnight
35. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
36. I Can Do It With A Broken Heart
37. London Boy
38. Dear John / Sad Beautiful Tragic
39. Lavender Haze
40. Anti‐Hero
41. Midnight Rain
42. Vigilante Shit
43. Bejeweled
44. Mastermind
45. Karma