Athens Rocks Festival 2024 - Lenny Kravitz

 

I remember first seeing Lenny Kravitz on MTV in the early 90's (Or was it the late 80's?) Despite his heavy exposure, at first he was struggling to have a hit. The rumours back in the day said that he was promoted so heavily, because his parents were in the music business. However, another rumour said that he didn't seek the help of his parents and that he wanted to make it on his own. And that's what he did! I never bought one of his CD's back then, though. Until 2001 that is. That's when I was working at a record shop on London's Oxford Street. Some supplier brought us several promo copies of his "Greatest Hits" album. It was just the disc in a simple cardboard sleeve. I got one of these, as I thought it was too good a bargain to miss. And that's how I really got into his music!

And that's of course why I decided to go and see him live when it was announced that he was going to perform in Athens. The venue was once again the Athens Olympic Complex, as it was for Maneskin at Ejekt Festival, my previous gig, but this time it was at a different corner of the complex. What's more, the two support acts were bands I had already seen in Athens as support acts: The Last Internationale who had played support for Guns N' Roses at the complex's main attraction the Olympic Stadium in 2023 and Sleaford Mods who had played support for Iggy Pop and Liam Gallagher at Release Festival in Water Square the year before.

When I arrived, The Last Internationale were already playing under a hot and blazing sun. I should mention here that concerts in August by international artists are uncommon in Greece, probably because promoters think that everybody will be on their summer vacation. (Most people in Athens tend to go on their summer vacation on the two weeks between the 1st and the 15th of August which is a good enough reason to avoid the popular vacation spots). Those of us who are left behind (I prefer to go on my summer holiday in September) usually enjoy the empty and quiet city, but dislike the fact that there are no gigs to attend. So, this festival date was a welcome break from the usual routine. 

Next in line were Sleaford Mods. I was really looking forward to seeing them again, because they had fairly recently released a cover version of "West End Girls" by the Pet Shop Boys. It seems they usually add a cover version to their set, because when I had last seen them two tears before they had performed Yazoo's "Don't Go". Sure enough, they didn't disappoint and they played it.

While they were still playing I took a stroll around the festival grounds to see what was on offer. As this was yet another festival (compared to Release and Ejekt), there were yet more differences. (Not so many freebies, though!). On the merchandise stand however, I found the latest album from The Last Internationale! Having by now seen them twice, this was rightfully my purchase of the night.

On my way back, I found some lawn chairs and that's where I sat down to wait for Lenny. Soon enough, there he was bursting into "Are You Gonna Go My Way?'. I was not familiar with his latest songs, but that didn't matter as he played a lot of his 90's classics. And by looking around at the audience I realized that this event was what I had suspected it to be: A 90's reunion party! A lot of the people attending had grown up in the 90's or at least they were in their 20's, so it was a really emotional time for them. And as Lenny finished his encore with "Let Love Rule" we all went home on a high note and a nostalgic mood...

Just a note of caution, though: When Greek fans buy a t-shirt of their favourite artist they should always read everything that's written on it. Especially at the back of it... since they are always eager to point out how sensitive they are about certain issues since the 90's. I bought a t-shirt (and a cap, mind you) - albeit, an unofficial one - but then again, I don't mind these things. Just sayin'...

SETLISTS:

THE LAST INTERNATIONALE
01. Kick Out The Jams
02. Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Indian Blood
03. 1984
04. Hero
05. Soul On Fire
06. Wanted Man
07. Hard Times
08. 1968
09. Hit 'em With Your Blues

SLEAFORD MODS
01. UK GRIM
02. Kebab Spider
03. Jolly Fucker
04. A Little Ditty
05. Air Conditioning
06. Force 10 From Navarone
07. T.C.R.
08. Mork N Mindy
09. B.H.S.
10. Tiswas
11. Stick In A Five And Go
12. Fizzy
13. West End Girls
14. Tarantula Deadly Cargo
15. Nudge It
16. Tied Up In Nottz
17. Jobseeker
18. Tweet Tweet Tweet

LENNY KRAVITZ

01. Are You Gonna Go My Way
02. Minister Of Rock 'N Roll
03. TK421
04. I'm A Believer
05. I Belong To You
06. Stillness Of Heart
07. Believe
08. Fear
09. Low
10. Paralyzed
11. The Chamber
12. It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over
13. Again
14. Always On The Run
15. American Woman
16. Fly Away
Encore:
17. Let Love Rule

Ejekt Festival 2024 - Maneskin

Maneskin are the band famous for winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021 with Zitti E Buoni which was, essentially a hard rock song. Contrary to what people might think, hard rock songs are usually quite popular on Eurovision. What comes to people's minds of course is Eurovision 2006 and the winning song Hard Rock Hallelujah by Lordi from Finland. But the year before that, it was the Norwegian entry which not only was a hard rock song, but it also got a lot of points. In my opinion, it sounded a lot like The Scorpions. Going back to the subject of Maneskin, they didn't just win the contest, but they've also broken what is believed by many to be a cardinal rule of Eurovision: That, apart from ABBA, all artists who have won the contest are one hit wonders and are quickly forgotten a few months after the victory. Maneskin however, not only were they not forgotten they had already had a career in Italy and they became even more popular after Eurovision. And that's not all. They won the acclaim of several international artists from Duran Duran to Tom Morello and Steve Van Zandt. And as far as my relationship with Maneskin goes, I had already bought their "Teatro D'Ira" album shortly after Eurovision, but I later bought another one. Usually,on my frequent trips to Italy for concerts I make it a point of buying an Italian CD and an Italian DVD. So on last year's trip to Milano to see Bruce Springsteen in Monza, I bought Maneskin's latest album "Rush!". And that was the one that convinced me to go and see them live when I learned that they would be appearing in Athens.

As I was entering the venue, which was not the Olympic Stadium itself but in one of its parking lots Alice Merton had already started playing. I had already heart of her, but not her songs and I read somewhere that one of her songs was in fact a hit in Greece. I did enjoy her set, more than the next support act, I must admit.

Then it was time for Palaye Royale. I hadn't heard of them, but I was happy to notice that the frontman was sporting a "Heart Of Glass Blondie" t-shirt.

While Palaye Royale were still playing, I started walking around the venue. After having attended so many different dates of Release Festival, this was something new for me. Some sponsors were the same, some were different, so there were some freebies being offered that were new to me, including, for the first time at a festival, ice creams! And I was glad that one of the sponsors was Jack Daniel's!

 

 

It was then time for Maneskin, the main act. You could sense the anticipation in the atmosphere of mostly young people who were there, especially as the band took a bit of time to appear. But when they did, it was explosive. They played both the Italian and the English language songs, as they do on their albums. One of them was "Gossip" their collaboration with Tom Morello, which he himself had performed in Athens a few days earlier when he had supported the Smashing Pumpkins.

On the last song of their main set, "Kool Kids" they even invited members of the audience onto the stage with them, which they thoroughly enjoyed!

They finished the encore by playing "I Wanna Be Your Slave" for the second time. 

So, one would think that a concert which attracted young people to listen to a rock band would please the, by now notorious on this blog, "Greek rock fans", right? Wrong! The following day, I read a review on a site by one of them who claimed that Maneskin were not a "serious" band and their music was just for kids and invited his followers to join him on a festival that was going to take place on one of the mountains of Greece where they could listen to Greek "artistic" music! But these are the people who complain that young people don't listen to "quality music" these days. But when they do listen to the music that they themselves approve of they still complain! Go figure! Of course, some of the members of the audience (mostly young girls) were so young that they were accompanied by their mothers. But the mothers themselves seemed to enjoy the show as well. And some of these girls were accused of fancying Damiano, the frontman! So what! I fancy Victoria myself, but I went to the concert to listen to their music!

Oh well! Some people will never be happy... At least we were!

SETLISTS;

ALICE MERTON

01. Run Away Girl

02. Hit the Ground Running

03. Vertigo

04. Learn To Live

05. Mania

06. Same Team

07. 100 Stories

08. Don't Leave Me Alone With My Thoughts

09. Pick Me Up

10. Lash Out

11. Waste My Life

12. No Roots

13. Why So Serious

14. The Other Side

PALAYE ROYALE

01. Little Bastards

02. Black Sheep

03. You'll Be Fine

04. Fucking With My Head

05. No Love in LA

06. Hang On to Yourself

07. Just My Type

08. Dead to Me

09. Paranoid

10. Showbiz

11. Fever Dream

12. Lonely

13. Mr. Doctor Man

MANESKIN

01. Don't Wanna Sleep

02. Gossip

03. Zitti E Buoni

04. Honey (Are U Coming?)

05. Supermodel

06. Gasoline

07. The Driver

08. Beggin'

09. For Your Love

10. Own My Mind

11. Baby Said

12. I Wanna Be Your Slave

13. MammaMia

14. In Nome Del Padre

15. Bla Bla Bla

16. Off My Face

17. Kool Kids

Encore:

18. The Loneliest

19. I Wanna Be Your Slave (Reprise)