Fly Beeyond Festival 2007

In the last of my "10 years ago" series for 2007, I want to take a look back at what was promised as Greece's first pop music festival on July 17, 18 and 19 but didn't turn out as good as it looked on paper.

First of all, I wanted to attend day 2 (like everybody else), not only because the newly reformed James were headlining but also because of Tori Amos whose fan I had been since 1992 and I had wanted to see her live ever since. And I knew I would probably enjoy seeing Air whose "Kelly Watch The Stars" was a song I really liked when I discovered it a few years earlier on a British TV feature on "Charlie's Angels" (Did you know that it was actually written for Kelly from that series?). Then I looked at the line up of day 3 and although I didn't care much for Pink who was headlining I thought that I would love to see Sugababes. I wasn't a fan, but I had noticed that I actually loved most of their singles. So it was going to be day 2 and 3 I thought. But because a 2 day ticket was cheaper that two one day ones and a 3 day ticket was cheaper than 3 one day ones, I thought "why not see the whole thing?". I wouldn't mind seeing Avril Lavigne who was headlining the first day.

When I arrived on the first day, Mikro were on stage who had replaced The Rasmus at the last moment. I was really happy about that, since I had already seen Marsheaux a few weeks earlier. They put on a great show and one unforgettable moment was when the teen (and probably pre-teen as well) girl fans were chanting "Avril, Avril..." the lead singer responded by saying "Later! Now it's MIKRO!!!"

Avril Lavigne did indeed appear later and did not disppoint. What I mostly enjoyed about her set was her cover of "All The Small Things" by Blink 182 at the end.

On day 2 I was there early to catch Tori Amos. I love her set, but most people ignored her. 

Then I decided to get a drink before Air came up and got stuck in a long queue for about 90 minutes. I watched the beginning of Air's set from the bar queue, but I was back in my place (with alcohol included) in time for "Kelly Watch The Stars".

Finally James came on, the highlight of the festival. We were all singing along and dancing with "Sit Down", "Tomorrow", "Laid" and "Getting Away With It (All Messed Up)". They also played one of their new songs plus a special extended version of "Gold Mother". "This is not a reunion, it's a rebirth" as Tim Booth said...

On day 3 I knew something was wrong from the beginning when Onirama's set lasted for 90 minutes. They even said goodbye and then came back. They were playing one of their own songs and then a cover. Then one of their songs and then a cover. And so on...

Sugababes were late and when they appeared only 2 of them came up on stage. And then they left after 20 minutes! Considering that the ticket for day 3 was refunded it was still an enjoyable 20 minutes, plenty of time for them to realize that the (very few) people attending knew the lyrics to their songs.

After they left it was announced that Pink would not appear because she was stuck back at the hotel with "stomach problems". Oh well... As I said the price of the day 3 ticket was refunded, I got my 20 minutes of Sugababes so I can't really complain. Rumours were going arould that Pink (and probably the 3rd Sugababe) did not appear because of the fact that only a few people bothered to attend. (There weren't many people on the first day either, but Avril, a true professional, went out and performed anyway).

What we learned from the whole experience was something that we suspected: That Greeks do not go to pop concerts. They would sell out the Olympic Stadium the following year for Madonna, but that is of course another story...