MTV GR Day

10 years ago, MTV Greece was launched. And this was done with a free concert at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens (which had been the venue for the Rock In Athens festival back in 1985). The line-up was quite impressive: REM, Kaiser Chiefs, Gabriella Cilmi and C-Real (a Greek band).
You will notice, at the end of this post, that there was a ticket issued. How come, you may wonder, since this was a free concert? Well, what happened was this: As people were approaching the stadium, they were handed this particular ticket which had a "nominal value" of €0.20 (of course, no one paid that amount). And then, they were let in. And it's great as a souvenir, 10 years after the event.

The concert was broadcast live at various MTV channels around the world so the sets had to comply to the TV format, meaning that C-Real, Gabriella Cilmi and Kaiser chiefs played 30 minute sets with enough time left over after each one ended for commercials, interviews etc. REM, on the other hand, played a full 90-minute set, and although that might have been a bit shorter than their usual sets, they still managed to overrun its intended duration with an encore. 

And between sets, we were treated to different happenings such as the debut of the Greek MTV presenters who were selected after an audition, presenters from other MTV channels, plus a guide to Athens and an REM interview that were also broadcast through the big screens that were set up in the stadium on that day. 

 

But what I mostly remember among all these and several commercials was the repeated screening of Kid Rock's video "All Summer Long" which sampled Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and its lyrics invoked good feelings, nostalgia and the simple things in life back in 1989 when "we didn't have no internet" (that's a double negative, by the way, Kid) and...

"we were trying different things
We were smoking funny things
Making love out by the lake to our favorite song
Sipping whiskey out the bottle
Not thinking 'bout tomorrow
Singing Sweet home Alabama all summer long"

First on stage where C-Real whom I had seen two years before at the Olympic Stadium supporting Shakira. People argued about whether they were suitable for this event, but this was MTV Greece after all, and a Greek band had to be featured.

Next up was Gabriella Cilmi, from Australia with Italian origins. She had a big hit at the time "Sweet About Me". She also treated us to a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" at the end of her set.

Then, it was time for Kaiser Chiefs, a band that a lot of people in the audience had come to see. Their singer kept prancing about the stage even climbing up towards the stage lights (surely, that had to be dangerous) and before each song announced that "we are the Kaiser Chiefs" (I mean, I'm sure we already knew that by then).

And finally, it was time for REM. I had seen already seen them nine years before when they had come to Athens (that is Athens, Greece, not their native Athens, Georgia). Nothing could beat that performance of course with its epic 7 minute version of "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" at the end and Michael Stipe singing "Happy Birthday" to everyone who had their birthday on that day, but it was still pretty good and a very lucky chance to see them for a second time, especially considering that a few years later they disbanded.

And so it was that MTV GR Day was finally over and we went home where we had the chance to watch it again and again on MTV Greece which repeated it a few times. I had set my DVD Recorder for it and I'm, sure I have the DVD somewhere.

Sadly, like REM, MTV Greece is no more. It was closed a few years ago. But we will always remember the day we got to watch - for free - REM and Kaiser Chiefs and discovered Gabriella Cilmi.

SETLISTS
 

Gabriella Cilmi

01. Got No Place To Go
02. Sanctuary
03. Cry Me A River
04. Sweet About Me
05. Don't Want To Go To Bed Now
06. Terrifying
07. Save The Lies
08. Whole Lotta Love
 

Kaiser Chiefs

01. Never Miss A Beat
02. Everyday I Love You Less And Less
03. You Want History
04. Ruby
05. Half The Truth
06. I Predict A Riot
07. The Angry Mob

REM
01. Living Well Is The Best Revenge
02. What's The Frequency, Kenneth?
03. Drive
04. Man-Sized Wreath
05. Ignoreland
06. Bad Day
07. Hollow Man
08. Electrolite
09. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville
10. The Great Beyond
11. The One I Love
12. She Just Wants To Be
13. Losing My Religion
14. Let Me In
15. Horse To Water
16. Orange Crush
17. Imitation Of Life
Encore:
18. Supernatural Superserious
19. It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
20. Man on the Moon