Thursday 17 December 2020

Katerine Duska & Leon Of Athens live in Athens September 2020



Incredibly enough, there were concerts in 2020! For a moment we even thought there was going to be one from an international artist when it was announced that Jethro Tull would perform at Technopolis (one of the concert areas in Athens which followed all the health protocols outlined by the government). I might have already seen them twice, and the last time was also at Technopolis (the first one was at Terra Vibe) but I would have gladly gone a third time if it had actually taken place. However, by the time the concert date was approaching, the recorded cases had risen and consequently it was cancelled. Leon of Athens with Catherine Duska had also performed at Technopolis this summer and I intended to attend that as well but somehow I missed it. But I got a second chance at Gazarte Roof Stage. During the summer the stage is completely open so it fulfilled the health protocols for concerts (No indoor gigs were allowed). And one of the reasons that I chose to see Leon Of Athens was that I had actually seen him by himself three times already in the past and two of them were at Gazarte (The first one was at the main stage and the second one was at the roof stage but it was closed as it took place during the winter). So, I now wanted to see him perform with Katerine Duska. Katerine Duska was of course Greece's participant in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest performing a song written by Leon Of Athens.


I arrived at Gazarte early, before the doors had even opened. I had to wear a mask up upon entering (because I was actually indoors now), but I could take it off when I reached the roof (where I would actually be outdoors with an amazing view of Athens). 


I was therefore able to find the ideal place to sit, a stool facing the stage with a bench in front of it where I could place my drink. The gig was advertised as "show only" meaning there were no complimentary drinks but you could buy something from the bar. The waitress however, was wearing her mask below the nose so I didn't order anything.


Caterine and Leon appeared on stage, starting with the song that they have released together "Anemos" which is sung in Greek. I was wondering whether that was signifying a career change for Leon Of Athens as he was usually singing in English in the past. That didn't seem to be the case as they did a few Greek cover versions (Leon Of Athens used to do a couple of these in the past by himself, like the Stereo Nova tune for example), but all of Leon's hits from the past were there, Katerine sung "Better Love" (her Eurovision entry) and they both did some cover versions on English as well (the highlight of which was Katerine's rendition of "Killing Me Softly"). The show ended as it had started, with "Anemos".






The only gig of 2020 turned out to be a great and enjoyable night for me, but it must have also been a success for the artists, as it was due to be repeated at the same place the following month. 


Unfortunately, by that time cases had once again risen (a situation which led to the current lockdown) and all subsequent planned gigs were cancelled. Let's hope that the situation will finally improve in 2021...






No comments: