Rockwave Festival 2023 - Robbie Williams, Mika & Leon Of Athens

I try to avoid Rockwave Festival if I can help it. The reason is of course Terra Vibe. The worst location for concerts in Greece. To the artists appearing it may seem beautiful, but for us who have to find a way to get there and most of all, a way to get out of there, it's horrible. But this year's proposition was really interesting. Now, Robbie Williams alone wouldn't have tempted me. It was the inclusion of Mika that made me take the plunge. And the appearance of Leon Of Athens just put the icing on the cake. We very rarely get to experience such a combination of pop acts live in this country.

It was with Leon Of Athens on my mind, that I took the first bus out to Terra Vibe to see him, the festival opening act. On paper, it looked as if it would work. However, the bus was late in departing and there was plenty of traffic on the way there. However, it left us close to the entrance for a change and I was able to get in quickly, run and catch at least what I believe was 50% of his set. I've seen him in so many different places in the past, so a festival appearance would be a different experience. And it was different, as far as the songs were concerned, although that was probably due to my being late. Plenty of new songs, so although there was no "Baby Asteroid" this time (at least not for me, I think he played it before I got there), I got to hear these new songs and my impression was that most of them were more upbeat and more danceable.

 

Next up was Jonathan Jeremiah. However, before that, I started wandering around Terra Vibe Park in order to get to the other stage, where no artists were appearing that night, however there was an exhibition there dedicated to the Rock In Athens 85 festival. were also shown on the main stage between artists appearances.

Having seen the exhibition I then went back to the VIP area (I usually get a VIP ticket when I go to Terra Vibe even if it means paying double the price, because as I had found out back in 2006, if you get stuck in the wrong area you may end up not being able to see anything at all), got one of the portable seats that were for the first time available for VIP ticket holders and then sat down to watch Jonathan Jeremiah. Hadn't heard of him before, but he seemed nice and most importantly, his set wasn't boring, something which can usually happen with artists one doesn't know and who are at the bottom of the bill of a festival date.

 

 

Then, finally it was time for Mika. He was third on the bill, not second, something which made me worry that his set would be cut short, but I needn't have worried. For most people Mika is "the guy who sang Relax, Take It Easy" (some of them also know "Grace Kelly"). I admit that I used to be just like them, until my ex showed me that there was more to him than that. (My favourite song of his is "Talk About You" from his 2015 album "No Place In Heaven", unfortunately not played at Terra Vibe). It's true that most of the songs he plays live are from his first album, but then again these are his biggest hits. And to his credit, his latest "My Name Is Michael Holbrook" is actually quite good. In short, even though his set, was shorter than it could have been and even though he was third on the bill, he managed to win the audience over and for the first time that day at Terra Vibe we felt as if we were at a big party!

Second on the bill, before Robbie Williams was James Bay. Well, not only is he more rock than pop, but the funniest thing was that I was going to see him again a few days later, not in Athens but in London, not supporting Robbie Williams but Bruce Springsteen at the BST Hyde Park festival! He wasn't bad and I'm certainly not the kind of person who detests it when there's a variety of music genres at festivals, but the marketing of music has lately become so homogenized and by that I mean that there are people who listen only to rock, others that listen only to pop maybe because that's what the industry and promoters think is what should happen.

And finally, it was time for Robbie. Everybody said that he fulfilled his promise to us at his last concert at the exact same place. However, dear organizers his exact words were: "Let's meet again in 18 months, shall we?" He said 18 months, not 8 years! What I what to point out by saying this is that Greek promoters will rarely invite artists on subsequent tours (unless they're called Scorpions or Depeche Mode). They think that if people have already seen them, they won't want to see them again. When Robbie Williams was speaking about "18 months" in 2015 he was referring to his  next tour. But as far as Greek promoters are concerned this was probably considered to be "too short a period"...

Anyway, Robbie was here and it's true that this was a different Robbie from the one we had seen 8 years ago. He had probably suffered from the effects of COVID, he was older (but then again, aren't we all?) and of course his set was different. Not shorter, but different. There were in fact fewer songs, but not because the set was cut short, but because he talked a lot between songs. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT! About how he became famous with Take That, how he left Take That, how he became once again famous and successful again on his own this time, how he rejoined Take That, but most importantly how difficult a time he had had through the pandemic and how he is finally happy having found love with his wife and having a family. I didn't mind. It was like having a conversation with a friend whom you haven't seen in... well... eight years, even if the conversation was one-sided. And, if you ask me which of the two concerts of his I have attended was better, I would definitely say the first one, eight years ago. Better songs, more songs, but most importantly, because as we all know it's "never as good as the first time" because that first time, no matter what we are talking about, a concert or a kiss, is the one by which all subsequent ones will be compared to (and found wanting as Stephen King has said). I've said all this because I've heard another opinion about his appearance which came from my ex and that was that he was a total and absolute mess. Although I don't agree with it, I can understand that some people might not have enjoyed someone who certainly looked that he had aged and probably suffered during the last 8 years and instead of singing preferred to engage in conversation with his audience. However, what I don't understand is another, a third opinion that was going around on social media and other Greek websites that he had insulted Greek people with one of his jokes. My answer to this is that if, after all these years, you still don't "get" British humour, you had better attend only concerts from Greek artists from now on.

OK, so what about the music? Well, once again, the highlight for me was the same as the one from 8 years ago: "Come Undone". It probably has to do with the lyric "Because I'm scum, and I'm your son, I come undone". Also, this time we didn't have Queen covers like in 2015, but oh boy, what a cover we did get : "Don't Look Back In Anger" by Oasis! He finished with "Angels" and then went on to perform an acapella medley of his best songs including one which he didn't perform that night: "Me And My Monkey" which apparently is only popular in Greece!

When it was finally over and "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" was playing from the speakers, I was thinking that I had enjoyed every minute of it and I went home thinking that this was the best concert I had attended in Greece this year. With hindsight, I'd say it was one of the two best on Greek soil in 2023 (and that's because abroad, there was Bruce...)

SETLISTS:
JAMES BAY
01. Best Fake Smile
02. Just For Tonight
03. If You Ever Want To Be in Love
04. Wanderlust
05. Us
06. Let It Go
07. Goodbye Never Felt So Bad
08. All My Broken Pieces
09. When We Were On Fire
10. Get Out While You Can
11. Pink Lemonade
12. Craving
13. Hold Back The River

ROBBIE WILLIAMS
01. Hey Wow Yeah Yeah
02. Let Me Entertain You
03. Land Of 1000 Dances
04. Monsoon
05. Strong
06. Come Undone
07. Could It Be Magic
08. Don't Look Back In Anger
09. The Flood
10. Love My Life
11. Eternity
12. Candy
13. Feel
14. Kids
15. Rock DJ
Encore:
16. No Regrets
17. She's The One
18. Angels
19. Acapella Medley : Feel/Let Me Entertain You/Come Undone/Angels/Me And My Monkey

 

Ozzy Osbourne live in Athens September 2010

Back in 1987 I had seen Black Sabbath live. Well, it was a kind of Black Sabbath. I think the only original member was Tony Iommi. And they didn't play Paranoid. So, I thought that by seeing Ozzy Osbourne solo in 2010 the situation would be rectified.  As he came up on stage, an (almost) full moon appeared through the clouds and the set (naturally) began with Bark At The Moon (from my favourite solo album of his from the 80's).

 

 

He also played Shot In The Dark from the following album which had a different sound since the synthesizers were more prominent but nobody seemed to mind. But what I really liked is that he didn't just play a couple of Sabbath songs, he played quite a lot and some of them were not what the crowd expected (eg "Fairies Wear Boots"). War Pigs was magnificent and at the end of it he declared "A very good friend of mine has recently passed away. His name was Ronnie James Dio". However, I seem to remember that he felt a lot differently  back in the 80's when Dio replaced him as lead singer of Sabbath...

 

On top of that VIP ticket holders who were at the front of the stage were awarded with several showers courtesy of Ozzy who was constantly throwing water at them. (He was also throwing water at himself, so I guess that was fair). The hero of the night must have been the roadie whose task was to refill the water bucket. And he gave a standing ovation to his Greek lead guitarist Gus G.

 

There were two tracks that I wanted to hear and he saved them for the end: Crazy Fuckin' Train and of course Paranoid. I had to wait 23 years for that last one...

 

 

 

SETLIST:   
INTRO: Carmina Burana

01. Bark at the Moon
02. Let Me Hear You Scream
03. Mr. Crowley
04. I Don't Know
05. Fairies Wear Boots
06. Suicide Solution
07. War Pigs
08. Road to Nowhere
09. Fire in the Sky
10. Into the Void
11. Shot in the Dark
12. Rat Salad (with guitar and drum solos)
13. Iron Man
14. Killer of Giants
15. Flying High Again
16. I Don't Want to Change the World
17. Crazy Train
ENCORE:
18. Mama, I'm Coming Home
19. No More Tears
20. Paranoid

Bob Dylan live in Athens May 2010

 

On the 29th of May 2010, Bob Dylan played at Terra Vibe.  Ever since this concert was announced there were many quibbles expressed as to what we were about to see and whether it was going to be worth it. Let me explain: My brother is much older than me. His friends grew up in the seventies listening to Dylan (and that particular Dylan was the sixties one with peace, love and blowin' in the wind). When he came here for a concert (back in 1989 I think), they rushed to see him and were in for a nasty surprise when he came on stage (at Lycabettus theatre I think), stared at the floor during the whole gig, performed all the songs on the setlist, and finally left without saying a simple "thank you". Well, what can I say, his performance at Live Aid in 1985 should have given them a hint.

Now, let's get back to the present. My first impressions at Terra Vibe were that he was in a good mood (more than usual, anyway) and that his band was exceptionally good.

  There were still complaints from others, though. Several people said that his voice was not up to his usual standard, that he butchered his songs and that it would be a good idea to give it all up and retire. Well, first of all, I think that he's not the first artist who plays different versions of his songs when performing live. On the other hand, his voice may indeed not be up to scratch anymore, but at least I'll be able to say that I have seen Bob Dylan live. Having said all that, you can decide for yourselves while watching the video for "Lay Lady Lay" from that night (No title or details have been provided on the video since he is known to have hired some people who search for videos of his on YouTube and when they find them, they take them down).

All those things aside, it was indeed a memorable night, partly due to the plastic bottle filled with Grant's whisky that was doing the rounds, but also because that day was the birthday of a friend and we celebrated it at Terra Vibe. Having no cake handy, we stuck a candle on a hot dog bought from one of the festival canteens for him to blow. Oh, and those frozen Margueritas that were sold at Terra Vibe back then were amazing!
All in all, I don't regret attending that concert, since because of it friends gathered from all four corners of Greece...

SETLIST:
01. Rainy Day Women # 12 & 35
02. Lay, Lady, Lay
03. I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
04. Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
05. Just Like A Woman
06. Honest With Me
07. Desolation Row
08. Ballad Of Hollis Brown
09. Rollin' And Tumblin'
10. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
11. Highway 61 Revisited
12. Workingman's Blues #2
13. Thunder On The Mountain
14. Ballad Of A Thin Man
15. Like A Rolling Stone
16. All Along The Watchtower

 

Sonisphere Festival 2010 - The Big 4

10 years ago, to this day, I had the honour of seeing The Big Four live. And a few days ago, I attempted to relive that experience by listening/watching "The Big 4 Live" CD/DVD which was recorded in Sofia, capital of Bulgaria, our neighbouring country a mere two days before they appeared in Athens, Greece

I was never a thrash metal fan, but I did love Metallica. Since two of my friends were also going and I wanted to see Metallica, I decided to see the full Monty. Well, at least The Big Four. That is The Big Four of thrash metal: Anthrax, Slayer, Megadeth and of course Metallica. We had a problem, though. The initial line-up had Anthrax billed at 1 o clock in the afternoon. On a weekday. After a lot of complaining and name-calling on Facebook, even from Anhtrax themselves, the bill was finally corrected like this:

17:00 Anthrax
18:30 Slayer
20:00 Megadeth
21:30 Metallica
As was appropriate!

Anthrax


Slayer



Megadeth


Metallica

Even though I had never listened to the other 3 apart from Metallica, I can say that I liked Anthrax a lot (and I like them even more now), wasn't too keen on Slayer (too thrash for my tastes back then, and yes, I did comment that Kerry King looked like he had killed Jesse James), I expected more from Megadeth (they didn't sound too thrash to my ears on the day and maybe that had something to do with Dave Mustaine's quote that they represented the melodic side of thrash metal - or something like that) and of course I enjoyed Metallica who were the reason why I went there. (another band that used to come to Greece often back then, but there was always something coming up and I had never had the chance to see them until then)

Kudos to Anthrax for playing Heaven And Hell as a tribute to Ronnie James Dio. My personal highlight from Slayer: At some point they started playing a song and everyone around us started headbanging. "That must be the hit single" a friend of mine commented...

As for the ticket? We had to get a VIP one, because with all these people, no one could guarantee that we would be able to see anything. On top of that the bands were alternating between the big and the small stage located at the front and at the back of the venue respectively. Moreover, the VIP area was located at the front and to the side of the stage and not inside the mosh pit which looed something like this:

Some people at the VIP area, were not satisfied with that either and preferred climbing on trees:

10 years later, I still haven't solved the mystery of who that woman was, who was watching Metallica from the side of the stage:

Finally, when Metallica came on, it started raining. That didn't affect the concert though. Us at the VIP section found shelter under the trees. (Relax, it was just rain, not a thunderstorm, so we were safe). I mentioned the rain, because it was these same promoters who had cancelled a Killers concert at the same venue a year before claiming safety issues.

It would have been a lot of fun if those very same promoters tried to explain to 20000 black-clad metalheads (who, by the way, had threatened that they would torch the place if Anthrax weren't placed at a reasonable time on the bill), that the concert would not take place because... it was raining!

Those who were truly lucky were the residents of northern Greece because at half the cost they went to the Bulgarian leg of Sonisphere Festival in Sofia and were forever immortalized on DVD. For my part, I had been in Instanbul a few days before for another concert and I saw a poster advertising the Turkish Sonisphere Festival. Have a look at what the Turkish fans could experience on their own Sonisphere Festival which was a 3-day event:

SET LISTS

Anthrax

01. Caught In A Mosh
02. Got The Time
03. Madhouse
04. Be All End All
05. Antisocial
06. Indians
07. Heaven And Hell
08. Medusa
09. Only
10. Metal Thrasing Mad
11. I Am The Law


Slayer

01. World Painted Blood
02. Jihad
03. War Ensemble
04. Hate Worldwide
05. Seasons In The Abyss
06. Angel Of Death
07. Beauty Through Order
08. Disciple
09. Mandatory Suicide
10. Chemical Warfare
11. South Of Heaven
12. Raining Blood


Megadeth

01. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
02. Hangar 18
03. Headcrusher
04. In My Darkest Hour
05. Skin O' My Teeth
06. A Tout Le Monde
07. Hook In Mouth
08. Trust
09. Sweating Bullets
10. Symphony Of Destruction
11. Peace Sells


Metallica

01. Intro-The Ecstasy Of Gold
02. Creeping Death
03. For Whom The Bell Tolls
04. Ride The Lighting
05. Harvester Of Sorrow
06. Fade To Black
07. That Was Just Your Life
08. The End Of The Line
09. Sad But True
10. Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
11. Broken Beat & Scarred
12. One
13. Master Of Puppets
14. Blackened
15. Nothing Else Matters
16. Enter Sandman
17. Breadfan
18. Motorbreath
19. Seek & Destroy

Our only bad experience from that night was the fact that after the concert had ended we had to walk for about half an hour, in total darkness, and without any sort of help or guidance from the organizers in order to find the...  VIP Parking.

As soon as we got there, most people went to take a leak (no, there were no toilets and it was all done in pitch black darkness, but at least the girls went to one side and the boys to the other). You see, all the other parking sections had to be emptied before we could leave. So much for VIP parking. I took a nap at the back seat and when I woke up we were still in the same place  (it took us about 2 hours to get out of there). I even noticed a couple having sex on the hood of their car (It was very dark and they probably thought that they could not be seen. At least, they found a fun way to pass the time).

I still wonder though what these, apparently permanent, residents of Terra Vibe, thought of the whole festival)

A concert that never took place - Depeche Mode @ Terra Vibe in 2009

My first visit to Terra Vibe was in 2006 to see Depeche Mode live for the second time (the first was at the Rock In Athens festival in 1985). My problem then was that I couldn't see anything. I only heard the band. So, when Depeche Mode announced they would be coming back in 2009 at the same place, I decided to organize everything perfectly so that I would make up for the last (lost) time. I remembered from 2006 that the areas to the side of the stage were higher up, so I would be able to see the stage from there. Those were the areas that were designated as VIP. So, without hesitation, I bought the more expensive ticket for one of these areas, I arranged the bus tickets in time having learnt my lesson from the Leonard Cohen concert the previous year and I was ready to go.

Everything was going according to plan. After work I went to the Athens train station from where the buses would depart, I got in one and arrived at Terra Vibe. 

While I was getting in, Puressence were playing support, another band that I had never seen live until then who were coming to Greece very often but unfortunately I missed them as I was busy getting in and trying to find my place. (I would see them the following year just before they split up).

Anyway, I was there. I even met some friends. And then we were waiting. And waiting. And waiting. But it still didn't occur to me that something might have gone wrong. Meanwhile people kept on coming. Soon, Terra Vibe was as full as it had been back in 2006, only this time, I was in an area where I was comfortable. And then the announcement was made through the speakers. Dave Gahan was ill (we didn't know what it was at that time) and he had been taken to the hospital. 

If you remember, it turned out to be pretty serious and a substantial part of the Tour Of The Universe had to be canceled or rescheduled. And although other dates were rescheduled the Greek promoters didn't try to bring them back in Greece at a later date. Just like they had done in 2006 with The Rolling Stones. Anyway, I got on the bus back home, the next day the gig was officially canceled (they told us it might take place the following day) and our tickets were refunded. The problem was that according to some people, Dave had already been taken to the hospital while tickets were still being sold at the gate with more people coming in. Lots of people were disappointed. Many of them had come from other European countries (among them one British friend who noted that Terra Vibe was a safety hazard). At least for me, it turned out well. When Depeche Mode announced two extra dates for Barcelona in November I immediately bought a ticket for one of them and ended up being present at one of the two nights where the official DVD was being fimed! But more about that later...
Oh and when Depeche Mode came back to Terra Vibe in 2013 for the Delta Machine tour, I bought a ticket at exactly the same VIP section and finally managed to actually see and not just hear them at Terra Vibe