Release Athens Festival 2024 - Offspring

To tell you the truth, I don't have any Offspring albums. I have plenty of singles, though. It was back in the 90's when MTV Europe as well as clubs in Greece started playing "Come Out To Play" (which we knew at the time as "Keep' Em Separated"). "Self Esteem" was also popular at the time. And then came 1999 with "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)". I first heard it at Camel Club in Athens, Greece and noticed that immediately everyone went wild: From the bartenders and the DJ to the clubbers themselves. A few days later, I saw the video on MTV Europe. And there was more to it, another great song and another great video "Why Don't You Get A Job". And when in the fall of that year I moved back to London for my Master's Degree, I bought the enhanced CD single of "The Kids Aren't Alright" because it featured the video of "Pretty Fly" (there was no YouTube back then, and even if there was I prefer to own my favourite media). All that was enough for me to want to go and see them live if I ever got the chance. And that chance came on the 9th of June this year. And this was why I arranged to see Coldplay on the 8th, so that I could see Offspring on the 9th.

I set off from home quite early in the afternoon because that was the day of the European Elections and I had to vote in the city centre. After the food feast that traditionally follows all elections, I headed to the south of the city to attend the festival.

As I arrived Danko Jones were playing. I heard some praise for them from some of my friends, but another friend, whom I met there at the gig wasn't that much impressed. Moreover, I was surprised to hear the singer saying "we might not play your favourite song tonight, but because most of our songs sound the same, wait for the next song, close your eyes and it will sound like your favourite". Danko Jones : The frank band!

 

After them, The Subways came up. They looked and sounded familiar. I thought I had seen them before. When they played their last song "Rock 'N' Roll Queen", I was sure. But where and when? It was on the following day when I remembered that I had seen them at the Rockwave Festival back in 2016 when they supported The Last Shadow Puppets.

 

Finally, it was time fot the main attraction. The Offspring. Back to the 90's we went and even though I heard some criticism from others that they are not as good these days and "uncle Noodles" keeps on talking a lot between songs in order to make their sets last longer (he does), to my mind they were brilliant. And yes, they played all my favourite songs, "Come Out To Play", "Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)", "Why Don't You Get A Job", even "The Kids Aren't Alright", ending with "Self Esteem". They even threw in a cover medley mixing classical music and punk rock: Edvard Grieg's "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" coupled with The Ramones' "Blitzkrieg Bop"!

 

As far as the festival was concerned there were all the same attractions again this year, the free Cokes, Johnnie Walker with Ginger Ale (which thankfully is made with the Black Label version of the whisky), more official merchandise compared to what these used to be in the past, but the only thing that was missing was the free Amstel Free lemon "beer" at the exit. 

And as usual, there was lots of "unhealthy" (or "dirty" as we call it in Greece) food, after the exit, outside the festival grounds...

SETLISTS:
DANKO JONES
01. Guess Who's Back
02. Get High?
03. I'm In A Band
04. I Gotta Rock
05. Lipstick City
06. First Date
07. Code Of The Road
08. The Twisting Knife
09. Good Time
10. You Are My Woman
11. Flaunt It
12. Full Of Regret
13. Had Enough
14. Lovercall
15. My Little RnR

THE SUBWAYS
01. Oh Yeah
02. Black Wax
03. We Don't Need Money To Have a Good Time
04. Taking All the Blame
05. Kalifornia
06. Alright
07. Turnaround
08. I Want To Hear What You Have Got To Say
09. Influencer Killed The Rock Star
10. At 1 AM
11. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
12. It's A Party
13. Girls & Boys
14. With You
15. Rock & Roll Queen

OFFSPRING
01. Come Out And Play
02. All I Want
03. Want You Bad
04. Staring At The Sun
05. In the Hall Of the Mountain King
06. Blitzkrieg Bop
07. Million Miles Away
08. Original Prankster
09. It'll Be a Long Time
10. Bad Habit
11. Gotta Get Away
12. Why Don't You Get A Job?
13. (Can't Get My) Head Around You
14. Pretty Fly (For A White Guy)
15. The Kids Aren't Alright
Encore:
16. You're Gonna Go Far, Kid
17. Self Esteem

Rockwave Festival 2016 - The Last Shadow Puppets, Dropkick Murphys, Suede, The Subways and more...

When The Last Shadow Puppets and Dropkick Murphys were announced for this year's Rockwave Festival this gig had already started to look tempting. But when Suede were added to the list it started to look challenging! However, I had already planned another gig for this summer, and I could not afford a ticket. And there were several of my friends who were pestering me to go with them. Luckily, a daily newspaper came to the rescue offering a "buy 1 get 1 free" deal, so I took advantage of it and (nearly) split the cost with one of my friends. That friend (and most of the others) wanted to see Dropkick Murphys. But he also brought a friend of his who wanted to see Suede. And if my girlfriend had come she would have wanted to see The Last Shadow Puppets! As for me, I wanted to see all three of them. The Last Shadow Puppets because as an Alex Turner side project this is the closest we'll ever get to seeing The Arctic Monkeys in this country. Dropkick Murphys, well if you need one reason (amongst many) is that they have collaborated with Bruce Springsteen. But I guess that it was Suede that clinched it for me. 5 years ago when I saw Pulp at this very same venue, Suede were due to (and did) play live a few days later in Athens. But it was mid summer and they played at an indoor hall and I ended up not going. So 5 years later, this was the perfect opportunity! Now, Suede and The Last Shadow Puppets were appearing at the Terra Stage, while Dropkick Murphys were appearing between these two at the Vibe Stage. So that meant we would have to do some moving towards the end of the night - twice! As for the Greek bands supporting them, I was looking forward to seeing (also on Terra Stage) The Callas. I had heard a lot about them and Jim Svlavunos has produced them. But I was to be proven - pleasantly - wrong...

Wrong because the best Greek band on that day proved to be Whereswilder which I had never heard before!

As for The Callas, they were good, but probably not what I expected...

The Subways were the second suprise of the day. Powerful and up-tempo it was exactly what we needed at that moment and it was the first time that day that we started dancing!

Not only that, but they also knew how to move the crowd, when they organized their very own mosh pit (which went extremely well)...

...but also when the singer crowd surfed (which went even better!). They left us, with "Rock 'N' Roll Queen" their big hit, which has also been used in an advert.

And now it was time for what I've been waiting for: Suede! Brett was in top form and yes I did get to hear my favourite song of theirs "Trash".

Another frontman who knew how to work the crowd. And they had the cheek to come back for an encore even though they were the third band on the bill!

After the encore was over it was time for a quick run to the Vibe Stage where Dropkick Murphys were performing. I missed the first song on my way there, but I certainly wasn't prepared for what I encountered when I got there!

My first impression was that I was in a football field, with all the flares being lit.

Not only that, but the band were playing were on top form and everybody was dancing like there was no tomorrow! Well, that's the Irish spirit for you (best experienced with lots of beer!!!)

Towards the end they brought most of the girls who were at the front onstage!

Now considering that most people that night had come to see them and the energy that was unleashed at the gig, this is a band that deserves to be invited back to Greece for their own gig in the future!

The Last Shadow Puppets were probably the best ending for that great night. After all the mayhem during the Dropkicks' set, we needed to cool down. As there were no VIP tickets issued fo that day, we went to see them at what is normally the VIP area where we could sit down and be able to see the stage.

And I myself, was more than happy that they opened their set with a Beatles cover "I Want You (She's So Heavy)"

"We love you too much to go away" they told us at the end. And as we ourselves were going away, we passed by the Vibe Stage and witnessed what was left of the big party Dropkick Murhys had thrown for us a while ago...

And as a final thought, here is a note to the organizers: Next time why don't you bring over the Arctic Monkeys themselves for a gig?