Ejekt Festival 2019 - The Cure

The Cure were one of the bands I has seen at the Rock In Athens festival back in 1985. I hadn't seen them again since that. I remember a summer night in the 90's when a friend and neighbour of mine came back from the city center declaring "I have just seen the Cure" and me thinking how nice it would have been if I had gone as well, to see them again. Well, that moment didn't come until last year, 2019 when I finally set a new record for the longest time gap between gigs of the same band. With Depeche Mode (who had also appeared at Rock In Athens) it was 21 years when I saw them in 2006, the same with AC/DC three years later (1988 and 2009), then it went up to 26 years with Eric Clapton (1984 and 2010) - and let's not forget 22 years for the Pet Shop Boys (1991 and 2013), 23 years for Bon Jovi (1988 and 2011) - while finally it went up to 30 years with Erasure and a few months later Iron Maiden last year (both 1988 and 2018). But The Cure set a new record with 34 years (1985 and 2019).

I wanted to be there in time to catch Ride (I remember those differently coloured EP's from the beginning of the 90's) but my biggest discovery of the day was the band I just managed to catch when I arrived : Khruangbin. With their mostly instrumental tracks based on guitar (they inserted snippets of "Misirlou" and other popular songs in there).

Then it was the turn of Ride and a return to that wonderful, baggy, brilliant, indie-rave summer of 1990.

After that it was time to return to the present though with Michael Kiwanuka, a rare example of an artist playing a Greek festival in his prime.

It was, however, time for The Cure now. They kicked off with "Plainsong" and from the beginning it was clear that they were going to play a lot of "Disintegration". 2019 was actually the 40th anniversary of that particular album. They did in fact play 7 out of its 12 songs, however their set was structured in a similar way to their 2018 concert at Hyde Park in London which was celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band. 

Indeed at around the middle of their main set, the older favourites started to appear and there were even more of them during the encore. 

It was a pleasure to listen to songs we had already heard back in 1985. And from the look on his face, Robert seemed to enjoy it...

Unfortunately, this was the last summer festival that took place in Athens. Most of the 2020 ones are rescheduled for 2021, but we'll see what happens...

SETLISTS:
KHRUANGBIN
01. Evan Finds The Third Room
02. People Everywhere (Still Alive)
03. Cómo Me Quieres
04. María También
05. Lady And Man

RIDE

01. Future Love

02. Lannoy Point

03. Seagull

04. Charm Assault

05. Dreams Burn Down

06. Leave Them All Behind

07. Taste

08. Vapour Trail

09. Drive Blind

10. Kill Switch

MICHAEL KIWANUKA

01. One More Night

02. You Ain't The Problem

03. Place I Belong

04. Black Man In A White World

05. Rule The World

06. Money

07. Father's Child

08. Home Again

09. Cold Little Heart

10. Love & Hate

THE CURE

01. Plainsong

02. Pictures Of You

03. High

04. Just One Kiss

05. Lovesong

06. Last Dance

07. Burn

08. Fascination Street

09. Never Enough

10. Push

11. In Between Days

12. Just Like Heaven

13. From The Edge Of The Deep Green Sea

14. Shake Dog Shake

15. A Night Like This

16. Play For Today

17. A Forest

18. Primary

19. Want

20. 39

21. Disintegration

Encore:

22. Lullaby

23. The Caterpillar

24. The Walk

25. Friday I'm In Love

26. Close To Me

27. Why Can't I Be You?

28. Boys Don't Cry

Happy Mondays live in Margate July 2019

Happy Mondays came to Greece in 2008. And I missed them, I completely forgot! Then, they were due to come in July 2013 at Ejekt Festival supporting the Pet Shop Boys. Now, because a general strike was announced on that particular day in Athens, they did not risk getting on a plane to Greece. So, Peter Hook And The Light were drafted at the last minute. Fast forward to 2016 when I was in Manchester, at Etihad Stadium waiting for The Stone Roses to come on stage (I had been dreaming of that for years!). Suddenly the sounds of "Hallelujah" come out of the speakers. 

These two bands were in the same category back in the day and I remembered that I wanted to see them as well, now that my Stone Roses dream had come true. Now, no sensible promoter would be booking them to appear in Greece after that unfortunate "general strike" incident. It was therefore imperative that I take matters into my own hands. I started following them on Facebook and waited for the perfect opportunity. Which eventually came. They announced that they would play at a seaside amusement park (Dreamland Margate) in the summer of 2019 at the ridiculously cheap price of 20GBP per ticket. I didn't have to think twice. I bought the ticket and thought "well, even if I can't make it it's only 20 quid, isn't it?". I still remember the message my browser displayed when I pressed the "Buy Now" button: "Congratulations! You're going to see The Happy Mondays in Margate!".

So, the morning after the Rod Stewart concert, I departed Brighton towards another part of the British coast. I had to go through London, though. My tickets had been bought in advance so there was no problem there. I even retraced my train journeys from when I was a student in Canterbury in 1989.

When I arrived in Margate, one of the first things I noticed was Dreamland. It was impossible to miss it. 

As I was walking along the beach road towards my room I couldn't help thinking of the Morrissey song "Every Day Is Like Sunday". It was a seaside town but so much different to Brighton.

I decided to go to the park early, clad in my Stone Roses t-shirt from 2016, so I could wander around the amusement park. After all, I had been working in one of them 19 years before in the USA. After checking out all the amusements and all the rides (although I didn't get on any of them) I arrived at the stage.

The opening act was one from the same era: 808 State. As their set unfolded it was beginning to feel more and more like a 90's rave party. And it was surreal that you could look around while the gig was in progress and see that people were still on the rides.

After their set was over I retraced my steps towards the entrance in order to find some beer.

Then it was back to the stage area where I secured a nice spot near the sound console for the Happy Mondays set.

They finally came up on stage with Shaun Ryder on crutches who after a few notes proceeded on throwing them away. They told us that they were mainly playing songs from the "Pills'N'Thrills'N'Bellyaches" album.

But there was no need to worry, because, along with that album all the hits were there: "Step On", "Loose Fit", "Bob's Yer Uncle" (a big hit in the Santorini clubs and beach bars back in 1991-92), "Kinky Afro", the club mix of "Hallelujah" and a wonderful "Wrote For Luck" saved for the end. Bez was there, cheerful as usual along with Rowetta, although she had to eject an over-eager fan from the stage several times.

I had a wonderful time and for the duration of the gig I was transported back to the 90's. The next morning I woke up and went straight to the station to catch a train to London and attend the "Van Gogh In London" exhibition at the Tate Gallery before I headed to the airport to catch my flight to Athens. I would be back to London though before the year was over for my last gig before the lockdown....

SETLIST:
01. Kinky Afro
02. God's Cop
03. Donovan
04. Grandbag's Funeral
05. Loose Fit
06. Dennis And Lois
07. Bob's Yer Uncle
08. Step On
09. Holiday
10. Hallelujah
11. 24 Hour Party People
ENCORE:
12. Wrote For Luck

Depeche Mode live in Barcelona November 2009

I had really wanted to see Depeche Mode live in 2009. But why? Well, as I've said many times, back in 2006 at Terra Vibe I didn't really see them. I've only listened to them. I couldn't see anything. And that was mainly because I had arrived late and it was one of the most crowded concerts that had taken place at Terra Vibe. From then on I had been very cautious with that venue, usually buying premium (VIP) tickets, to ensure that I could find some higher ground from where I could see the band. And that's exactly what I did in May 2009 when they were due to appear at Terra Vibe. I had bought a VIP ticket and that particular section corresponded to the VIP section I had observed back in 2006. And I went there fairly early. And then came the disappointment of the cancellation due to Dave's illness. Unfortunately (or should I say "as usual"?) the promoter did not attempt to reschedule the date at a later time during that particular tour. And I'm saying "as usual" because it was the same promoter who had not attempted to reschedule the 2006 Rolling Stones Athens concert which was cancelled due to Keith's falling from a coconut tree or something like that. But, as the saying goes, everything happens for a reason. In 2007 I went to see The Rolling Stones in France and that was the start of my habit of going abroad for concerts, while in 2009, I went to see Depeche Mode in Barcelona and that was the concert that was being filmed for the "Tour Of The Universe" DVD.

The Barcelona dates were not announced with the other dates at the beginning of the tour. They were announced much later and I thought it was a good chance to make up for the cancelled gig so I took it. Plus, I would also get to see Barcelona, a city I had never been to before.

The first problem I had was with the flights. The concert was on a Saturday night and Aegean Airlines had a direct flight to Barcelona every day of the week except - yes, you've guessed it! - on a Saturday! So, I chose another - not easier, but cheaper - way. I took my regular Friday night 23:30 EasyJet flight to London Gatwick and from there I would take another EasyJet flight to Barcelona.

Another strange coincidence was that Pet Shop Boys were playing in Athens on Friday night. And to add insult to injury, the venue was near the airport! But even if Pet Shop Boys were to finish before 23:30, I still wouldn't have time to go through check-in. So I decided that I would see them (again) some other time. Nice decision, since that "other time" would be in the summer of 2013 in Athens on a gig that I have filed under the category of "Concerts that changed my life". (Once again, everything happens for a reason).

I arrived in Barcelona at sometime before noon and I didn't have as much time as I would have wanted to do much sightseeing because I also had to catch up on some sleep.

I went to the Sagrada Familia, I checked a couple of other buildings by Gaudi (from the outside only) and I visited the Olympic Stadium which was on the way to the venue (Palau Sant Jordi, another venue that had been used during the 1992 Olympics).

I wanted to check out the venue before the concert because a friend of mine from Scotland would be waiting there since early in the morning in order to be able to get to the front. We did meet (and it was he who informed me that the concert was being filmed for a DVD), we arranged where we would meet after the concert and I went back to the city to get something to eat before the concert. I wanted to try tapas of course. I had taken a year of Spanish lessons a long long time ago, but these didn't help me much since the guy at the Tapas Bar was only speaking Catalan and I was only speaking (a kind of) Spanish. However, with my Spanish and his Catalan we somehow managed to communicate and I got the tapas I wanted. I returned to the venue, in time for the concert, and decided as usual to have a pint of beer from the bar. It was the first time that I had seen a bar serving a 2-pint glass of beer! 

And yes, I went for it! And once inside, right on time, the concert started and I was enjoying the fact that I could actually really see the band (for the first time since 1985 and the "Rock In Athens" festival) while drinking my two pints of lager (and realizing, to my surprise that there were two Greeks sitting behind me).

I wasn't much keen on the "Sounds Of The Universe" album, but I was anxious to hear "Wrong" which was an excellent single (probably the last good Depeche Mode single in my opinion, while the last good Depeche Mode album was "Playing The Angel"). But there were lots of other favourites from the past although they didn't play the song I always expect to hear on a DM gig, "Just Can't Get Enough".

They had however, planned something special for the finale and the DVD and that was "Waiting For The Night" as a vocal duet between Dave and Martin which went horribly wrong when one of them forgot the lyrics! It still went on the DVD though.

When it was all over, I went to the place where I had arranged to meet my Scottish friend (and his Bulgarian friend who had also attended the concert, so I had quite a multinational company on that night), found them, and went back to the centre of the city on foot, going down the hill.
Halfway down, I realized that this was possibly the place where Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballe had presented their Barcelona project back in 1987 or 1988. So that was another bit of sightseeing accidentally dealt with.

From the city centre I took the metro back to my hotel where I met several Catalan devotees who were asking me to photograph them while shouting not "Depeche" but "deep-etch-ay".

One final thing I noticed about Barcelona (even though it was a Saturday night) was how many people were out on the streets at night. Not inside bars or restaurants, but out on the streets. I have only seen that in two other cities: Athens and Istanbul.

The next morning I had to wake up early to get to the airport, there was no time for any further sightseeing. And I had to take that same route again: Barcelona to London and then London to Athens. When I arrived at the gate I realized that I would travel as far as London with my Scottish friend. It was good to have some company because that flight turned out to be the worst I have ever been on. We felt so relieved when it touched down on Gatwick. There was one more flight for me, from London to Athens but that went rather smoothly.

I would see Depeche Mode again in 2013 at Terra Vibe and there I had the chance to recreate what was supposed to happen at the cancelled concert. I got the same VIP ticket, in the same area, on higher ground with a proper view of the band. But that's another story. Meanwhile, I could boast that in 2009 I attended not one, but two concerts which were filmed for a DVD release. The other one, was, of course, Bruce Springsteen at Hyde Park.

SETLIST:
01. In Chains
02. Wrong
03. Hole To Feed
04. Walking In My Shoes
05. It's No Good
06. A Question Of Time
07. Precious
08. Fly On The Windscreen
09. Sister Of Night
10. Home
11. Come Back
12. Policy Of Truth
13. In Your Room
14. I Feel You
15. Enjoy The Silence
16. Never Let Me Down Again
ENCORE:
17. Dressed In Black
18. Stripped
19. Behind The Wheel
20. Personal Jesus
21. Waiting For The Night