Never again is what we swore the time before... so we went to Barcelona!

Never again (at Terra Vibe) is what we swore the time before. May 12 2009 to be exact. Because this is what happened:

We had gone to Terra Vibe, a place in the country outside Athens to see Depeche Mode. But we didn't, for reasons which have been well documented by now. And the day looked so promising:

Of course it was nobody's fault that Dave was seriously ill, but the organizers never seem to make an effort to reschedule a gig that's been cancelled (they did it the same thing with The Rolling Stones in 2006). On top of that Terra Vibe is "a security risk" according to a British friend of mine who had come all the way from the UK to see DM. And if that's not enough, it's not reachable by public transport (coaches have been hired the last few years, but you must take care and buy a ticket for one of them by going in person - not from the internet). OK, so, if you have a car it must be ideal, right? "Wrong" as DM themselves would have said back in 2009, since it's going to take you almost 2 hours to drive out of the parking lot (which ia located a LONG walking distance from where the concert is taking place). So seeing as the organizers were not going to reschedule it when the tour resumed, I decided to go see them in Barcelona in November of the same year

(That's a 2-pint glass of lager by the way. Only in Barcelona!)

And I was lucky to have chosen the time and place where the DVD of that tour was being filmed.

Plus I also discovered 2 other Greeks sitting behind me.
So here is "Personal Jesus" as I filmed it on the night with my camera:

And here it is again, in its official version, as it ended up on the DVD:

The highlight of the evening was of course the very last song "Waiting For The Night" where Martin tries to help Dave on vocals...and ends up singing the wrong verse

So why this retrospective? Well, today, Depeche Mode are playing at Terra Vibe again! And contrary to what I said the time before (I think it was "never again"), I couldn't resist buying a ticket. Let's hope this time everything goes well. The weather report doesn't look too promising...but maybe we shouldn't be thinking about that!
Until then, I will always have Barcelona and Palau San Jordi...

TEXAS BBQ (The Western Ramblers - Part 4)

And finally here's something (a bit) different. The Western Ramblers and The Duo Jet Band played live at this event. But it wasn't just about music.
There was coffee and Western Pies by Kiss Lorraine. Also a Retro Bazaar by Dazzlin' Gal & Friends. The Broadway Scent Barbershop was there to take care your 50's Hair Style. Plus a DJ set from Dj Mississippi Outlaw. But the most important thing was that you could enjoy all that while eating tasty Burgers & Hot dogs!,(With lots of beer of course!)

The Western Ramblers (Part 3)

After so many times supporting other bands, The Western Ramblers finally played their own gig on the 1st of February at After Dark!

SoundtrucK (With The Western Ramblers - Part 2)

SoundtrucK are a southern rock band from Greece. They even played support to Lynyrd Skynyrd when they played in Athens last year. And back in January, to celebrate the release of their CD, they threw a special live party at Kyttaro Club in Athens with many guests from the Greek rock scene.
Opening for them were our favourites of this blog, The Western Ramblers with a different setlist from the usual

After The Western Ramblers, SoundtrucK took to the stage, first playing songs from their album...

...and then the real party started, with losts of covers and friends invited on stage, including singer Eva Sakellari

And the best thing of all...Free entrance!

Down & Out - El Show Final

"Down & Out is a Southern Rock/blues band formed in 2003 in Athens Greece. All three members of the band just love good old rock n'roll, blues and hillbilly music and they just can't hide it!"
This is how Down & Out describe themselves. And they have been featured in this blog before in Greek posts several times, most importantly when they supported the Sonics when they played in Athens. They consist of:

BOOGIEMAN: TeleCOWster guitar, vocals, harmonica (yes, that's correct, I didn't make it up)

LITTLE TONNIE: Gretsch drums, piano and organ

VIRGIL: '62 Fender P-bass, backin' vocals

Now they have finally decided to call it a day with a final gig at After Dark a few days after The Western Ramblers and Penny Dreadful played there and documented on this blog's previous post. Meanwhile Boogieman and little Tonnie are continuing as a duo under the name The Big Nose Attack, which have also been featured on this blog in the past.

It was an incredible last stand featuring songs from their first album "Tres Weirdos", from their second still unreleased one (now we wonder, will it ever see the light of day? Keep checking http://www.myspace.com/downnoutband for updates) and also their (and our) favourite cover version, Prince's Kiss!

We really hope it's not really the end for them and we expect to meet them further on up the road...

The Western Ramblers (Part 1 - With Penny Dreadful)

As I had promised when I announced that I was switching my blog's language to English, it will often feature local bands (By local, meaning Athens, Greece where I am currently residing). So it is then, that today's post features a local band, namely The Western Ramblers. And before we go any further, let me mention that their lead singer is a friend of mine, so yes, I am biased in their favour!
About 2 months ago, on the Sunday, the 30th of December I went to see them at the After Dark club. They play "American Roots Music" by their admission and that's what we enjoyed that night, including a few Springsteen tracks. (So far it seems inevitable to post something in this blog without mentioning Bruce Springsteen who will hopefully feature heavily during the summer)

They started out as a 2-piece with banjo and guitars, but by now they have evolved into a full band with the relatively recent addition of a bassist and a drummer

However, they were not the only band to appear that night. Their live set was followed by Penny Dreadful, billed as "Alternative Country" (they even played a rock cover of Kraftwerk's "The Model")

After the new year, I saw The Western Ramblers 2 more times. But I will cover these in another post...

In English

Hello, good evening and welcome!
As I was saying in Greek last year (ie two weeks ago), I was asked by several people to start blogging in English. Mostly people I met during the last tour (for those who don't know me it was Bruce Springsteen's tour, not mine, although you could say I did a mini-tour myself with 3 stops) but also people I know from Facebook with which we (usually) like the same music (Bruce Springsteen in most cases). Most of these people have read my only previous English post which was a translation of my review of Bruce Springsteen's latest album "Wrecking Ball" and you can read it here. Plus, I always thought that we're not alone, Greece is NOT the centre of the world and the more people that understand us and we communicate with the better.
As I've just said, I've been asked to do this by several people I met through Facebook. On the other hand, Facebook is the reason that a lot of blogs are closing. And it's not only blogs. Fan (music or sports) forums (fora most likely is the correct plural) have mostly been affected, but also chat sites and of course MySpace. What's more, even Facebook itself is trying to do what blogs do. It's called "Facebook Notes", but it's really not the same, and your posts are usually not accessible to everyone (usually only your Facebook "friends") and of course they won't show on Google searches.
So, for those of you who are new here, this blog is mainly about concerts, travel and music in general (with lots of photographs). And as a consequence of me living in Athens, Greece, it will often feature local bands which you probably have never heard before.
And don't worry, I listen to a lot of other music apart from Bruce Springsteen.
Of all kinds.
Honest.