Before we were so rudely interrupted at Terra Vibe 4 years ago...

As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted 4 years ago...

...Depeche Mode have finally made it to Terra Vibe last Friday. So, did we... all of us? Apparently not, but I promised myself that this time I will not complain about the organizers and I will do my best to keep this promise until the end of this post... Let's see if I succeed!
As I have explained in previous posts, Terra Vibe is a far off place in the open country to the north of Athens, not easily reached by public transport. This should mean that it's better to have a car, but you'd still probably have to park it a far as 6km from the place (yes, it really did happen and the distance was really actually measured), and you might spend up to 2 hours getting out of there (I once saw a couple having sex on - not in - their car while waiting for the Terra Vibe car park to clear so they could get out. Because on top of that there's no lighting so it's pitch dark in there. Unfortunately there was a full moon that night, although I guess that probably made it more romantic). Anyway, for those who don't have a car there are special buses commissioned, some of them from travel agents. There were over 60 buses hired that night according to our driver.and the audience was estimated at 30000.

I chose to get a ticket with the earliest bus (5pm with doors opening at 7pm and concert starting at 9pm) not because I was afraid I would be late, but because I wanted to hang around outside browsing at the stands selling food and unofficial merchandise.

There wasn't really a queue as such outside, just quite a lot of people gathered outside the entrance. There was a second entrance but it was never opened.

The doors did NOT open at the appropriate time but a bit later. When I realized they had been opened, I stood behind the crowd of people gathered (about 20m from the entrance) and waited to get in. It took us about half an hour to go through these 20 metres. And when we finally got in we realized why: They had installed turnstiles behind the main gate. But only 2 turnstiles for 30000 people! (But as i've said, I'm not going to complain on this post)

The first thing some people saw was this stage and they gathered in front of it thinking that they just got themselves FOS privileges!

Since I got in quite early I had the opportunity to wander around the park...

...but finally headed to the check in points for the special tickets.

Mine was the VIP section, the same one I bought on the 2009 concert that never took place (The only difference being that in 2009 the ticket was 100% more expensive than it was now). This is because with this I was sure to be able to see the band, something which I wasn't able to do in 2006 when I went to see Depeche Mode again on Terra Vibe. The crowd was similar and though I heard the entire concert I couldn't see anything and I was lucky I wasn't squashed in that crowd. I usually buy a VIP ticket when I have to go to Terra Vibe because that section is a bit higher up so you get a clear view of the stage.

And so the concert started! The moment that never came in 2009

It was "Welcome To My World", the opening track from their latest album "Delta Machine". Several oldies and favourites came later such as "Walking In My Shoes", "Precious", "Policy Of Truth" and "Black Celebration"

There seemed however to be quite a lot of songs from the new album on the setlist and it was obvious that most of the crowd were not familiar with them

Just before "Heaven" the band played "Happy Birthday" for Dave who had celebrated his 51st birthday the day before (The day of the concert was actually Bono's birthday)

Things picked up towards the end of the main set with "Enjoy The Silence" and an amazing "Personal Jesus" with a Johnny Cash-like intro.

The closer however, "Goodbye", was admittedly an anti-climax...

And so the encore began... with "Home"...

"Predictable", I thought, since it was played both in 2006 and in 2009 in Barcelona. However, just after that, they surprised me with "Halo".
And after that, it was the moment I've been waiting for for 28 years:

"Just Can't Get Enough". Last time I experienced this live was at the "Rock In Athens" festival back in 1985 when a much younger Dave had placed the mike stand between his legs singing "I just can't get it up" instead...

And so it ended with "I Feel You" and "Never Let Me Down Again".
We headed toward the exits and that's when I found out that although the concert started at 9:15, the organizers hadn't managed to get everyone in until 10:30. I know I said I wouldn't complain but this is just too much. I was lucky that I was one of the first people to arrive and got in early, otherwise I would have been furious. But what can we do? The organizers, which are the only company in Greece to bring big names have hired the area that is Terra Vibe Park until 2025 (if we are to believe some stories circulating on the internet). By that time Greece will be back borrowing by the international "markets" (If we are to believe our prime minister). So if the organizers bring our favourite artists there, that's where we'll have to go. We have no choice. And not counting the fact that Terra Vibe is a "security nightmare" as a British friend described it.

Setlist:
01. Welcome To My World
02. Angel
03. Walking In My Shoes
04. Precious
05. Black Celebration
06. Policy Of Truth
07. Should Be Higher
08. Barrel Of A Gun
09. Higher Love (Martin on vocals)
10. When The Body Speaks (Martin on vocals)
11. Heaven
12. Soothe My Soul
13. A Pain That I'm Used To
14. A Question Of Time
15. Secret To The End
16. Enjoy The Silence
17. Personal Jesus
18. Goodbye
19. Home (Martin on vocals)
20. Halo (Martin on vocals)
21. Just Can't Get Enough
22. I Feel You
23. Never Let Me Down Again

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...