The Big Nose Attack 69 Release Party

Finally, after last week's teaser, the day came. The day when The Big Nose Attack took over Gagarin. On their own. Well, not completely on their own, but with a little help from their friends, 7-Odds and Mr. Highway Band. But they were headlining. And all this after last summer's appearance at Rockwave Festival supporting The Black Keys and their triumphant return from a European and Greek tour, including a broken-down VW van. For me, it was also a chance to see Mr. Highway Band again who I discovered last year and a time to discover 7-Odds.

I checked in at Gagarin a few minutes after the doors opened. I did not want to miss any of the bands but I also wanted to get my hands on some Big Nose merchandise. My first BNA t-shirt, but most importantly, a copy of the new album, 69, on orange vinyl.

Mission accomplished, I was inside and on the first row waiting for 7-Odds. Now, the band name looked familiar to me. I thought I might have seen them live before, but it probably seems that they were one of the early support acts in one of the gigs I had attended and I missed them. Nevertheless they were very good, their sound did fit more with The Big Nose Attack (than Mr. Highway Band who came next) and they can probably be classified as my "new discovery" from this gig, the same way I discovered Mr. Highway Band last year. Oh, and they also played the Theremin onstage. (This blog has a history of Theremin mentions).

My last year's "discovery", Mr. Highway Band were next. I discovered them at their own festival last year, bought both their albums and I also saw them accidentally once on my way home from another gig. True, their sound is a lot different from The Big Nose Attack but it was great to see two of my favourite bands on the same night. So, it was a familiar set for me, including both of my favourite songs of theirs, "Revolution" from the first album and "Story Of My Life" from the second.

Under the sounds of the Wu-Tang Clan the stars of the night came on stage. Boogieman and Little Tonnie aka The Big Nose Attack were on, starting with "A Bite To Eat"

This was followed with songs from all three albums including the "hit" from the second one "Yeah! (That Girl)" and my favourite from the new one "Not The One" which I think could match That Girl's success as, in my opinion, it's catchy enough to do that!

Other highlights included a tribute to their childhood hero David Hasselhoff (Not!) where they played a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady" and an I-Don't-Know-How-Many-Minutes-Version of "Wild Cherry" with Little Tonnie giving it his all!

There was not one, but two encores. One the first one, a theremin appeared! This was on "Don't Look Back" played by their producer Panos Tsekouras.

And on the second one Boogie Man got his little red electric mandolin (or is it a ukelele?) for the final song "Drunk Whore Blues".

They left the stage under the sounds of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". Once again, Merlin's Music Box was there which means that the whole show is now on YouTube. As for the band, their bet seems to have paid off. The ground floor of Gagarin was quite full. Next time, they'll fill the upper floor as well.

SETLISTS:

7-Odds
01. Bad Thoughts
02. People Wanna See
03. Sex Wax
04. Parking Lots
05. Fine Disaster
06. 21 Minutes
07. Dusty Roads.
08. Alley Walk
09. Right Ahead
10. Run To Your Mama

Mr. Highway Band
01. In The Fire Of Time
02. At The End Of The Day
03. No One Can Bring Me Down
04. I' m Gonna Give You Love
05. Story Of My Life
06. Overdose
07. Cities Walk On Fire
08. The River And The Town
09. Revolution

The Big Nose Attack
01. A Bite To Eat
02. All By Myself
03. Under Your Spell
04. Yeah! (That Girl)
05. Grunting And Panting
06. Monday Morning Spaghetti
07. 50 Shades Of Shame
08. Let The Love Shine
09. Not The One
10. Adam And Eve
11. Left Alone
12. Foxy Lady
13. Special Sauce Called Love
14. Drunk And Gibberish
15. Wild Cherry
Encore:
16. Don't Look Back
17. Down With Me
Encore 2:
18. Drunk Whore Blues

FULL SHOW by MERLIN'S MUSIC BOX:
7-Odds
Mr. Highway Band
The Big Nose Attack

The Big Nose Attack 69 (You Get What You Give) Preview

 

It seems like every gig year (and this blog) starts (or ends) with The Big Nose Attack (if not with them then with Down And Out). And so is the case this year, with the first gig planned on Friday the 22nd of January at Gagarin, almost exactly one year after their last appearance there supporting Blues Pills. But as luck would have it we were treated to a sneak preview in the form of a live radio show 8 days before that. The format of this show (5|25 Live Session) broadcast by En Lefko 87.7 radio station, is 5 minutes of an interview and 25 minutes or music so we were treated to a the band discussing their new album, their new amplifiers and Little Tonnie's shirts. And then it was time for the music in the form of a mini 6-song set including the hit (That Girl), tracks from the new album, and a cover of Jimi Hendrix's Foxy Lady.

The event was sponsored by Jack Daniels Tennessee Honey which meant that there was a respectable amount of it offered free. Cheers! (Can't wait till Friday)

If 2016 gives you lemons...

Happy New Year from The PAP DX Blog. "If life gives you lemons, make some lemonade" goes an old saying. We hope to drink lots of lemonade in 2016...

Leon Of Athens @ Gazarte Reloaded

And so we're finally at the end of 2015 and our last gig was - almost - a repeat of an earlier one of this same year. I say "almost" because although it was the same artist and the same venue the situation was a bit different.

Leon Of Athens was back at Gazarte where we last saw him in back in April, but this time it was in a different hall of the venue. This time it was at the roof hall surrounded by glass giving us a very good view of Christmas Athens, including the Acropolis. 

And this time we were all close to the stage making it a more intimate experience. The setlist was based on the last gig, but there were also a couple of new songs. As far as I am concerned I was happy that he kept the Bruce Springsteen and Queen covers, (my favourite artist and band respectively), so once again we enjoyed covers of "I'm On Fire" and "Under Pressure" plus his own well-loved songs like "Global", "Lifeline", my personal favourite "Dreamers" and his latest single "Baby Asteroid"

 

It wasn't exactly Christmas eve, but Leon gave us our Christmas gig of 2015 and we are already making our plans for more music to come in 2016

Sorrowful Angels present Remedie @ Remedy

I've been a fan of Sorrowful Angels for about 4 years now. I think it was at the time that their second album "Omens" came out. Oh, and I never got any of their CD's either. So, the "Remedie Live Album Presentation" at Remedy Club ("Remedie" is the title of their latest, third album) was a perfect opportunity. To begin with, the entrance fee was flexible and adaptable to my needs. 4 Euros on its own or 10 Euros with a t-shirt or a "Remedie" CD. So, of course I went for the CD option. And when I got inside and collected my CD, I noticed that the previous two albums were available for 5 euros each so I grabbed this chance to complete my Sorrowful Angels discography.

The only problem was that I knew beforehand that this was going to be an incomplete gig for me since I had to catch the last train in order to get back home without spending a small fortune. Nevertheless when I saw the detailed line-up I knew that I would be able to catch a respectable percentage of the Sorrowful Angels set even if there was a delay in the schedule (which there was).

First up were Dead South Dealers.

Next up were Material Vibe preparing us for the main course including Metallica and Slayer covers.

And finally it was time for Sorrowful Angels. What I had time to hear before I had to leave was good enough for me: Five songs from the new album (which was what we mostly came to hear wasn't it?), two from "Omens" and one from the "Summer Goths" EP (although I have to admit, the other song on that EP "Love Means Death" is my favourite one.)

I have to admit it got even better in my absence as I read in this great review (in Greek) of the gig from hardmusic.gr. Former members Ilias Bouzeas and Chris Stratigos joined frontman Dion Christodoulatos on stage on some of the songs. And there were Iron Maiden covers! (They have performed as Paul Di Anno's backing band on part of his recent tour). Must have been a great party and I hope I will have a chance to see them again for a full set this time.

SETLISTS:

Dead South Dealers
01. Keep Em Coming
02. D.S.D
03. Note to Self
04. Vinnie the Vet
05. Fairies of the swamp
06. Wrong Cargo

Material Vibe
01. Voracious
02. Normality
03. Mandatory Suicide
04. Stagger's Leap
05. Climbing
06. Blinded by Fear (At the Gates)
07. Vital Venom
08. Reign with Fire
09. So What?

Sorrowful Angels
01. Witchhunt
02. Shatterbox
03. Immaculate disguise
04. Mistress of Desire
05. Circle Never Ends
06. Shores of Capture
07. Ghosts of Concrete
08. Dream in Black
09. Leap of Faith
10. Against The Dying of The Light
11. I'm Home
12. Suicidal Manners
13. Right of Way
14. Leaving Earth
15. Unspeakable Cult
16. Prowler
17. Running Free
18. Omens
19. Mourn
20. Denial

MOAN loves you @ six d.o.g.s.

I was so dumbfounded when I saw MOAN live for the first time back in May when they supported The Stranglers (where we met the singer's mother AND grandmother in the audience), that I knew I had to see them again. Their "Debut EP Release Show" at six d.o.g.s. in the beginning of October where their first EP "Breaking Bad" would be on sale was the perfect occasion.

Upon arriving there I caught a glimpse of them being interviewed in the next room for MTV Rise and I had the chance to watch it the following week. When watching it, I learned that one of their favourite songs is "I'm On Fire" by Bruce Springsteen. So, once again it was proven that Bruce is everywhere. And "I'm On Fire" is probably Bruce's favourite song among Greek artists!

After that short pause I headed straight in,  in order to secure a copy of the CD. My first thought was "15 Euros? That's a bit pricey!". And when I got the disc out and realized it was not a CD but a CD-R then I thought "It's definitely pricey!". However, when I got a better look at it the following morning under the light of day I changed my mind. If one takes a look at the whole packaging, what's featured in it, the amount of work that had to be done in order to create this, combined with the fact that only 150 copies were made I realized that it was probably worth it. (Hey, there'e even a lollipop attached to the front cover!) What's more the money will be going to a new band who had just offered me a free gig! I was not obligated to buy the CD. You can judge for yourselves in these photos. (And you can listen to and even download for free the whole EP here)

Back to the gig, it was opened by Smacking Lips which have a harder and more raw sound that MOAN. On MTV Rise I heard that they too are preparing their first album so we'll probably have a chance to hear more of them in the future.

 

Then it was time for MOAN, and their set started in exactly the same way as their Stranglers support set. Opening with "Trapped Between Her Hips" (my favourite) followed by "Remember That Night". After that it was of course a different story since this was their own gig and they had all the time to themselves to play a full set.

With that, I headed home to enjoy (and examine) my new CD hoping that they will release a full album soon. With MOAN we are confident that we will hear more of them in the future. And as they themselves say, MOAN loves us. MOAN loves you. That means you!

Rockwave 20 Part 3 - Manu Chao La Ventura

Manu Chao is one of those artists that regurarly plays in Greece. As usual,  I had never been to one of his gigs despite the numerous chances I'd been given. So, while still recovering from my trip to Italy for Belle And Sebastian, I decided that this time I was not going to miss him. And so it was that on what was probably one of the hottest days of the summer in Athens, I went to a Rockwave Festival date for a third time in the same year! (There was a fourth date with Judas Priest and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club but I was busy getting ready for Italy then).
So, back to Terra Vibe and since it was Manu Chao who was headlining, one could be sure of two things:

1. The ticket would be (relatively) cheap. In fact Manu Chao himself insists that ticket prices to his gigs are low.

2. The line-up would be geared towards ethnic sounds. In fact the sounds on that night ranged from the Balkans all the way to Jamaica!

I arrived early in order to avoid the big crowds that usually gather at Manu Chao Greek gigs. Too tired from last week's trip I would have to find a place to sit down. And I did, in the area which in other concerts is designated as "VIP", where not only did I get to sit on a bench, but I also had a table, where I could leave my drinks and stuff. Plus, and most important of all, I had shade! Of course there are no VIP tickets at a Manu Chao show, so this particular area was open to everyone, all for the price of the regular ticket!

The first appearance of the day was not a live act but a DJ set. DJ Spery, according to the Rockwave Festival official site, has been, for the last 5 years, organizing parties aiming to bring the "Balkanization Project" to life. This entails spreading the Balkan sounds from town to town. She discovered how lively this music is at a Goran Bregovic gig and she's been collecting records from the best Balkan bands ever since.

 

Next up, were Les SkartOi, which, if you look closely at their name was the band with the Jamaican sounds of the day. So, Ska it is then, and they even treated us to a medley of classic ska songs like "Rat Race" made famous by the Specials and "Night Boat To Cairo" made famous by Madness.

Fundracar who came up next bring us home to more traditional and Greek sounds but also hip-hop.

With Baildsa, second on the bill, it's back to Balkan sounds and this band have actually played live in most Balkan countries.

And finally, it's time for Manu Chao. He played all his well-known songs, in radically altered versions as usual, sometimes more than once. There was a 12 minute version of "La Primavera" thrown in the mix, plus, more importantly, from his Mano Negra days, "King Kong Five", the song with which I got to know him, way back in 1989.

There was not just one, but two encores, finally ending with "Mala Vida", a song we got to hear on another encore, last Christmas, courtesy of Nouvelle Vague.
And so ended my last visit to Terra Vibe this year, and my last gig of the summer. Now it was time to really rest and enjoy the rest of the summer holiday, ending up in Antiparos as usual...

SETLIST:
01. Mr Bobby
02. Se fuerza la máquina / Día luna... día pena / Tadibobeira
03. La vida tómbola
04. La primavera
05. Les rues de l'hiver...
06. Clandestino
07. Promiscuity
08. Mi vida
09. King Kong Five
10. Politik Kills
11. Machine Gun
Encore:
12. Bienvenida a Tijuana
13. El viento
14. Fuera Monsanto (Perro Verde)
15. Minha galera
Encore 2:
16. Desaparecido / Lagrimas de oro
17. Clandestino / Rumba de Barcelona / La despedida / Mentira
18. Mala vida