If anyone have told me a few years ago that I would see two hard rock concerts within a week I would have fallen down laughing. And yet, just a week after the excellent night with Reb Beach and his bad boys, and our own It’s All About The Music, it was the turn of the legendary FM and our own, and why not equally legendary, Silver R.I.S.C..
It was a great pleasure to find out almost a month before the show was due to take place that the gig was sold out. Sure thing, the Academy is not Wembley, but then again either way it was a small victory for the fans of the sound. So, on Saturday early evening I headed down to Piraeus Club Academy side.
The crowd had already started to gather early. After a short academic delay the stage was taken over by Silver R.I.S.C. in an almost packed club. In the time available the band honored both of their works. 1993’s “Anything She Does” and last year’s “Knot Over” are two albums that should not be missing from the collection of every serious hard rock fan, with the first of course being relatively hard to find, even on CD. Anyway, the band if anything knows how to hit the stage and this was amply demonstrated yesterday.
With the power of the audience who sang in all the songs, Silver R.I.S.C. once again proved that they deserve more recognition than they have received so far outside the Greek borders, because we love them very much inside! I wish they had a better sound, downstairs the sound to my ears sounded better than upstairs, but little did it matter when you listen to songs like these.
It was now FM’s turn and it seemed that the seven years of absence from our country was a lot. On the other hand, I think I had another chance to see a legendary act with a 40-year career, okay and a little hiatus, once again in my life. All those thoughts went out the window, as soon as the Brits took the stage and kicked off the party.
With a crystal sound and an Academy shaking from the vibrations words are not enough to describe what happened. What they managed to fit into their setlist with such a history behind them is of little importance, I believe that even if they were just clapping their hands people wouldn’t have left unhappy that night.
But, we didn’t hear just a few of their hits. There was a good balance between classics and more recent songs. The epics “That Girl” and “I Belong To The Night” were there, while songe like “Out Of The Blue” and “Turn This Car Around” moved us. “Story Of My Life” and… what can I say. Some of us were in tears.
Το σχήμα είχε τρελά κέφια. Πραγματικά σηκώνω τα χέρια ψηλά για αυτούς τους μουσικούς που λες ότι ο χρόνος δεν τους αγγίζει. Μόνο τα άσπρα μαλλιά τους υποδηλώνουν την ηλικία τους γιατί το τσαγανό και το κέφι που έχουν στέλνει στο καναβάτσο πολλούς εικοσάρηδες.
A night to remember λοιπόν. Το χαρήκαμε τόσο πολύ όσο και το συγκρότημα πιστεύω που έφυγε κατενθουσιασμένο από την σκηνή. Αυτές οι βραδιές καλό είναι να συμβαίνουν. Κρατώ την υπόσχεση του Steve Overland ότι θα του ξαναδούμε πολύ σύντομα.
Μιχάλης Νταλάκος
