Nearly 20 years since the legendary London girls last performed in Athens, Girlschool’s performance at Kyttaro, aside from the fact that we would hear songs that left their mark on rock, rock and roll, and metal (call it however you prefer), also seemed like the perfect warm-up ahead of Iron Maiden and Anthrax, whom we were all waiting for the next night.
After a relatively short but, I’d say, justified delay since some people had bought tickets for the concert and were returning from the Final 4 semifinal at Olympic Stadium Arena – Strikelight attempted to warm up the crowd with a decent performance but also with a lot of… but… Their set was easily the longest I’ve ever seen from a local opening act, clocking in at 72 minutes!!! (The Girlschool set that followed lasted 70 minutes). It was only bound that, at some point, about 100 people had left the club, having grown tired of waiting for the support band to finish. As if that weren’t enough, Strikelight used Girlschool’s drum kit, resulting in a 35-minute changeover just to set it up properly – another world first…
But enough of the grumbling as soon as Girlschool took the stage with “Demolition Boys” I felt a rock-and-roll storm wash over me as the four girls radiated boundless energy, transmitting it to the audience in a unique and utterly engaging way. So, plenty of rock and roll, plenty of energy, plenty of stage diving by quite a many fans, and plenty of… Motorhead. The female Motorhead, as I usually call them, did an excellent cover of “Bomber,” but they also reminded us that “Emergency,” which Lemmy and his guys turned into a huge hit, is actually their own creation. The set they presented was mainly a “best of” set, and among the best I’d include “It Is What It Is,” an amazing track from their latest album “WTForty Five”. I’d say the highlight of the show was the performance of “Take It All Away,” where the one and only, amazing Jackie Chambers put down her guitar and handed the microphone to fans in the audience to sing the chorus, eventually joining them off stage.
Girlschool’s rock and roll party ended with “Screaming Blue Murder,” with the crowd showing their appreciation for a truly authentic and heartfelt performance by a legendary band that continues to impress as it approaches 50 years in music.
Setlist: Demolition Boys, C’mon Let’s Go, The Hunter, Guilty As Sin, Hit And Run, Future Flash, Kick It Down, Nothing To Lose, It Is What It Is, Tonight, Take It All Away, Race With The Devil, Bomber, Emergency, Screaming Blue Murder.
Dimitris Kazantzis
