This was the last show for Gus G’s tour and the final stop was Kyttaro Club in Athens on a Friday night with two more bands on the bill and the mostly young crowd couldn’t hide its enthusiasm.
The show opened with Enemy Of Reality and the captivating Ilianna Tsakiraki performing brilliantly, while also trying to bring life to the crowd that was starting to gather in Kyttaro at this time. In only half an hour playing songs from their debut “Rejected Gods” as well as a cover of Pet Shop Boys’ “It’s A Sin” didn’t leave anyone unmoved.
Up next were Crystal Tears that proved quite fun with a mix of heavy metal and rock’n’roll in their songs and their singer Soren Adamsen nailing it. With a lot of troubles and changes in their career they look as they have finally found their way. The best moment of their show was “Out Of The Shadows” from their recent studio album “Hellmade” (2014) while they also played two covers on “We Will Rock You” – “everybody loves Queen” said Sorensen- and “Beds Are Burning” (Midnight Oil). It was quite a surprise to watch an exotic dancer joining them on stage for three songs that surely increased the… adrenaline rush and set mobile phones, tablets and similar accessories on fire.
With no time to waste Gus G and his band got on stage just after ten filled with enthusiasm from the early beginning. The crowd was sharing the same mentality as they were there to admire Greek guitarist with younger ages, as mentioned earlier, being the majority, although I should say that they overall crowd expectancy wasn’t satisfactory for such a big star of the Greek scene, whatever…
The set opened with “on fire” mode: ON… “Burn” and “Brand New Revolution” from the second solo album set the pace for a powerful kick off. The tempo slows down a bit with “Eyes Wide Open”, while they crank it up again with “Blame It On Me”. On almost every song the crowd sings note for note, while the front row is on ecstasy. The show includes stuff from both Gus’ albums as well as a few surprises, such as the favorite “Children Of The Night” from the guitarist’s tenure with Dreamevil. Of course, there was a small touch of Firewind with “World On Fire” in an apotheosis.
Except for the vocal giant that is Mats Leven, who once more gave a master class in performing in every second of the show, Maxi Nill also got up on stage to sing on “Long Way Down” and “What Lies Below”, playing her part in two more highlights of the show.
When Maxi’s part was over we had two stools set up and Gus with Mats on an acoustic interlude where they played “Can’t Let Go” and “End Of The Line” with the rest of the band joining for the mighty “Temple Of The King” (Rainbow) which proved that wasn’t the only cover of the night. With stools getting off the stage the show was taking its final course with My Will Be Done”, “Redemption”, “I Am The Fire” in a wonderful version and… “Crazy Train” with everybody going… well, crazy!
The show was over before midnight with the schedule intact, something that unfortunately seems very original nowadays with the crowd having enjoyed a rich show with three great bands. Now, it’s a mystery what more did those who didn’t show up wanted, I can’t find a reasonable explanation to that, therefore I leave a question mark there…
Yiannis Dolas
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