“Imaginary demons / Exorcized with stones and sticks…”
KEMEROV’s return to the Greek capital was something that certainly we needed it as the death n roll band from Serres has a new album out there called “Anti-Hero”. As expected, they were rousing on stage and what’s more they had some interesting opening acts, BAT SIGNAL and THE TITZ.
“Λαλούν τ’ αηδόνια και πλαντάζω…”
Exarcheia district, Athens, ΑΝ Club, the beers waiting for fans at the usual bar when you cross the door at the basement. These were my thoughts as I was walking down the steps of this historical venue of the Greek underground scene.
With the small delay on scheduled time the first band on stage was THE TITZ. They are a rock n roll power trio from Piraeus that have released one LP (plus some singles). The truth is that I wasn’t really familiar with their music but they were a pleasant surprise. I must admit that their set was way too short but they seemed to enjoy playing and they played really with intensity, actually I had a feeling their tempo was faster than the one on their album. They kicked off with two cover songs before they go into their own stuff but some minor technical issue with the guitar spoiled their momentum but no one complained as this was just for a while and they kept playing with an interesting cover of a Greek traditional song! Just before the end they were expecting some “hey” screams from the fans but we were only a few and shy…
video THE TITZ live:
THE TITZ set list:
Going down the bar (Blood for blood cover) / Ζω στο περιθώριο (broken glasses cover) / whimpering clown / skinhead / λαλούν τα αηδόνια / stand your ground / dogs / exiles / rats
“I feel like mourning for the passing of a Spring…”
The next band on stage was BAT SIGNAL. The power trio from Thessaloniki is really something delightful to see and hear. They have some extra points of groove and they managed to transmit this to us. They play pure punk rock which is actually pure rock n roll, you know what I mean, that kind of genre that as long as it is there for you makes you think this is the best gift that we got from modern music when acoustic folk went electric and became fast, sweaty and dangerous for the older people. It didn’t really matter which songs they played but yes, there were songs like “horse dick” that easily started a moshpit.
video BAT SIGNAL live:
BAT SIGNAL setlist:
Stray dogs / Silent days / Hatchet / Somebody stop me / Horse Dick / Back To My Home / Dangernights / loaded Gun / Like A drug / don’t drink and drive / Full Moon
“Noone needs your hate speech…”
So, it was around 23.00 when the headliners were ready to rock. We were looking forward to see KEMEROV back in Athens because just a few months ago they released their new great album “Anti-Hero”. They actually gave this show to present the album on its entirely along with some older classics. As expected they were great with their pure death ‘n’ roll that blew us away. It was a night that deserved more fans in the venue (people still seems to be afraid to go out due to the pandemia) but for me the main problem was that they didn’t have the album on vinyl (not yet, but that’s a universal problem due to the ongoing delays with vinyl factories).
They kicked off with “fabricated gods” like they did at Trikala in August but now we knew that they were going to play the album from start to end although at some point they added a sick cover of Unsane’s “sick”. They were fully rehearsed and their energy was flowing non stop, something that is necessary for a band that blends the sounds of Entombed and Cathedral. The curtain fell with “FMDK” but also a great cover of Turbonegro’s “denim demon”.
“But now I’m back with a bang / I’ve got my own leather gang…”
video KEMEROV live:
set list:
Fabricated Gods / Anti-Hero Tights / Nail / Count Me Out / Channeling Hatred / Sane / Sick (Unsane cover) / Hate Speech / Free from Sin / Ungatz / Black Right Hands / Plague of Nations / Idiocracy / Blind & Numb / Possess / FMKD / Denim Demon (Turbonegro cover)
® κείμενο/φωτογραφίες/video: Konstantinos Mindcrimek Vlachos
