Is it really possible to become happy with a humble concert ticket that costs only 10 euro? Is this printed little paper the access to a better world? The live performance of PLAYGROUNDED on Friday, May 6, gave us a clear answer during a concert that we can easily define as music intoxication. Along with them were we.own.the.sky, another great Greek band that made the night even better.
“The stars guide me home…”
People gathered in the venue early and the main level was pretty full when We.Own.The.Sky came on stage at 21:30. For those who don’t know them this is one of the top Greek post rock/metal bands and yes, they managed to win over people from the beginning and they didn’t let us go till the end. They were actually so good that I was almost annoyed each time they were talking to the audience in between the songs.
we all know that when it comes to post metal it’s kind of hard to keep the listener interested because there are no lyrics but the band easily jumps this hurdle with their music as they combine heavy outbursts with melodic -more atmospheric- tracks. It was also interesting to watch and listen their top class rhythm section. The band showed an energetic performance on stage, they gave us good vibes with a set that was mainly based on the beautiful album “Home” (2019) without forgetting some tracks from their debut album “Earths Collide” (2015). It seems the absence of live concerts for two years didn’t affect them at all, on the contrary they were really tied together and they seemed to enjoy every moment.
video we.own.the.sky:
we.own.the.sky setlist:
we align / of new beginnings / raindrops and oceans / muzzle / ikigai / youth / penny for your thoughts / retrospect
“We are / no strings attached…”
Time for a break where we headed for the merchandise corner where the bands had many goodies. After a while the lights dimmed and everything was set to see PLAYGROUNDED on stage. They released a great album a few weeks ago so the impatience of the fans was in overdrive because we all wanted to hear the compositions of “The Death Of Death” live. The light show was impressive, the stage was bathed on red lights making a great contrast with the black, yes, it was a hell for the photographers but it tracked nicely with the album artwork that is based on red and black colors. They kicked off with “The Swan” but they decided not to follow the tracklist of the album taking us out of our comfort zone, at least those of us that we are playing the album nonstop the last weeks. After the second track we were already “transferred” on another dimension, it was like magic what was happening on stage and yes it may sounds like a cliché but this band can really takes you into a trip with their music.
Their set list included all the compositions of “The Death of Death” of course but they also added “waves”, “crossing” and “Rotterdam” from “In Time With Gravity” (2017). The more time was ticking away we started to see the multiple music faces of this great band, from one side we had that airy melodic and light like a feather thing while on the other side they suddenly turned into something more dynamic. Even if you are not familiar with them it is the structure of their compositions that makes you feel how versatile they are and how original at the same time. Most of the fans didn’t know if they had to close their eyes and enjoy or to dance or head bang but at the end it seems that weird dancing moves of Stavros (vocals) when he was away from the mic was the ideal thing to do, it was like he was coordinated with the rhythm of Odysseas on bass and George on drums.
Orestis on the keyboard/samples has a crucial role on the band and nothing would be the same without him and the same applies for the guitar of Michael although this is not a typical guitar oriented rock band and has found the necessary balance between rock and electronic music with a final result that brings us a warm almost melancholic feeling. When they closed their set the fans burst into applause although we wanted some extra songs.
Which brings us back to my original question. Are ten euro enough to make your world a better place? Like someone once said: “We all know how much things cost, but not their real value”
PLAYGROUNDED setlist:
The Swan / Rituals / Tomorrow’s Rainbow / The death of Death / Waves / A Road out of the Flood / Crossing / Our Fire / Rotterdam
® κείμενο/φωτογραφίες/video: Konstantinos Mindcrimek Vlachos
video PLAYGROUNDED:
