“burn under the fire of the sun…”
Here they are, THE SCREAMING FLY back to gigs in their own town with a hot performance at Boiler basement where this great power trio managed to satisfy to the maximum their fans, on a night that later had THREE WAY PLANE giving their farewell gig.
“I have a plan in my head …”
Friday night and despite the drizzle Vlachava pedestrian street was kind of busy as people came early this night because they wanted to catch the dead line the band had posted on the social media earlier. So, with that in mind I also went there early as I didn’t want to miss their gig and stood in front of the small stage to enjoy them.
For those who haven’t heard about them before, worth to be mentioned that The Screaming Fly is part of the Greek underground scene since 1992. The thing is that they have wronged their own band as they prefer to play live than recording studio albums although they jam all the time in the studio but they seem to forget to press the rec button so we can also enjoy their melodies. They’ve done it twice by releases two album, “Super Zero” (2011) and the great “Trip To Venus” that was released in 2019, just before the covid pandemic spread to the planet and putting live performances on hold so they also missed the chance to promote the album properly. The last time they played in Athens was in 2021 when they opened for Nightstalker at Technopolis, an open air event where all the fans were seated due to covid measures, I didn’t catch a ticket before it got sold out and I had to wait two years until I see the band live and this happened at the basement of Boiler bar.
“you are an animal riding a wave…”
The truth is that this is not a regular venue for concerts, the bar is ok but the gig took place in the basement, an area that can house a band with 30 or 40 fans but not 80 or more like this night that were there for The Screaming Fly. So, the fact that there no an actual stage but the band just plays in the corner makes things difficult for those who are not there early to stand front row. And if you get there you must forget of going to the bar for a beer or to the restrooms as from any other spot in the area you just listen to the band, you don’t see them.
Of course Screaming Fly’s music is ideal sometimes for listen to with your eyes closed, their set was short but they add those psychedelic elements into their garage rock that literally can take you away. It’s not just that of coyrse since they also have great energy and this comes out naturally and the fans can feel this, rhythm section is always on fire and makes you dance with them since Stasinos on bass had some clear warm bass lines and Kostas was super groovy on drums. But above all is Stefanos, he seems so dedicated to his guitar, he was really into it, especially during some of the solo but also when he was screaming out loud the lyrics.
The truth is that I was expecting to hear more songs taken from Trip To Venus album but they decided to play many new, yet unreleased, compositions, all of them were super interesting, which means sooner or later we will have some new material from them but also a new live appearance. The last album was there of course, the fans’ favorite “Animal” was great as expected but also my favorite, “Astro” that was an ideal closure for their set.
The Screaming Fly video:
® live report/photos/video: Konstantinos Mindcrimek Vlachos
