“Our winters are filled with summer” is a saying in Greek ad but in reality the only thing that warms us during winter is good music. On cold Saturday night a nice gig took place at Six d.o.g.s where we saw THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND performing live their new album “The Recurring Trip Of…”. GOD IN A CONE was the opening act.
“I see the hunger in your soul…”
The weather prediction scared some people for upcoming snowfall but we went downtown anyway. A few minutes after 20:30 doors finally opened and the fans started to fill the venue, right on time to grab a drink from the bar since it was the first night we really felt the cold in Athens. The interior arrangement of the venue makes you feel like been in a regular cozy bar. There was also a merchandise stand in a corner where you could buy the two albums of the headliner, where the beautiful artwork of the vinyl covers was a joy to admire.
It was 21:20 when the lights fell on stage for the opening act which was GOD IN A CONE. I wasn’t familiar with his work but it didn’t take long to realize this is a solo project of Nikos Marinos (Madleaf, Slitherum) who started to sing over some electro pre-recorded drums that gave a dance mood in many compositions while he was adding some synths here and there. His vocal style varies, depending on the composition so at times he sounded like an 80s goth rock singer while some minutes later he had no problem to rap, ok not that he was throwing rhymes freestyle but I was still trying to accept those “yo” of “God In A Cone”. The thing is that his fans in front row was having great time and they were reacting with enthusiasm with songs like “Pistola”. The truth is that although I found it quite interesting I was started to get bored but “love the enemy” (a song with some great vocal bridge) and here we go, Nikos called “the guys with the stringed instruments” on stage and the gig leveled up once more. With the help of Hawaiian Nick (Madleaf, Human Asteroid) and Sotiris Kouvopoulos (Iola 11) the puzzle was laid out since guitar and bass gave what seemed to be missing until that moment. For closing he kept the dancing “Silent Nation” but at that time God In A Cone had already won the attention of everyone in the venue so none of us had any problem he played an extra song with the guest musicians (“Hard Day On The Moon”).
live video GOD IN A CONE:
God Is A Cone setlist:
Agrypnia / god is a cone / pistola / love the enemy / beddrug / a land without an end / we need to vocode / mamanian the vigilante / silent nation / hard day on the moon
It took about twenty minutes for the necessary rearrangements on stage so at 22:25 THE WEATHER UNDERGROUΝ were ready. We knew already from the poster that this was a release show so it was no surprise they focused on the great new album “The Recurring Trip Of…”. Of course they added numerous songs from the past and their debut album “The Sad Story Of…”. At first there seemed to be some kind of a problem with the sound levels, I thought it was the spot I was standing but nothing really changed when I tried different corners. Later I learnt that their sound engineer couldn’t make it to arrive so it took some time until the venue’s guy managed to reach their stage needs.
The Weather Underground play a guitar driven rock that is based on the 90s alternative indie rock. Their songs are great to listen to when you travel, something that is connected with the lyric theme of the album anyway. Dimitris Mitropoulos (guitar, vocals) seemed kind of anxious on stage and in general the group at first was kind of cagey but they quickly founded their footing (John Mavromatakis and Vasilis Kioupis were steady on drums/bass but also Konstantinos Aliferis on guitar) although they were lucking some of the energy you usually expect from a rock band when they play live. But it doesn’t really matter, the most important thing was that the songs we like were there for us to enjoy, hopefully not on the same order of the album which would be predictable in a boring way. After all when we attend a concert we do it to taste some familiar songs, to feel and live the moment and not to get trapped in a never ending analysis like we tend to do when we write a live report after a show. Because that way we are missing the point, which is no other that to take from any kind of art the experience of the moment…
live video THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND:
The Weather Underground setlist:
rambler / my muvee / gray apple / family / dancing in the water / black Christmas / drop / stranger / the stuff that matters / respect(is what you hear) / junior / balance therapy / clock / return / neon night riders
® report/photos/video: Konstantinos Mindcrimek Vlachos
