Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 11:19 PM by Lilliana Tseka
Seen through the eyes of their drum tech.
Dodheimsgard’s performance in Greece came out of nowhere, four years after their last performance in Gagarin. It’s a band loved by the Greek audience.
Everything started on Thursday evening, when I left my job earlier than I should, took a taxi heading for the airport of Sofia and then travelled to Athens, anxious about whether I’d manage to take the last bus on time for Syntagma, since many strikes took place that night. I got there on time and took a cab to Keramikos. The first faces I saw in the hotel were Vicotnik’s and Aldrahn’s along with 108 from Gospell Of Grief, whom I last saw in 2011 in Gagarin, again with DHG, when we opened with Enshadowed and he with Gospell. After the typical handshakes and hugs, I left my luggage in Sekaran’s room, a room we would later share. We headed to Menudo Bar, a small bar for something like this, and even though nothing was announced, many familiar people showed up. We had a blast with the guys from Enshadowed and Unholy Ritual. We used to play together somewhere in time. The Norwegians had their glasses constantly full, while there were a lot of funny moments and photographs with the fans. At a point, a guy showed up, holding the entire DHG’s discography, from demos to albums and booklets, so the band signed everything.
At 07:00 and everyone wrecked from the wild evening, we returned to the hotel. After an hour talking to Vicotnik about the party and Sekaran playing drums with everything he could, the nearby hotel rooms were annoyed, so at about 08:00 we went to sleep. I guess the band needed it.
We woke up at 15:30 and the first word that came out of Sekaran’s mouth was “gyros!”. We headed to Fuzz. The time passed as we built Sekaran’s “castle”; everything needed to be set with excellence. That was one of the reasons why the gig kicked off late. Full of sweat, we sat to wait for the performance. Some of the die – hard – fans were already there, along with the guys that popped by at Menudo the previous night. A strange thing that caught my eyes was the fact that apart from the booze, no water was available in the backstage.
In Athens the gig started late. Despite the low pre – sale, Fuzz was packed. About 600 people attended.
Shibalba were the first to go up on stage, after a few problems with the sound. Ritualistic dark ambient was their sound. I heard mostly negative comments about their performance, even though I enjoyed the whole thing. Maybe the crowd expected something else, maybe the delay combined with the long – duration tracks caused some frustration. I don’t know. The atmosphere was astonishing.
Thy Darkened Shade, who received many praising words the last months, went up on stage. From what I’ve heard this was their first gig ever or one of their first performances, anyway. I guess many people wanted to see them perform. Their performance was tight despite the problems with their sound during their set. Nice Scandinavian black metal with an incredible voice that spits out fire.
It’s 12 o clock and the stage is empty, waiting for the main act to fill it. The band did a brief line check and suddenly the lights went out and the classic intro with the oriental – Indian elements was heard all over. They entered with “God Protocol Axiom”! Chaos… Their setlist was decent even though a few tracks were left out (they performed them in Thessaloniki). “Crystal Specter”, “Vendetta Assassin”, “Ion Storm”, “Architect of Darkness” and “Traces Of Reality” were some of the best moments of the night, despite the problems with the sound. I was near Sekaran just to be sure, as I needed to assist him 1 or 2 times. I assisted Vicotnik as well, as we lost the sound of the guitar. Ten minutes later we found out that the problem was lying in the guitar knob. Sometimes, amidst the stress and the tension, you forget to check even the most obvious stuff. I remembered that in 2011 in Gagarin, when a guitar was changed in its strings, we were looking for the output jack for 5 whole minutes.
I listened to a variety of comments about the bands performance. They fluctuated between “they were awesome” to “the worst performance ever, it sounded like a rehearsal; overpriced ticket for such a let-down”. Indeed, there were some mistakes and the band could have performed better. Maybe the previous night’s party and the long delay had something to do with that.
What I liked was the fact that the band was down to earth, despite their history and the glorious status they have all these years. They finished their set and spent a few hours with their fans, taking photos and signing autographs.
Intro
God Protocol Axiom
En Krig A Seire
Symptom
Crystal Specter
Vendetta Assassin
Midnattskogens Sorte Kjerne
Architect of Darkness
The Paramount Empire
Ion Storm
When Heavens End
Traces of Reality
Outro
After the crowd started leaving the venue, the few moments of relaxation and the last fans taking photographs, I began packing the drum kit. Cymbals, hardware and drums should be gathered and marked for the next show in Thessaloniki, just to save some time.
Before going to bed, we had to visit the Greek temple of food for some gyros. After a good meal, we slowly headed back to the hotel. We woke up at 08:30 and without breakfast the band went to the train station and I was able to steal an hour of sleep before going to Thessaloniki by airplane.
After 1.5 hours in the subway, the delays and the 1 hour flight, I arrived and headed to the venue. Even though it was 16:30 and we had to get ready neither the band nor the backlline had arrived at the venue.
A little later the first ones arrives and headed straight for gyros (what else?). Right after we started setting up, which took us less time this time. The check was better too and the support acts followed.
I was impressed by a group of fans who had driven from Skopje and a lad who came from Turkey via Mytilene!!! I introduced everyone to the band and everyone was so happy. That’s something that you don’t see oftenly!
Kult of Taurus were sick! They delivered nice hellish tracks, with a drummer stealing the show for my point of view. An amazing band, on which I should lay my hands asap.
Agnes Vein were in the exact opposite end, with lengthy compositions but with very nice sound and their own crowd following them singing the lyrics and headbanging. It was a very good show even though I didn’t manage to enjoy it a lot because we had to get ready with DHG.
DHG climbed on stage around 12 o’clock, with 200 people shouting. After the line check, the classic intro was heard through the speakers and panic began manifesting with “God Protocol Axiom”. The setlist was the same with Athens’ plus 3 encore tracks that weren’t played in Athens because of the delay.
Is it because the stage is closer to the fans? Is it because I’ve experienced more the crowd of Thessaloniki? Is it because Thessaloniki’s crowd is more embracing? Is it because the delay didn’t spoil the crowd’s mood? The crowd seemed closer to the band, while this intense feeling was not felt in Athens. There was moshing and headbanging, especially in “Ion Storm”, “Crystal Specter”, “Traces Of Reality”, “The Snuff That Dreams Are Made Of” and “Sonar Bliss”. Aldrahn was probably in better shape and Vicotnik with Sekaran seemed more comfortable and relaxed. The band’s performance was also much better. At the end of the gig doom prevailed. The band spent the rest of the evening with the fans while I started packing the drum kit under the sounds of Pantera, Megadeth, Death and everything else that was in DJ’s mind. Before and during the gid I had some time to talk with the band more. Vicotnik gave me some information on how some of the records were recorded while Aldrahn talked to me about what he’s preparing for Thorns (YES) in the near future. Sekaran had fallen asleep on the sofa in the loft of the venue while greeting the crowd! Lars on the other hand was the most low-key person in the band. An amazing player with very nice ideas on sound and a colleague, after all… We spent some time talking about technical issues. I should check INI asap! So should you!
Intro
God Protocol Axiom
En Krig A Seire
Symptom
Crystal Specter
Vendetta Assassin
Midnattskogens Sorte Kjerne
Architect of Darkness
The Paramount Empire
Ion Storm
When Heavens End
Traces of Reality
Outro
The snuff dreams are made of
Bluebell heart
Sonar Bliss
After several beers and relaxing, waiting to go to at 4:30 to send the band to the airport, from there they would fly to Athens, then to Copenhagen and finally to Oslo.
It took Stamos, from the organization, and me, at least half an hour to find the hotel which was at the airport somewhere between Perea and Thermi … Once found I went to sleep. In the morning I woke up and I was in the middle of nowhere into something fields. After gathering some info, I managed to take the bus and the road back.
A very beautiful experience despite the fatigue, with nice folks, that I hope to repeat in the near future! I’ve met a legendary band that accompanied me since my childhood, I saw friends I had not seen for 4.5 and 10 years, and I over enjoyed it.
Touched by the devilish ones!
