Ελληνικά
The hometown gig of the Fabrika Fest tour started with our own favorite duo of Selofan. A thing constantly on my mind when I attend a minimal synth, dark wave, etc concert is that usually the experience doesn’t add anything to the similar one of listening to the music at some dark basement through the PA. I happily couldn’t be more wrong. The atmosphere was already starting to get heavy with that church candlestick on stage, the dark room and the singer’s unique appearance (something like having Vivienne Westwood dress a young blonde Nina Hagen). The duo performed perfectly the songs like a choreography, changing positions, instruments, even welcoming a guest (all of you having seen their music videos know what I’m talking about) without missing anything from their music. At the same time the video wall which accompanied them harmonically (splendidly at points) added a further level to their performance. Being only superficially familiar with their music, the impression they left me was the best possible and as the future proved, they didn’t lack anything from the rest of Fabrika Records’ family. Here I want to comment, a thing that’s true for all performances, that the sound was excellent and added much to the night’s great mood.
Second followed our neighbors, hailing from Turkey and highly loved, She Past Away. The duo came on stage to a full venue which they treated at least nerveless. The Turk Robert Smith and his companion seemed fairly depressed, maybe because they were the night’s darkest act. For at least half of their set my original though about the whole experience came back. It was then that they played their hit song and definitely one of my favorite songs, “Kasvetli Kutlama” where everything changed. I don’t know if it was my immediate mood change or if it had to do with the excessive enthusiasm coming from the audience or if this enthusiasm fueled the band to do their best, maybe all at once, but from that moment on the duo was like appearing before my eyes for the first time and I have to say that I haven’t such a good time in a concert in a long time. They humbly said that they were going to play for the first time a new song for us and to judge them lightly. Before they climbed down the stage they told us in Greek that they loved us, they thanked us and said goodbye.
Next in line was the last duo for the night, Lebanon Hanover from Germany. They definitely take a place on the playlist of every alternative DJ of the capital. The audience was waiting passionately and became ecstatic when the bassist appeared onstage wearing his eccentric red suit. They also started kind of nerveless accompanied with some sound problems the guitarist experienced, however creating a slightly more personal and gentle touch comparing to the previous. A special moment was surely when Selofan’s bassist played his saxophone with them on stage for a song. Gradually they led the audience to the wanted emotional tension to finish us off with the one and only “Gallowdance”. This was only the beginning. After an intense demand they are back on stage, the bassist without his bass now, transformed to a different band. The synths were in charge and the whole room fell into a rhythmic frenzy. The stage presence of the now appointed frontman was unique when like a strict Ian Curtis with hyperactivity disorder owned the stage. It was definitely a highlight of the night that led to a second encore. In the end while in a friendly atmosphere, the 6 protagonists of the night went on stage and bowed at us before their exit.
