Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 12:11 AM by Nikos Nakos
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, brothers and sisters, mother fuckers everywhere, let me introduce you The Spacelords!!!! The widely known… The Mighty Monster Magnet! A band that has been loved by the Greek crowd for many years so far. Since the times they went full – throttled to be a super band. Since that times when the video clips had extremely expensive productions and the times when the stages were full of sins! Even though all these have come to an end and underneath that glamorous wrapping lies the true essence, thankfully that essence is pure! Despite the fact that their career isn’t similar to the one Guns ‘n’ Roses or Metallica had, Magnet have managed to withstand the course of time and still keep standing high 26 years later… That’s proven by the gig we enjoyed recently. As natural, after “Cobras & Fire” that was released last October, a supporting to the album tour was booked. However, I recall being surprised when I firstly saw the poster with the 4 kicking albums. I couldn’t believe my eyes… The spacy “Superjudge”, the liberating “Dopes To Infinity”, the smashing “Powertrip” and my all-time favourite “God Says No”. The reason? The re-release of the record by A&M. I was looking forward as a child to attend the gig, trying to figure out what the setlist would be. The tour kicked off at March 8th and would last until April 3rd, having as last stops Athens and Thessaloniki. Thankfully, Mr. Wyndorf never forgets us… But, since I couldn’t wait for that to happen, I saw them in Germany a few days earlier. Just to warm things up! The gig was indeed a good warm-up, so when the band came to Athens I knew what to expect. I had my reservations, though, because Greece was in the end of the tour, when usually the bands are too tired from all the gigs, but they proved me wrong! Fifteen favourite tracks that steal your breath and electrify the atmosphere. “Crop Circle” and “Powertrip” for starters. Exactly what was needed to lift our spirits. Mr. Windorf is an amazing frontman, as always!! The rocker God Dionysus with his intoxicating presence, seduces the crowds even if a thousand years go by… “Melt” and I literally began to melt… One of the tracks I wanted to hear and hoped to be included in the set was “God Says No”. Suffocating atmosphere. The audience went wild as Phil Caivano made love to the strings of his guitar. Many times I found myself isolated from the rest and concentrated on his solos. “Superjudge”: Yes! I needed to hear this… To liberate our minds and feel like little gods. “Twin Earth”: dynamic, yet monotonous. If it wasn’t included in the set it would be a huge loss. “Look to Your Orb for the Warning”: and the spacecrafts began arriving (To the spaceship that’s parked at your doorstep And it’s waiting to take you away now). A track that the band has highly honored in its gigs. Unarguably the best moment of the gig was the spaceships approached ready to suck us and take us to another dimension. “Take me to the sunspot, now I wanna go home”. “Dinosaur Vacuum” has a strong essence found in the spacemen Hawkwind. “Cage Around the Sun” to calm the spirits and catch our breaths. And then again mr. Wyndorf gave us goosebumps, “Tracktor”: overly – played but it still holds tight to its groove. “Dopes To Infinity” and the venue was hot! Ecstacy and awe! And what was next? “Space Lord” of course. The track that rocketed Monster Magnet’s career. One of the 90s hits. Last year I was complaining about the fact that this track was always the last one on the set… However, this year, it wasn’t the least one. They somehow “covered” it and kept it interesting. Many “rare” tracks followed, like “I Want More” and “Face Down”. For closure “Negasonic Teenage Warhead”, one of the top three tracks of “Dopes…”. The hellish orgy was over, god Dionysus was again human and I was lucky enough to exchange some words with him. I had the feeling that he was interested in my opinion, as part of the crowd. Even though I’ve never interviewed him because I know he gets bored with this kind of stuff, he did sit with me for a small talk. I complained about the setlist at first, saying it could be different. He admitted that he wants to play tracks that are known to most of the attendees of his gigs. Moreover, when I said that I wanted to listen to more tracks from “God Says No” he told me that it wasn’t one of his best music moments, even though I clearly disagree with that. I told him that seemed strange to me that the band didn’t tour for the “Cobras & Fire” and that no reference was made to that during the concert. I have not started touring for this album, he said, I also want to make a psychedelic tour, but I do not know if my promoters will allow it. Usually they ask me to play loud tracks. I agree with the promoters: the concerts’ purpose is to have fun!! I even like Tab-25 but you have to be in a certain phase to listen to it. It’s not made to be played live. My counter proposal was for the band to make a garage tour. I told him that I have a list of garage Magnet tracks: “Kiss Of The Scorpion”, “Dead Christmas”, “19 Witches”, “See You In Hell”, “Baby Gotterdamerung”. He looked at me with that child’s sparkling eyes and said: This is exactly what I’d had in my mind. “Kiss Of The Scorpion” needs to be played live again and I think is the best track from “God Says No” album. Of course the reference to the recent death of Lemmy couldn’t be left out from our conversation. A symbolic presence left … so what was left to rock n roll? Iggy! That’s what he said! Okay, I’m not that crazy with his solo career but Stooges rocked! I couldn’t help myself so I asked him about the terrorist attack in Brussels, when they were heading there and I expressed my fear about thoughts of cancelling the tour. Angrily, he replied that the aim is precisely to make us terrified, but we won’t give in!!! So Stay tuned, Magnet believers, for the shows coming next. They’re very interesting…!!!
