Ελληνικά
Saturday 07.04.2015.
The third part of the anniversary Rockwave Festival is a reality, with bands of rock, electronic and of course heavy metal background. Given last year’s failure, but also given the country’s economic situation, the organizers’ choices for this year’s festival seemed safe but however let’s not forget its celebratory character. Beyond any musical preferences, honestly, all 7 bands performed from very good to fantastic -with the exception of Electric Litany, which were completely (personally speaking) different from my aesthetics and musical preferences, so I cannot express any opinion about their act.
Judas Priest need no introduction. We don’t need referendums to prove how dear the band is to the Greek crowd. On the other hand, the low turnout is a result of the miserable economic situation and austerity our rulers (of 40 years) have driven us to. You wouldn’t expect to see less than 10.000 people, while simultaneously you wished your thought to have been proven wrong. Those searches for flaws and trying to catch Halford on the act of making a mistake or thinking he’s got no voice or he’d struggle, then please get the fuck out. Yes, it took him a while to warm up. Yes, he is old. Yes, he tried to catch his breath. Yes, he had some help with effects. So what? The Metal God had us for breakfast. Professional, splendid, kept the crowd pumping with his voice and his performance and OF COURSE his high pitched screams.
Having watched the Priest perform for the 3rd time (it’s my second with Halford on vocals) I’m convinced that the greatest weapon the British have is their own songs. If you got “Breaking The Law”, “Painkiller”, “Livin ‘After Midnight” and … many other arrows in your quiver, it’s only logical you’ll have victims. Apart from Rob the Giant, Travis is a war machine on drums while unsung hero Ian Hill stands on the edge of the stage making space that’ll fit of others’ egos. Same way Tipton makes room for Richie Faulkner, something that needs a special mention, who (the latter) naturally cannot walk on K.K.’s shoes but he has brought freshness and an energy on stage corresponding to the one Nibbs Carter had brought to Saxon in the early 90’s. All I say is that Tipton puts Priest above everything else; at least that’s what I’ve noticed the many times I’ve seen them live. Same thing happened in 2001 with Ripper and in 2003 with Halford again, and also now with the young guitarist. He honestly reminds me of great Steven Gerrard, who in Liverpool’s sake he made room for Suarez, Owen and others all these years so that the team would be a protagonist.
Priest began with “Dragonaut” and honored the mediocre “Redeemer of Souls” with the title track and “Halls of Valhalla”, which objectively sounded better live and became one with their old classics. Furthermore, we listened to “Hell Bent for Leather”, “The Hellion / Electric Eye”, “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin ‘”, “Metal Gods”, “Devil’s Child”, “Turbo Lover”, “Jawbreaker” and “Beyond the Realms of Death “.
Before that Rotting Christ were deified by the Greek crowd which is open-minded and doesn’t put labels on bands, headbanged to the black-metal-ish sounds while wearing a Prodigy t-shirt. The crowd loves the sound of Rotting Christ enriched with heavy metal riffs and ethnic elements, and is neither the first nor the last time the tie between the crowd and Sakis is proven. We listened to “CHXS”, ” P’unchaw Kachun – Tuta Kachun “, “Athanatoi Este”, “When Daemon Self”, “In Yumen – Xibalba”, “Grandis Spiritus Diavolos”, “Nemecic”, “King of a Stellar War”, “Societas Satanas” (Thou Art Lord) ,”The Sign of Evil Existence”,”Χαος Γένετο (The Sign of Prime Creation)”, “Noctis Era”, and closed with the classic “Non Serviam”, with a little child who climbed on stage with his father stealing the show.
In Terra Stage, before Rotting Christ, we watched the leader of Kyuss, John Garcia. A very good performance, with the hot sun blendin with the whole setting and the Sabbath-inspired riffs. The set list we heard had many Kyuss tracks of course (and we liked that) while Garcia’s passion and his powerful performance were in the highlights of the day. “Gardenia” and “50,000 Miles” were the best moments of his appearance.
Maplerun was the second group that climbed on the festival’s small stage and I am sure that despite their mediocre sound (in some tracks) they didn’t disappoint their fans since the energy and the quality of their compositions can prove it. Our splendid day opened with Exarsis, whose excitement for being a support act to one of their heroes, was evident from miles away. They performed well, with loads of energy and enthusiasm despite the crowd’s small presence or the fact that it was still early in the evening. Retro old school thrash and bullets under the hot sun. 45 minutes with “Toxic Terror”, “Abnormal Generation”, “Brutal State” from what I remember and for closure “Under Destruction”. The timing was wrong but since they left us with good impressions, everything is ok. Besides, it’s still soon for them to play in later hours in such festivals.
