My relation with PARADISE LOST has the same attribute with the self- titled poem of Milton. I must confess that I prefer the first moments of this, occupied with Satan since the other with God are too boring without interest. This is the way I feel with this band from England, focusing more in their past works than the recent ones. Despise that I was curious about this live. The previous gig that supposed to be done in Thessaloniki was canceled cause of health problems that Nick Holmes had with consequence of a little limitation of the set-list. The other fact that surprise me a lot is that the 80 per cent of the audience had nothing to do with metal; strange enough if we recall these days I mentioned before making PARADISE LOST Death Metal band. This is a bonus for the Yorkshire men and a conductor for more people coming to our circle but we must also say that is a little disappointing hearing the Gothic song for example and around you existing only people scratching their heads.

The support band that started this live was a local one, named MENCEA that I cannot say they satisfied me. Exploring the music Terra walked by bands like OPETH, IN FLAMES or DARK TRANQUILITY the group failed to touch the below people for three reasons. First, their music had nothing to do with preferences of the audience, making me believe that it was not the best choice for them supporting a band like PARADISE LOST. The second one was that their music despise some labyrinth develop and structure was too boring since their basic stones (riff) were just mediocre. Added to that were some sound problems that eventually disorganized them upon the stage.

After a short break, the headliners PARADISE LOST hit the stage. As we mentioned before, they had to postpone the show in Thessaloniki (Greece) the previous day, as Nick Holmes was seriously ill and unable to perform. So, all the fans in Athens were anxious to see in what form Holmes was. The band came out and you could see Aaron Aedy and the other guys, with a big smile on their faces. The band started the show with their new hit from their latest album In Requiem, The Enemy, with the metal fans in the first rows where I was, screaming each word from the lyrics. The sound was much better than the last time I saw them. Unfortunately, Holmes wasn't in full shape, and anyone was able to see it. His voice was sometimes buried and during one or two songs I could hear some pre-recorded vocals. Two or three times, he literally gave the microphone to the fans to sing, since his voice was not good at all. If we leave that behind the overall performance of the band was very good. The fans, responded to everything Holmes said and most of them had a great time. Most of the songs from the play list, were obviously from their last album. The bad thing was that we listened to almost the same songs as the last time. When they performed As I Die, I was ecstatic. I know that many of you will disagree with me, but it is one of the best songs this band has ever composed! Awesome song and lots of headbanging from all the fans.

Mackintosh didn't stop the headbanging, and Aaron too! The most humorous part of the show was just before So Much Is Lost; tt was something like this: Nick: And now a song from our album Host Fans were standing still. Nick (being indignant) Oh for fuck's sake!!!!!! Just after the song, when the crowd applauded, he said something like See, you are clapping now!. All of us lived sensational moments with Enchantment and Never For The Damned, as Holmes gave everything he got. And of course we are happy that we had the opportunity to listen to Gothic two times in only six months period! The bad thing was that some people in the crowd were just sitting, not knowing the song, since the new fans are not all of them metalheads.Unfortunately, they didn't play a second encore, as Holmes's voice got worst. Also, most of the people in the crowd were expecting to listen to more songs from the Draconian Times album. But as I wrote earlier, that was a concert to promote In Requiem and Nick had health problems.

Overall, it wasn't the best shows of our beloved band PARADISE LOST. For many guys, with whom I chatted after the show, they said that it was below average, since they played for only 70 minutes with no changes from last times playlist. But, as far as I am concerned, it was a relatively good show taking into account the circumstances. Maybe it would have been better for the band to cancel the show; but even then, the same guys would say that they didn't play for other reasons and not for Nick's health. Hope to see them again, with another playlist.

PARADISE LOST setlist:
The Enemy
Ash And Debris
Grey
No Celebration
So Much Is Lost
As I Die
Praise Lamented Shade
Enchantment
Requiem
Unreachable
One Second
Encore
Never For The Damned
Erased
Gothic
Say Just Words

MENCEA photo

PARADISE LOST photos