Saturday night and I?m standing outside the Underworld Club along with a bunch of metalheads. As usual, the doors didn?t open at 8:00 pm (the programmed time), but around 8:30. Everyone started heading for the door forming a queue in order to get in.
I walked into the club heading straight to the bar in order to drink a cold beer and relax until the show started. As I took my place behind the PA, I took a look at the place, which in my opinion isn?t the best possible for such kind of live appearances. Three Heavy/Power acts in a Goth club? Pretty strange, huh? However, after some time had passed, Bloodstained got on the stage to start the show...
The Greek Power metallers hit the stage performing their raw and fast set. Bloodstained are a band that no matter what, will make you want to enter the pit and start a merciless headbanging. Unfortunately, the audience didn?t seem to mind at all and was cold as ice. Anyway, they played some songs from their debut album Greetings From Hell (2004) and some brand new stuff from their upcoming album. They gave a really dynamic performance with a singer that was screaming his ass off, a guitarist and a bassist that did a great work regarding the backing vocals (and the music of course) and a drummer that was a beast behind his drum kit. Bloodstained tried to have direct contact with the crowd but as it seems the atmosphere wasn?t the best possible. Even when they played Bloodstain, they asked the audience to scream along We rule the night. Only a few voices could be heard, and I was surely one of them!
Dream Weaver were the second band to get on stage. They managed to attract the audience?s attention with their melodic Heavy/Power approach. They were the band that made the crowd get warmed up. I noticed many people singing along the lyrics. Passionate enough, they delivered a great show of pure and authentic Heavy Metal. With a new drummer in their ranks, Dream Weaver didn?t have any problem making some heads move up and down! The sound wasn?t the best possible but they didn?t seem to mind at all. They just kept performing full of energy and appetite for a nice Heavy Metal show. Skilled musicians that surely gave us a taste of what was going to follow...
As the atmosphere was way better, it was time for the reunited Grim Reaper to take over. For their first time in Greece, they were ready for a night of Metal mania! Some of you may recall the fact that See You In Hell (1983) had sold 250,000 copies and had reached the 73rd position in the American charts. So, this historical and cult band had a small problem. They didn?t seem to bother. What if the drummer had a broken arm? As he said, he felt like a dick so he would play along. As I witnessed, he did pretty well! I just came up with a question. Will these guys ever get bored? Tired? They just keep rocking hard, really hard! They truly set the stage on fire!
They started with the Heavy Metal hymn Rock You To Hell. Pretty hot for a start! Lust For Freedom was the second track they played and the climate was very warm with almost everyone singing along. They continued with one more masterpiece from See You In Hell, ?Wrath Of The Reaper?. The show was really turning into a party coming straight from the 80?s. ?Rock Me Till I Die?, Fear No Evil and Dead On Arrival fucked my voice. Maybe I was screaming as loud as I could! My voice got fucked up but this didn?t prevent me from singing Matter Of Time; screaming actually. After having a voice similar to Zakk Wylde, I enjoyed Wasted Love and I was standing there wondering where the fuck my favorite track was. And there it was! The next one! See You In Hell was played live in front of my eyes! I just couldn?t believe that I was witnessing this track played to its pure perfection! After saying goodnight, Grim Reaper were about to leave the stage when the crowd started begging for an encore. Could they leave just like that? Rock You To Hell was played for a second time and everyone was singing, headbanging and... Hell yeah!!!
The show ended and... Shit! Back to 2006. I am really happy to have attended this live. The reaper visited Athens to take some souls. Fortunately, he got carried away by Grim Reaper(as 400 other metalheads) and spared our lives. Everyone had a hell of a good time. As for everyone who missed the show, I don?t think you?ll have the chance to see these Heavy Metal titans performing in Greece ever again...
