There are two lessons I learnt after the exciting performance of Swiss legends KROKUS that night: a) you can never beat the mentor - no matter how 'popular' GOTTHARD and other clones may be in today's world - and b) bands like KROKUS may not play (strictly) Metal but are strictly Metal, if you know whatcha mean...
The gig - as always - had a 'fine' delay. The An Club venue was 75% packed with old-school Hard rockers at the time the lights went dim. Prior to that, the basic topic of the chattin' going on around was why the hell did this legendary band had to come to Greece after 30(!) whole years for the first time. Well, another topic was if they were going to perform their anthem hit Tokyo Nights, which I already knew they would not eventually play (as usual, don't panic; they know). The players climbed on the stage and - as soon as Marc Storace entered, too - the first notes of Long Stick Goes Boom shook the place. A very good 'electric' sound proved to be the best weapon for the AC_DC-meets-SCORPIONS-meets-ACCEPT style of the band; a band that recently released its x-th album Hellraiser. It's weird that no original member of the 31-year-old band is now featured in the lineup - Marc Storace sang for KROKUS in the monumental 1980's Metal Randez-vous album for the first time - but, anyway, he is considered to be the leader for many years now (I wonder where Von Arb is by the way...). Familiar figures from the rest of the team summed it up to Mandy Meyer (guitars, ex-GOTTHARD / ASIA / KATMANDU / COBRA) and Stefan Schwarzmann (drums, ex-U.D.O. / ACCEPT / RUNNING WILD / VOICE), who both proved themselves to be rather 'lethal' for the appetite of the band towards the thirsty crowd.
Not forgetting the fact that this was the first time for KROKUS was in Greece, the anticipation was high enough but - somehow - the night was very promising from the very first notes of - as pre-said - Long Stick Goes Boom. The quintet's setlist featured many tunes from their latest Hellraiser album, including some bombers like the same-titled cut, Too Wired To Sleep, Fight On and Midnite Fantasy. Storace's voice was extraordinary, his attitude was completely '80s Metal' and his behavior towards the banging crowd was classy. Mandy Meyer's playing was perfect - he even had time to joke around with the crowd in the middle of his virtuosity - while the 'killing machine' named as Stefan Schwarzmann has obviously metal-ized the band's groove 'formula'. Not bad, I guess...
As for the old shit, few are the words that can describe the feeling received. Screaming In The Night, Bedside Radio, Easy Rocker, Headhunter, Eat The Rich (the last track off a good setlist), Bad Boys, Rag Dolls, Rock City, American Woman (the GUESS WHO tremendous cover) and Rock 'N' Roll Tonight created superb emotions on a set of spectators consisting of ages 18-50. Watching the reaction of 40-year-old guys raising their fists in the air, 'picturing out' juvenile hardrockers with their mouths open wide due to the outbursting energy, and the conclusion was drawn at sight. Yeap, if it also was for the inclusion of some other classics like Winning Man, Fire, Stayed Awake All Night and (most of all) Tokyo Nights we'd be talking 'bout an unbelievable gig. At least, ending the show, Storace was honest enough to apologize for not knowing how much the specific song meant to us in order to rehearse it in prior. Thanks for the petite a-capella offering, uncle Marc!!!
Easy, easy Rocker - Always on the run - easy, easy Rocker - together we are strong...who can write such lyrics nowadays (well, the last fifteen years)? KROKUS has and will always be the brand for the hard 'n' heavy way of living. No offense for the rest. Just try to live Hard Rock and Heavy Metal music the way you listen to it. And don't forget to dig back into the originals, so as not to get fooled by imitators. Vivid rockin' songs have no 'end' date. The same goes for KROKUS. Thank you!
