It was the first day of April, which means... April Fool's Day. Fortunately, the live performance of the prog heroes PAIN OF SALVATION was not some kind of a trick. When I got in the club, I saw that it was full of people waiting for the main act, but also having fun and headbanging with the two support acts. At least there were much more people than the CATHEDRAL gig, where only 300 metalheads were there to see the Doom legends. Anyway...
When I got in the club, POEM had already started their set and I managed to see only a few songs. I think that they played for about 30 minutes. Their music is something between Progressive Metal, Alternative Rock and with some Grunge elements. They were pretty good and when they got off the stage, the crowd rewarded their appearance with nothing more than some well done and yeah screaming.
The next act was WASTEFALL. The Greek Progressive Metal band that has already made many great moves and has managed to break the Greek borders. They played songs from their early works like their Soulrain 21 (2004) and Fallen Stars And Rising Scars (2003) albums, as well as stuff from their latest full-length effort, Self Exile (2006). Their performance was incredible and the band was really passionate on stage. Their music resembles much to PAIN OF SALVATION's and especially the singer's voice reminds of Daniel Gildenlow. Even though the audience seemed to enjoy WASTEFALL's aggressive, yet melodic Progressive Metal style, I didn't see many heads banging out there. The only thing the band earned (although the singer kept screaming to the audience that this isn't the real audience Athens has, regarding the reactions), was a warm applause and some screams after the end of their set.
The lights faded out, pure silence was the only thing that could be heard (not that pure silence can exist in a club that hosts a live show, just an expression) and everyone was waiting for the - in my humble opinion - last prog heroes on this scene. Once some time passed, the crowd kept yelling to see if they could make the band hit the stage a bit earlier. After a small delay (the band got on stage after 45 minutes after WASTEFALL), Daniel Gildenlow and his mates were on stage to prepare us for a journey through forests and lakes, through time and space. The band seemed to be in a great mood right from the start. They started their show with Scarsick and America, two songs from their latest album. Everything seemed more than perfect and the band's complex rhythms and flowing melodies were turning the club into a place where every soul was lost into some kind of spiritual trip. We all know that this band's work is something more than simple music. The continued their set with songs like ! (Foreword), Nightmist, Ashes, Undertow, Chain Sling... To cut a long story short, the set list was something more than incredible, satisfying every single fan. The band played for about an hour and a half and left the stage. Of course, we didn't believe their set was over and we started screaming the classic we want more phrase. The band was convinced to get on the stage for one last time to play Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Cribcaged (which comes from Scarsick) and Used. The band finished playing, and thanked us for the great night. This time the applause was not just from the crowd, but also from the band that seemed grateful for that great night.
Some last things that deserve to be mentioned was the disco-mosh with Disco Queen, where everyone was dancing and singing. One more interesting fact was when PAIN OF SALVATION played Differentia with much more distortion and no orchestra parts as they said. I think that this version deserves much more headbanging than the original!
All in all, it was a night I will never forget. PAIN OF SALVATION's live performances are something more than just a bunch of musicians playing some songs. I have to warn you people and this goes out to everyone who still hasn't attended a PAIN OF SALVATION live. You HAVE to see this band live! Get your ass and go see them! They really know how to make people have fun and make them think some things, too. If someone left Gagarin disappointed, he really has a big problem.
