I was really fascinated for a headlining SOULFLY show as, beside that memorable early 90's concert of SEPULTURA in Greece back in the Arise tour, I had the chance to see Max Cavalera and his company only in festivals. What I realized after this concert is that, whether you see them headlining or supporting, it's more or less the same thing as their show is strict to 70-80 minutes long... but let's get it from the beginning...
This time I was heading for the venue alone and to my surprise I saw a good amount of people standing outside the club. Even if the pre-sale wasn't going so well at first the Greek metalheads were there to support, despite the expensive ticket. And yes, the decision to change the venue was right as this Toll 56 venue can make a power metal band sound like a brutal thrash one plus it's the perfect place for Lars Ulrich to record the drums for St. Anger 2!
After a long 30-minute (!) sound check INCITE decided to start their show and unexpectedly I liked them. The band that Cavalera Jr leads, plays a PANTERA Thrashcore style quite amusingly I should say! Even if Jr tries to sound a lot like Phil Anselmo, the whole project sounds cool and considering their young age I think we can expect from them a lot in the future. The band was energetic and Jr was asking for a pit all the time! The crowd enjoyed their 30-minute set and warmed up for the father to come... Watching the posters for the show weeks ago I saw the billing list SOULFLY + special guests + INCITE ....hmm...so where the hell were those special guests? I don't know guys about you, but I didn't see them anywhere! If you have seen them inform me on my e-mail address please! Seriously, I love this Greek way of doing things... it's the who's going to notice? attitude... professionalism baby!
So, after the incredible performance of the special guests it was about time for Max and SOULFLY to conquer the stage. 22:35 the show started. The band played a hell of a show; one track followed the other but suddenly at 23.45 they left! Hey, where's the encore? Not even a goodbye, a goodnight, or even a thanks a lot, see you next time. Really a disappointing attitude as many were left there just staring at the stage not believing it was over. Of course, in their 70-minute bomb-threat set they gave quite a show playing stuff from all of Max's heritage. I was very pleased to hear some NAILBOMB stuff like Wasting Away or Cockroaches! Max also never forgets to unleash some SEPULTURA shit (as he likes to refer to them) but this time there were no Roots Bloody Roots... instead Max decided to give us some hellish versions of Refuse_Resist, Troops Of Doom and a medley of Arise/Dead Embryonic Cells! Next day in Thessaloniki gig they even played Propaganda! Lucky you, guys of the North! Of course, there were a lot of SOULFLY's tracks from all of their career so far like Blood Fire War Hate, Eye For An Eye, Prophesy, Mars, Babylon, Back To The Primitive, Bring It and Jump Da Fuck Up. The band was in great shape, they even made a garage feeling jam with Children Of The Grave/Creeping Death and the nice sound they had helped them throughout their set. I still don't understand why they left the stage like that, though.
Leaving the concert hall, I was wondering if all this was worth my 35 euros. And the answer came out of nowhere as some metalheads were talking behind my back: If I knew it was going to be like that, I would save the money and adding 10 euros more, I would buy the summer festival ticket... I don't know how much money SOULFLY asked for the gig...I don't know about the traveling costs... I only know that this situation with live concerts in Greece is going beyond the average metalheads' capabilities.
5 WAYS TO ESCAPE THE VOID
STEP 1: Get a passport and a new I.D. immediately.
STEP 2: Book some airline_railway tickets.
STEP 3: Find a job in a big European country like Germany, Finland etc.
STEP 4: Convince your girlfriend and rest metalhead friends to join you.
STEP 5: Finally you can watch cheaper live shows with full stage show from the bands.
THANKS TO: Greg (for being Greg and still not coming), Elina (for no arrangements, wasn't it much easier this time?) and all the Metal-Temple crew (for supporting the voice of truth)
P.S.1: You thought it was over but it's not.
P.S.2: Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship or limitation. The right to freedom of speech is recognized as a human right under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
P.S.3: Shoot me again. I ain't dead yet. (METALLICA)
P.S.4: Freedom to rock, Freedom to talk. (ALICE COOPER)
P.S.5: Back has the pear the tale (a philosophical moment)
P.S.6(66): The editor has paid for the ticket so he is not serving anyone's promotional intentions.
