Panos: In February XANDRIA announced that they will do some live performances with their original singer Lisa Middelhauve , who agreed to temporarily return just for these shows. Three live dates were confirmed: two in Greece and one in Russia. So, their live show in Athens was a unique event for their fans since it was going to be probably the last time that they would be able to see XANDRIA live with Lisa Middelhauve. The show in An Club was supposed to start at 20:00 but us usual in most of the live shows in Greece there was a delay and the doors did not open until 20:20. By that time there were at around 50-70 fans waiting for the live of XANDRIA and the support bands FALLEN ARISE , SADDOLLS and BARE INFINITY to start.

Panos: At 20:40 the newly formed Greek metal band FALLEN ARISE started their live performance. The band during the 30 minute show played mostly their own songs combining clean male and female vocals. In the middle of their set they also added a Metal cover of the well known pop hit "Every Time We Touch" of Maggie Reilly to the appreciation of the audience. However, throughout their performance the sound problems were many. We could not at all hear the bass guitar, the drums mostly in the start were too loud choking the other instruments and there were many microphone effects and various other annoying noises. The band had a couple of good ideas and I hope to see them again live after they work much harder to improve and with less sound problems.

Panos: Then it was time for SADDOLLS to take the stage at around 21:20. The gothic rock / Metal band from Greece has released in October their good debut album "About Darkness" so as it was expected they focused their set on it. Their music, which is influenced by DEATHSTARS, HIM and maybe a little pinch of PARADISE LOST, was appreciated by the fans, who really enjoyed their live performance. In their 30 minute show ,in which there were only a few minor sound problems, SADDOLLS had energy and performed their songs ,such as "Misery" and "Watch Me Crawl Behind"(for which a music video was created), in excellence including a cover of DEATHSTARS "Death Dies Hard", from their latest album "Night Electric Night". This was a good performance, from a band with good potentials. I really hope to see more of them in the future.

Harry: Having seen BARE INFINITY a few times, I knew what to expect as the gathered crowd did. So, it was easy for the band to take almost everyone in the club, with them. With an above than average sound, they played songs from their full length album, "Always Forever". The band was in very good form, with a very good and professional appearance on stage. And of course we have to mention Angel, -BARE INFINITY's frontwoman- her beauty and mostly her voice that gave that extra to the band. Their atmospheric Metal was nothing innovative (what is innovative in our days after all?) but it had nothing to be jealous of from other European bands. The only thing I didn't like was that at some points, there was an awkward silence from the bands side, between some of the songs. Nevertheless, it was a nice performance from BARE INFINITY that, I think, can do even better in the future. But the time has come for us to see XANDRIA for the first time in Greece and the last time with Lisa being the voice of the band.

Harry: First of all, I have to admit that I was never a fan o XANDRIA. I knew their music but that's about it. But surely after this gig, they won me not as a die hard fan but as a person that really respects their work and attitude. The four of them came on stage, after a small intro, with "A New Age". Their fans sang along almost every word of the lyrics, showing that despite there were only 70-80 people, they were ready to have a great time with their beloved band. What was a big surprise for all of us, was that Lisa said "thank you" in Greek. But she didn't stop there. She was talking in Greek for almost 2 minutes without making a mistake in grammar or a syntax error. I was speechless by her ease with the Greek language, since this was her first time in Greece and she was in my country for only a day! The sound during the first couple of songs wasn't he best, since we couldn't hear Lisa's voice, something that was fixed quickly. She also preambled most of the songs by telling a small story, like the one before "Snow White" that I can remember. She said that the first thing that you learn from a language, are the "bad" words. Like the one that learned when she came to Greece. So, she said that "…there is the word (she is saying a German word that I can't pronounce), meaning a whore, slut, bitch… "Snow White"…". The most emotional moment of this gig, was when was singing "Eversleeping", a song that she said that she loves. And probably she was telling the truth, judging by her tears.

XANDRIA performance was full of little moments that I need more than two pages to write them down. As Panos wrote, this was one of the three last shows of Lisa's with this band, so it was inevitable not to have some touching moments, among the ones that we all laughed, band and fans. It was a live show that I didn't expect much, but ended up to be a show that I will remember for quite a while.

XANDRIA setlist:

"A New Age"

"Now And Forever"

"Emotional Man"

"Snow White"

"Ginger"

"The Lioness"

"On My Way"

"Eversleeping"

"Salome"

"Fire Of Universe"

"Fight Me"

"The End Of every Story"

"Darkness"

"India"

Encore:
"Firestorm"

"Ravenheart"

"Black Flame"

(photos by Harry)