Leftover Crack playing in Greece, that is big news. Unfortunately the gig was in Thessaloniki (that’s 500km from Athens) so I didn’t know if I was going but some friends were going so I decided to tag along. I’m glad I did, not just because it was a really good show but also because it was a good punk rock weekend. It involved us 10 kids taking the train and making a big mess in it, hanging around in a really kick ass city, going to a terrific show, crashing at some girl’s house that most of us didn’t even know (at 5am), looking for the local punk record shops (and find nothing) the morning after and falling apart on our way back on the train again. But anyway, let’s talk about the show.
The show was taking place inside the campus of the city’s university at an open air space with trees and lots of grass to lay down and rest. We went early so we had time to hang around. The show started around 11pm (tradition has it that all shows in Thessaloniki start after midnight so it took me by surprise that it started so early). First band to play, Ass’s 9 Days: I’m not sure what’s going on with this band, I knew that they shared some members with 63 High (they also shared a split cd) but I thought they were disbanded. It seems that they’re back. They played a small set of good and fun punk rock songs with some ska touches. Good start to get people moving.
Next to play were 63 High, a ska (with horns) band from Thessaloniki. Last time I saw them live was more than a year ago and although I’m not into ska-punk anymore I remember that their shows are really good but I wasn’t prepared for this! The band is up to standards with many well known (diy and major label) ska bands. They have songs with complicated compositions, fun and uplifting, played really well and the band’s performance skills are seriously high. If you are into that music, check them out! Oh and they played a Morning Glory cover.
Next band, Vodka Juniors. They are playing for a many years now and they are one of the most active greek bands. They recently released a double cd with mostly acoustic stuff but their show was based on their older fast punk/thrash style. They are known for their adrenaline driven performances and this one was no exception. The crowd went crazy since the majority of the kids that showed up are into the skateboard and new-school punk lifestyle and VJ are known to have a strong affect on them.
[now that I think of it, Vodka Juniors might have played before 63 High but I can't rememeber and it doens't really matter]
After VJ it was time for the main act, Leftover Crack of course, which I guess need no introduction and as soon as they started (already wasted) the place went crazy. All the favorite tunes were squeezed in their hour (or so) long show. They seemed to enjoy it, the people enjoyed it for sure: good tunes, lots of dancing, small (and some times longer) talks in between the songs by their frontman Stza, some slogans against the police from everybody and before we knew it they finished their set. At this point unfortunately lots of people started leaving although there was one more band on the bill to play. I know it was late, 3am maybe, can’t remember but still, stay till the end people!
Anyway, the next band to play was one of the main reasons I decided to drag my ass to Thessaloniki for the show. Bad Trip is a magnificent band from Thessaloniki and their music is closer to what I’m listening lately than any of the bands that played that night. It’s hard to describe their music. Here are some tags that will come close to what they play: Post-rock, post-hardcore, post-metal, Neurosis or Pelican like music, dark, doomy, emotional and much more. Just google “badtr1p”, go to their myspace page and listen to them. So when they started playing most of the people had either already left or were laying down on the grass and only a few people were in front of the band. But as they kept playing more and more were approaching. Stza (Lectover’s Crack singer, totally wasted by that time) went up on the “stage”, took the mic and did some screaming vocals for their instrumental music. I don’t know for how long they played but they did play most of their songs I think, which are pretty long anyway. Their music was the perfect soundtrack for the closing of the night which left 1 or 2 hundred kids, that stayed till the end at 4am, strolling around the university campus.
Some last things. I know that it cost alot of money to fly Leftover Crack from Germany and back and since it was a free show and there was no box for contributions I hope that the money from the drinks were enough to cover it. Unfortunately there was no distro around, just the LoC merch table. No riots broke out (another tradition at gigs taking place at the university of Thessaloniki). And overcrowded trains with closed windows and no a/c are no fun.
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