

On Saturday 22 April (just one
week after Easter) Selofan gave their much anticipated annual show in Athens,
presenting their brand new album "Cine Romance". As expected, the
band performed in a full house with Kaelan Mikla opening the gig.
Much like their previous concert a year before, Selofan
separated their show into two parts, joined by a small "closed
curtains" interval in between. They performed songs from their previous
albums as well as the new album, in an almost 2 hours substantial set.

Again, the duet gave great care in visualising the songs
onstage, with the aid of a crow-masked fake violinist, a muted plastic sex doll
dressed in black trash bag (like the singer Joanna), a trash bag containing
fake human body parts, the well known fake snake, a human-like candlestick
skull, a red balloon released to reach the venue's ceiling, and a burning
orthodox church censer at the start. Two baskets of "kollyva" sachets
(Orthodox Christian candy offered in memory of the deceased) were handed to the
crowd during the show, whereas a basket full of red roses distributed hand in
hand by Joanna herself at the end.





Musically, the duet gave their well-established perfomance:
Joanna singing and dancing, while Dimitris accordingly plays the bass, the
synths, the saxophone, or even hammering a huge metal plate (that was a new
challenge!) and then Dimitris taking over the main vocals, while Joanna focuses
on the synths.





Best moments of the concert were mainly the perfomance of
the new songs, especially the commanding yet mincing "La Industria Del
Sexo" sung in spanish, or "Cellophane" a sad discomforting song
(as Joanna correctly admitted), performed at the very end, but also
"Alone" accompanied by an infuriated intense perfomance by Dimitris.
In conclusion, watching Selofan live is always a thrilling
experience, because they manage to perform a show full of interesting
wide-ranged elements, both musically and visually, which apart from being
memorable, really add up to the band's whole artistic output.



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But what also made this night truly unforgettable, was
Kaelan Mikla, the female band originating from Iceland and part of the Fabrika
Records family, who opened the gig.

First time appearing in front of the greek audience, Kaelan
Mikla did really well and confirmed that they are talented and special. Even
when some unexpected sound problems occured at the very start of my personal
favorite "Synir", the band managed to smoothly overcome the problem
with great calmness and concentration, which must be rightfully recognized.



The three young girls manage to create a whole icy
atmosphere onstage, aided by the blue lighting and Soffia's vocal treatments
and hypnotic body moves. Their heavy depressive sound owes big to Margret's
bass sounding, who really dominates the stage set, a perfect counterpart to the
little, fragile yet threatening Soffia, who performs in a very self-expressive
way, barefoot and always standing on her toes while singing. Finally, all
sounds and effects come from mastermind Solveig in the synth section, who was
dressed in a pink eye-catching outfit for the show.

Kaelan Mikla did an almost 1 hour set, performing songs from
their only self-titled album released on Fabrika Records last year, including
favorites like "Synir", "Kalt", "Myrkridkallar",
and the magnificent "Glimmer & Aska", but also some new ones.
Definitely a band to watch out in the future!
Enjoy some videos from the gig:
REVIEW: STEFANOS STAVRIDES
PHOTOS &VIDEOS : MARILIA FOTOPOULOU
Categories:
LIVE REVIEWS
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