LIVE REVIEW: Selofan + Kaelan Mikla Live in Athens 22-04-2017

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: