The 200 people that gathered at Temple
Athens on Saturday 22nd of February were fortunate to witness a rare
demonstration of pure gothic rock. Two bands that shared the stage, gave
fantastic performances in front of a passionate crowd. I consider us Athenians
to be very lucky, having been given the chance to see The Nosferatu (who reformed recently with their original founding
members) perform their second only live show here in our city. The band that
supported that night was none other than Opened
Paradise, the leading gothic rock act in Greece.
OpenedParadise
stepped onto the stage precisely at 9:30 as scheduled, starting off with "Senseless"
from their debut album "Occult". With them was their new member Gregory
(of post-punk / darkwave band Anima Triste) on second guitar. They continued
with "Reverence" from their second album "Buried In Rain"
and then with a nice selection from their discography, with "Deep Waters",
"We Burn The Sky" that was played with great dynamic, "Leaving
Dreamland" a personal favorite of mine and "Omega", a track from
their EP "Tides". The band gave a really good performance, with great
sound, delivering their heartful goth rock with singer Periklis dominating
center stage delivering his passionate vocals. The songs "Sin" (a new song), "Visions Through The Circles Of
Chaos" followed, closing their set with "Upon The Vast Universe".
TheNosferatu, were interviewed recently by Die Seele,
prior to their live appearance here, telling us about the reasons of their
reformation. At exactly 10:30, punctual like true Englishmen, the four band members
Louis DeWray, Vlad Janicek, Rob Leydon, Chris Clark with backing vocalist
Anastasia Resurrection started slowly appearing on the candle lighted stage,
taking their positions, before launching into their set with "Alone".
Immediately we were transported back to the early 90’s! From that first song we
knew that we would be witnessing a very long overdue show by one of the iconic
gothic rock legends of the 90’s Goth scene. Before we could catch our breath,
they played us their ultimate hit "Dark Angel" with its
characteristic heavy guitar riff. When playing this we saw the first human
tower made in the audience, a goth tradition amongst diehard fans. They continued with the slower and beautifully romantic "Crysania". Singer
Louis DeWray, wearing black shades, sung perfectly with his tortured
heartbroken voice, moving with gentle moves, floating to and fro on the stage
covered by the smoke. His fellow band mates, Vlad Janicek on bass, in true
vampiric garb, was on his right and guitarist Rob Leydon (know also from his
band Red Sun Revival) was on his left.
At this point they played us some new
songs like the heavy "Demonicus" and the more atmospheric "For
Eternity" and "Soliloquy", a song played for the first time
live. Older tracks followed, such as "Abominations" from the album "Legend"
and "Rise", "Vampyres Cry", "Lament", "Siren"
from their legendary debut album "Rise" released way back in 1993.
The band performed the old classics as they ought to be, true to their original
form, backed by the great drumming of Chris Clark and the siren like backing
vocals of Anastasia. They ended their set perfectly with "Close".
After a short break, where they
introduced their band members and thanked the crowd for their warm welcome
reception, they played for an encore the songs "Inside The Devil", "Lucy
Is Read" and "The Wiccaman" leaving their fans surely satisfied.
Review+Photos:Nick Drivas
Categories:
LIVE REVIEWS
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