House of Lords and Robing Beck, were announced as a touring package, a while ago and while our hopes to get to see them in Greece, weren’t particularly high, a certain company just stepped in at the 11th hour of the tour being booked and decided to take the plunge and do in fact try and bring this package to austerity stricken and impoverished Greece.
It is a definite downer when you go to a concert and you find out, that while when you’re at a rock club which is jam packed of people, when a particular song comes up, by a certain artist, you’d see people “getting jiggy with it” – say, when House of Lords’ “I just Want to Be Loved” or Robin’s “Save Up All Your Tears” but an awful lot of those people that will still go out and drink and “shake it” would be mysteriously, absent from “being there” to experience the REAL THING! Things a few minutes before the gig was to start weren't particularly thrilling and a short delay was allowed to let people come in, which sort of did help things somewhat as indeed a few more people did arrive, by a quarter into the announced time. The club didn’t seem empty anymore, but in by no means was it full even to half capacity. At least everyone in attendance was there to have a good time and so were the bands/artists.
And so the party/gig begun, with House of Lords taking the stage, for god knows the third or the fourth time (?) in Greece, I’ve sort of lost count since I’ve seen them an extra couple of times, abroad too, haha, in the meantime… there was a bit of hubbub and a mysterious intro that soon revealed the opener to be no other than the beloved “Sahara”! James Christian, after his recent health scares, stood there in the middle of the stage, revitalized, slimmer, more youthful and in quite fine spirit form and voice, actually really channeling his much younger days… the sound wasn’t entirely perfect, a little boomy maybe which prompted James to ask for some adjustments, but it wasn’t too bad, to start with and by the 3rd song, everything was really running smoothly sound wise. Misters Chris Mcarvill and BZ Zamba on bass and drums respectively were laying down a solid foundation while Jimmy Bell was tearing it away on guitars. The band, instantly went to the other end of the spectrum, with the far more recent “Big Money” which might not be as classic as their oldies but it’s a good song.
Then we were told that the band had some stuff for sale, at the merch stall, but unfortunately not the latest album, (you can read a review here) that somehow got lost while the band was being transported between Spain and Greece, but the band would preview the opener from the said album “Precious Metal” by taking us, (into) “Battle”... OMG... I never thought that House of Lords, could sound so cool, bold or punishing in 2014. What an EPIC. A HYMN! “Cartesian Dreams” from the eponymous album, wasn’t bad by any means but somehow just did pale a bit in comparison. The awesome ballad “Love Don’t Lie”, another slightly “earlier” song, received a really cool response and it was then followed by the post reunion “Come to My Kingdom”, which is a fine song, from an album that I feel that quite unjustly received a lot of flak and “Permission to Die” which is another cut from the current “Precious Metal” Chris, then performed a short bass solo to allow his band mates a short breather/to refresh themselves and when they came back James was out and about with a glass of Greek wine, which he said, he thinks must be better than the Italian (and I think he is half Italian) and possibly among the better in the world, prompting the crowd to cheer him. I suppose, we have good “land products”... maybe it’s time to get “Rock Stars” to promote them... Imagine… I’m Gene $immon$ and this KISS FETA :P lol haha! Omg! Hahaha! “I'm Free” was what ensued and then the dynamic “Swimmin’ With the Sharks” also lifted from the very “precious” latest album got an airing too, balancing out all the slower moments and the sort of slowdowns.
James picked up a No-body guitar for “Can’t Find My Way Home” a Blind Faith original, but he couldn’t find a powerline for this electracoustic, which was kinda funny! After a little madness the unplugged another and plugged that one in and the rendition was nothing sort of stunning!
“Rock Bottom” and “S.O.S. in America” weren’t bad but just could not antagonize the crowd reaction that “I (just) Wanna Be Loved” got, James really took the time to really tell a little story about how the song was written and then the band tore it up! A certain highlight of the evening! “Pleasure Palace” as well could not be any lesser urgent in its performance and it was a real crowd pleaser as well. JB was then left alone for a quite extensive guitar solo that wasn’t that much sensational, but it was quite flashy in terms of execution and quite precise and impressive in terms of execution and speed. Finally “Slip of the Tongue” was the closer and the band was hailed by the adoring crowd, that however didn’t get its way for yet another encore.
All in all the Lordies did very well in my book.
After a slight break, for the band to prepare and wind down (as most of them would also serve as Robin Beck’s backing band, delivering a second set) and with the addition of JSS guitarist (Jorge Salán) and with hubby James Christian taken over the bass duties, the little diva took the stage and proceeded for the next hour and a half to bombard us with a barrage of hits, with no apparent desire to let us go home, before we were rocked out, completely! She was warm and friendly and honest and giggly and honest and the banter and jokes in between songs, really served as a delightful interlude really. A very few people, from some sites, seem to have been rubbed of the wrong way and made silly remarks, not being able to flaw the performance really… but those people, are probably the same kind of people that will feel uncomfortable in their own underwear after ten minutes if they don’t have something to complain about.
As mentioned earlier, the lights dimmed and a short intro played and Robin begun her virgin journey of Greece, with “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)”... everything was sort of fine, apart from I suppose the sound levels, which were kind of low for the vocals, being the “First Time”, first night of the tour and first song, that’s easily forgiven, with a few tweaks at the mic pack, the levels were adjusted and as soon as Robin was all warmed up as well, by the second or third song that is, the vocal delivery got to an almost flawless, almost album perfect level, which is just amazing!
With the vocal levels on the rise “Don’t Lose Any Sleep” got a really warm welcome from the crowd and Robin too was very responsive as well to the crowds’ adoration.
“Hold Back the Night” dropped the pace down one, or several notches being one of the many perfect ballads that this great lady of rock has performed throughout the years! Again a mini-triumph. Now being a bit of a “naughty girl” Robin, ordered an Ouzo, asking for what’s the traditional Greek drink, that a lot of people from the crowd as well as James were sort of advising her NOT to drink as it’s HEAVY stuff, see did proceed to take a couple of swings, behind his back, cheekily and told us that she loved being here and that he first boyfriend ever and the man that actually set her into becoming a pro musician, was an American of Greek extraction (I didn’t quite catch the name really) and just to introduce the next song that originally is a duet between her and JLT, who plays the same club next month (by all means go and see him) she said that, that was a song that she did when see had some thoughts about packing up and hitting the road :P (cheekily probably) “That All Depends” (on what you do tonight) followed, a rather nice mid tempo rocker from “The Great Escape”… which Miley (errr) Robin followed, with her version of “Wrecking Ball” the smashing opener from last year’s superb “Underneath” album (read the review here). It's a nice song, but probably because of it’s sort of slightly off beat chorus, it didn’t translate 100% as it should have, without it being butchered of course...
After that Robin did an exclusive that I think is sort of dedicated in the memory of a dear close person to her that recently passed. She said it has not been on any album and she wanted to know how people liked it. “Wish You Were Here” is an acoustic ballad, that might be rather plain but it’s deep and heartfelt and it needn’t be anything more than that to be moving. I found it really great.
After that there was time for a bit more of shenanigans between the “couple”, with more cheeky antics and a little adoring kiss at the end, before Robin told us that James is “The One”. I really love that song from “The Great Escape” and I think it could really be big in marriages etc.! I’d definitely use it! “Save Up All Your Tears” followed. And well who can argue with anything pulled from “Trouble or Nothing” really? Fantastic song, got a fantastic response! It was unfortunate, how everything in between was completely ignored as Robin does indeed have some nice albums, in there, but I guess, those are “deep cuts” and most people would assume a wtf is this face if she performed some of that. Talking about the “The Great Escape” well, the title track got an airing to mixed reactions I guess, as it’s apparent that not everyone, over here got this great album, which is a bit of a shame, really.
Since everyone in the “band” had done a solo and to allow Robin to also freshen up a bit as well BJ Zamba was also given some ample time to perform a drum solo (c’mon what would a show be without one!) and without being Ken Merry, whom after having seen solo (with House of Lords) I had said sth like: “Damn, those are the best non – female legs I’ve seen”… (talking about the legwork of his drumming of course!) with his handiwork not lacking either – well he did a fairly good job!
Robin returned for the rather girly rocker “Catfight”... which didn’t really connect with the crowd and is not really one of my favorites, although I must say it translated better on stage than what it does on record. The time had come for lighters to go up again for “Tears in the Rain”, one of them “signature” Robin Beck tunes and she did a fine job, by delivering a really stunning rendition of this really hard and amazingly sentimental song. “Love Lies” would be the last song to be aired during “normal time” and it got a fair reaction, but nothing compared to the previous one.
Robin “disappeared” shortly and then re-emerged holding a bottle of Coca Cola, asking us if anyone was celebrating any special occasion… (like a birthday etc.) there was a couple that had an anniversary that night and they were brought on stage, where Robin signed the bottle and gave it to them, wishing them to live happily and prosper etc. Obviously it was time for “First Time” and Robin shortly explained the story of how the song came to be, before delivering a flawless version of her no1! Obviously the crowd totally adored every minute of it as they did It when the band broke into the multi covered “Hide Your Heart” that Robin, I must say, does one of the most impressive versions of, with almost the entire club rushing to the forth and singing every line.
As an epilogue to a nearly perfect night “Follow You” was aired and the band took a bow and left, leaving us all (apart from the promoter – I would imagine) very happy indeed. Both bands stayed for nearly two hours afterwards to take photos and sign autographs.
A great double bill – great performances and a really warm friendly atmosphere was prevalent there at Kytarro club in a celebration of a great group and a great solo artist. It’s just a bit of a shame, that a lot of people did not share the sentiment or just could not make it. It just means that the chances to see some of these artists in the future will be far less and lesser in between. Apparently it’s the same old tune and dance here and people love it that way. Sad. But I am not sad at all having been able to see Robin again for a second time after Firefest and House of Lords for I can’t really remember which time this is! Glorius!
And so the party/gig begun, with House of Lords taking the stage, for god knows the third or the fourth time (?) in Greece, I’ve sort of lost count since I’ve seen them an extra couple of times, abroad too, haha, in the meantime… there was a bit of hubbub and a mysterious intro that soon revealed the opener to be no other than the beloved “Sahara”! James Christian, after his recent health scares, stood there in the middle of the stage, revitalized, slimmer, more youthful and in quite fine spirit form and voice, actually really channeling his much younger days… the sound wasn’t entirely perfect, a little boomy maybe which prompted James to ask for some adjustments, but it wasn’t too bad, to start with and by the 3rd song, everything was really running smoothly sound wise. Misters Chris Mcarvill and BZ Zamba on bass and drums respectively were laying down a solid foundation while Jimmy Bell was tearing it away on guitars. The band, instantly went to the other end of the spectrum, with the far more recent “Big Money” which might not be as classic as their oldies but it’s a good song.
Then we were told that the band had some stuff for sale, at the merch stall, but unfortunately not the latest album, (you can read a review here) that somehow got lost while the band was being transported between Spain and Greece, but the band would preview the opener from the said album “Precious Metal” by taking us, (into) “Battle”... OMG... I never thought that House of Lords, could sound so cool, bold or punishing in 2014. What an EPIC. A HYMN! “Cartesian Dreams” from the eponymous album, wasn’t bad by any means but somehow just did pale a bit in comparison. The awesome ballad “Love Don’t Lie”, another slightly “earlier” song, received a really cool response and it was then followed by the post reunion “Come to My Kingdom”, which is a fine song, from an album that I feel that quite unjustly received a lot of flak and “Permission to Die” which is another cut from the current “Precious Metal” Chris, then performed a short bass solo to allow his band mates a short breather/to refresh themselves and when they came back James was out and about with a glass of Greek wine, which he said, he thinks must be better than the Italian (and I think he is half Italian) and possibly among the better in the world, prompting the crowd to cheer him. I suppose, we have good “land products”... maybe it’s time to get “Rock Stars” to promote them... Imagine… I’m Gene $immon$ and this KISS FETA :P lol haha! Omg! Hahaha! “I'm Free” was what ensued and then the dynamic “Swimmin’ With the Sharks” also lifted from the very “precious” latest album got an airing too, balancing out all the slower moments and the sort of slowdowns.
James picked up a No-body guitar for “Can’t Find My Way Home” a Blind Faith original, but he couldn’t find a powerline for this electracoustic, which was kinda funny! After a little madness the unplugged another and plugged that one in and the rendition was nothing sort of stunning!
“Rock Bottom” and “S.O.S. in America” weren’t bad but just could not antagonize the crowd reaction that “I (just) Wanna Be Loved” got, James really took the time to really tell a little story about how the song was written and then the band tore it up! A certain highlight of the evening! “Pleasure Palace” as well could not be any lesser urgent in its performance and it was a real crowd pleaser as well. JB was then left alone for a quite extensive guitar solo that wasn’t that much sensational, but it was quite flashy in terms of execution and quite precise and impressive in terms of execution and speed. Finally “Slip of the Tongue” was the closer and the band was hailed by the adoring crowd, that however didn’t get its way for yet another encore.
All in all the Lordies did very well in my book.
After a slight break, for the band to prepare and wind down (as most of them would also serve as Robin Beck’s backing band, delivering a second set) and with the addition of JSS guitarist (Jorge Salán) and with hubby James Christian taken over the bass duties, the little diva took the stage and proceeded for the next hour and a half to bombard us with a barrage of hits, with no apparent desire to let us go home, before we were rocked out, completely! She was warm and friendly and honest and giggly and honest and the banter and jokes in between songs, really served as a delightful interlude really. A very few people, from some sites, seem to have been rubbed of the wrong way and made silly remarks, not being able to flaw the performance really… but those people, are probably the same kind of people that will feel uncomfortable in their own underwear after ten minutes if they don’t have something to complain about.
As mentioned earlier, the lights dimmed and a short intro played and Robin begun her virgin journey of Greece, with “If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)”... everything was sort of fine, apart from I suppose the sound levels, which were kind of low for the vocals, being the “First Time”, first night of the tour and first song, that’s easily forgiven, with a few tweaks at the mic pack, the levels were adjusted and as soon as Robin was all warmed up as well, by the second or third song that is, the vocal delivery got to an almost flawless, almost album perfect level, which is just amazing!
With the vocal levels on the rise “Don’t Lose Any Sleep” got a really warm welcome from the crowd and Robin too was very responsive as well to the crowds’ adoration.
“Hold Back the Night” dropped the pace down one, or several notches being one of the many perfect ballads that this great lady of rock has performed throughout the years! Again a mini-triumph. Now being a bit of a “naughty girl” Robin, ordered an Ouzo, asking for what’s the traditional Greek drink, that a lot of people from the crowd as well as James were sort of advising her NOT to drink as it’s HEAVY stuff, see did proceed to take a couple of swings, behind his back, cheekily and told us that she loved being here and that he first boyfriend ever and the man that actually set her into becoming a pro musician, was an American of Greek extraction (I didn’t quite catch the name really) and just to introduce the next song that originally is a duet between her and JLT, who plays the same club next month (by all means go and see him) she said that, that was a song that she did when see had some thoughts about packing up and hitting the road :P (cheekily probably) “That All Depends” (on what you do tonight) followed, a rather nice mid tempo rocker from “The Great Escape”… which Miley (errr) Robin followed, with her version of “Wrecking Ball” the smashing opener from last year’s superb “Underneath” album (read the review here). It's a nice song, but probably because of it’s sort of slightly off beat chorus, it didn’t translate 100% as it should have, without it being butchered of course...
After that Robin did an exclusive that I think is sort of dedicated in the memory of a dear close person to her that recently passed. She said it has not been on any album and she wanted to know how people liked it. “Wish You Were Here” is an acoustic ballad, that might be rather plain but it’s deep and heartfelt and it needn’t be anything more than that to be moving. I found it really great.
After that there was time for a bit more of shenanigans between the “couple”, with more cheeky antics and a little adoring kiss at the end, before Robin told us that James is “The One”. I really love that song from “The Great Escape” and I think it could really be big in marriages etc.! I’d definitely use it! “Save Up All Your Tears” followed. And well who can argue with anything pulled from “Trouble or Nothing” really? Fantastic song, got a fantastic response! It was unfortunate, how everything in between was completely ignored as Robin does indeed have some nice albums, in there, but I guess, those are “deep cuts” and most people would assume a wtf is this face if she performed some of that. Talking about the “The Great Escape” well, the title track got an airing to mixed reactions I guess, as it’s apparent that not everyone, over here got this great album, which is a bit of a shame, really.
Since everyone in the “band” had done a solo and to allow Robin to also freshen up a bit as well BJ Zamba was also given some ample time to perform a drum solo (c’mon what would a show be without one!) and without being Ken Merry, whom after having seen solo (with House of Lords) I had said sth like: “Damn, those are the best non – female legs I’ve seen”… (talking about the legwork of his drumming of course!) with his handiwork not lacking either – well he did a fairly good job!
Robin returned for the rather girly rocker “Catfight”... which didn’t really connect with the crowd and is not really one of my favorites, although I must say it translated better on stage than what it does on record. The time had come for lighters to go up again for “Tears in the Rain”, one of them “signature” Robin Beck tunes and she did a fine job, by delivering a really stunning rendition of this really hard and amazingly sentimental song. “Love Lies” would be the last song to be aired during “normal time” and it got a fair reaction, but nothing compared to the previous one.
Robin “disappeared” shortly and then re-emerged holding a bottle of Coca Cola, asking us if anyone was celebrating any special occasion… (like a birthday etc.) there was a couple that had an anniversary that night and they were brought on stage, where Robin signed the bottle and gave it to them, wishing them to live happily and prosper etc. Obviously it was time for “First Time” and Robin shortly explained the story of how the song came to be, before delivering a flawless version of her no1! Obviously the crowd totally adored every minute of it as they did It when the band broke into the multi covered “Hide Your Heart” that Robin, I must say, does one of the most impressive versions of, with almost the entire club rushing to the forth and singing every line.
As an epilogue to a nearly perfect night “Follow You” was aired and the band took a bow and left, leaving us all (apart from the promoter – I would imagine) very happy indeed. Both bands stayed for nearly two hours afterwards to take photos and sign autographs.
A great double bill – great performances and a really warm friendly atmosphere was prevalent there at Kytarro club in a celebration of a great group and a great solo artist. It’s just a bit of a shame, that a lot of people did not share the sentiment or just could not make it. It just means that the chances to see some of these artists in the future will be far less and lesser in between. Apparently it’s the same old tune and dance here and people love it that way. Sad. But I am not sad at all having been able to see Robin again for a second time after Firefest and House of Lords for I can’t really remember which time this is! Glorius!
