Rockwave Festival 2009 – Day 1
Cabaret Balkan is a Greek band that mixs mainstream pop / rock sounds and Balkan music from Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, etc. When the entered the stage , the crowd didn’t know what to expect but it seems that at the end of the day, CB influenced the crowd to dance from oriental music to traditional Greek music. The use of brass instruments is the strong point of the band, people went crazy with this ethnic atmosphere.
Avin Geffen is an artist known from his contribution at Blackfield, so he’s known to the Greeks. The audience really enjoyed his show and the similarities with Placebo was an extra for Avin. He also showed his” no war” attitude by dedicating a song to a girl from Iran and send out the message to all the war masters above the word “You can suck my huge dick”…the funny comment turned on the audience and their reactions were very positive.
Gogol Bordello is not a band but a traveling circus! It was obvious that almost all the audience was there for these guys.. The sound has many influences from traditional Hungarian music, ska , dub , punk, etc. The ethnic feeling of the band along with seeing them jumping around the stage was a real entertainment for people. Later we also saw cheerleader ladies singing, dancing with the band and masked singer (not someone from Slipknot!). The long hair singer looks like Frank Zappa, so all the people were commenting on this fact and were laughing but sure really appreciated the show of the band.
Moby’s music is a crowd pleaser for everyone, dance beats along with ethnic and classic rock influences. The band of Moby was only women except him and the drummer: there were 2 ladies in violin, one lady in vocals and also a female bass player. The setlist of Moby was based on his previous 2 albums so the mainstream audience already knew the words and the music. Unfortunately Moby faced problems with the sound because he couldn’t hear what was going on the stage, also when he started playing solo with his guitar realised that the guitar wasn’t plugged in! The humor and his love for the Greek public helped him getting over these issues and continuing with super hits such as “Lift Me Up” and “Feeling So Real”. After Moby’s departure from the stage, everyone had a smile of satisfaction on his face about this efficient performer.
Placebo were at Rockwave because everyone wanted them, there were only Placebo T-Shirts around you and the female fans were waiting to cheer for Brian! The sound of the band was really clear, I could hear all the instruments without noises and Brian’s voice was perfect. Behind the band, there were screens with a visual show influenced by the lyrics of the band and not only, images from the ancient Greece had a place in this visual show. It looked like you were in the screen of MTV and living inside…The setlist was based on known Placebo hits but the crow wasn’t really excited until songs from the previous album were played and Brian waked up the crowd with his show. Then the show went on as a part of great chemistry between band and people, Placebo remain a brand name in this country and their performance was a perfect proof.
