Orange Goblin Live Report From Athens

Saturday night was going to be a stoned one…The giants of stoner rock, Orange Goblin were confirmed to play in Athens 5 years after their first appearance here.. The venue was An Club, an underground place that fits perfectly with the underground character of the band: heavy rock, horror movies, booze and maybe the feeling of being totally wasted…An club was full packed and everyone was really waiting for this show. Also the merchandising seemed to be very busy , many persons were interested in material from Orange Goblin .

The first band Lucky Funeral was into sludgecore with an impressive stage appearance and an” in your face” attitude. Sounds from Pantera music and an image that refers to the modern  model of a citizen that is into the decadence of the Western civilization  : beer, TV, junk food. The whole image of the band was paying tribute to this human model without criticizing this but considering it as an ideal way of life. The use of this model is being transformed in lyrics and sounds through the band’s  attitude.

The second band, Lord 13 has been a brand name in the rock scene of Greece. They are quite professional on stage and it seems that have influences from mainly hard rock bands such as Guns N Roses or other Glam punk acts. Really cool performance…

When Orange Goblin came up, the fans were really enthusiastic…maybe almost ecstatic! Time has left the marks at the members cause they‘re not teenagers anymore but they really live their rock n roll way of life regardless of their age and of course that’s good.  The singer was jumping around, full of sweat, beer and fun so he was wiping the audience along with him. The audience was replying to the band’s calling with stage diving, slam dancing, flying shoes, and psycho attitude in general. The live sound was rougher than the alums, so the most atmospheric moments of the album were gone and were replaced by bombastic drums and distorted guitars.  I guess that the fans got what they wanted…