review by Dimitris Theodoropoulos

all photos © by Dimitris Theodoropoulos

[The public use of these photos  is strictly prohibited without written permission]

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live in Thessaloniki - 17.01.2004

The Antidote

It was the third time in three years that Moonspell visited Greece for a live show and their fans were there once again. Maybe not as many as the previous 2 times but since the band wasn’t promoting any new material the 500 people who went to see them this time was a good number I would say.

            The support band was Ethereal Blue from Greece and they were promoting their first album which is currently out by the French label Dead Sun Records. They play melodic death metal with some clean vocal fills in some parts of the songs. Their singer has a great voice and his performance was a bonus to the whole band’s appearance. Their songs had this complexity and aggressiveness that won the crowd’s applause. The guitar riffs were very interesting and the song structures showed that the band had worked a lot to achieve this point of almost excellence. Look out for them and get their cd if you come across it, you won’t be disappointed!

            Moonspell came out with In and above men from their latest album Antidote and what a great opener this song turned out to be… everyone is jumping in the crowd and the band gives out their best to the fans. The show continues with From lowering skies and then with the all time Moonspell classic Alma Mater and everyone goes crazy! Once again the song was not performed in its entirety, the last sing-along part was cut, I don’t know why the band doesn’t play it anymore, they didn’t play it last time either. Nevertheless, no one seemed to care much about that (except me!) and the band continued with Vampiria. It was time to witness to darker side of Moonspell’s music and this song is always a pleasure to hear live. After Nocturna the next two songs were from Antidote, Southern deathstyle and the hit Everything invaded. Everything invaded was much shouted from fans and I heard many cries of joy in the crowd when the band started playing it! Abysmo, Wolfshade and Mephisto followed all played with much energy and passion from the band and when Fernando announced the next song, Fullmoon madness real madness could be seen in the crowd. This song has so much more to offer to the listener live and Fernando sang it with special passion. My personal favorite was next, Opium and as it seems I was not the only one going nuts about this tune! Cheers to the guys in the mosh pit. The band had something special up its sleeve for the encore of the night. They did Awake off their Irreligious album and then the surprise of the night… they played Tenebrarum from the bands very first release Under the moonspell! That was surely a big surprise! The last song of the night was Capricorn at her feet and thus ended another great concert of Moonspell in Greece.

            The band was once again excellent, powerful on stage, Fernando was theatrical wherever needed (not as theatrical as on the 2002 tour though) and Ricardo served us with his killer riffs. The band’s new bass player is very active on stage and headbangs like a manic all the time! In the crowd there was Sakis from Rotting Christ and Fernando dedicated a song to him but I can’t remember which one it was. Fernando also talked about Greece beating his country team, Portugal in the Euro 2004 and it was a very funny situation with some fans who had brought to the gig banners from the game! Another great night offered by Moonspell. Let’s hope they bring out another killer album like Antidote and visit us again!

Dimitris Theodoropoulos

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