Devon Graves, Live @ The Drugstore, Athens, Greece, 8/12/2012

Devon Graves, Live @ The Drugstore, Athens, Greece, 8/12/2012

The first time that I heard Devon Graves (AKA Buddy Lackey) in a record was a little more than 15 years ago. The record was “A Social Grace” by Psychotic Waltz, a real masterpiece of music. The band was not active at the moment so, it would be a wild dream to think that in 15 years from then I’d have seen Devon not one, but three times live, with Deadsoul Tribe, Psychotic Waltz and as a solo artist.

The 8^th of December is really a sad day for music. Two great musicians were shot to death on that day, John Lennon and Dimebag Darell. The whole day in Athens was cloudy and gloomy with lots of rain as well, which combined with the traffic made it from hard to impossible for many people to attend tonight’s gig.

I arrived at the bar were the gig was about to take place a little earlier, to grab a beer and chat with friends and Devon. The bar was really small but the 60-70 people who attended the gig were very comfortable inside. At about 1,5 hour after the doors opened Devon went “on stage”, which wasn’t actually a stage, more like a small opening near the bar, but spacious enough. I had already asked him if he was going to play songs from his great album with the band “The Shadow Theory” but I got a negative answer. I also got the same negative answer when I asked him if he was planning to come for a gig with them. Oh well, we can’t have everything.

The place was packed and Devon started with some classic Deadsoul Tribe tunes. The sound was really good (I think that Devon was working on the sound a little earlier). One or two covers came along, aw well as some songs from the album “The Strange Mind Of Buddy Lackey”. A small speech from Devon followed and the first break of the show. Devon is well informed about the way the music industry works nowadays as well as the fact that the companies do not support musicians the way they used to so, he is planning to start his personal website, from which he will be distributing his music in the form of free downloads. He is also planning to record a new album with Psychotic Waltz. And that’s more than enough for now; I wouldn’t want to get into any more details about what he shared with us for the future.

After the break he came back with a couple of more Deadsoul Tribe songs for us and… the first Psychotic Waltz tunes! Such hymns as “Drift” and “Hanging On A String” played with only an acoustic guitar and Devon’s voice are magic beyond words. I can’t really describe the sentiment, but I’m sure that everyone could feel it at that moment. A fantastic cover of Rainbow’s song with DIO came along, another real blast of the night. “Catch The Rainbow” might be a classic and catchy ballad, but Devon gave his best to play it like it should be played, by putting all your soul to it. Two more hymns from Psychotic Waltz, “I Remember” and “My Grave”, three more covers, and that was the end of a very special show, that only few people enjoyed. However, some things are better to be left for the “few” and not the “many”. I couldn’t leave unmentioned though, the “hot sweet stuff”as Devon called it, known to us as “rakomelo” a combination of raki and honey, which Devon seemed to enjoy, a lot!

After the end of the show, we started yelling one of the most known to the fans of Devon Graves motto, which combined our desire for one more songs, as well as the old name of Devon Graves, Buddy Lackey. Devon just smiled and played a couple of more songs for us. One of them was a cover to “Tribute”, with lyrics inspired from Psychotic Waltz.

Devon Graves setlist:

Toy Rockets

Time

Windsong

Some Sane Advice

Space Oddity (David Bowie cover)

Lady Of Rain

Goodbye City Life

Regret

Some Day

-Break-

Into The Spiral Cathedral

Just Like A Timepiece

Cry For Tomorrow/Spiders And Flies

Black Smoke And Mirrors

UTWOMS

Empty

Drift

Hanging On A String

-Break-

Fear

Catch The Rainbow (Rainbow cover)

I Remember

My Grave

Imagine (John Lennon cover)

Hotel California (Eagles cover)

Tribute (AKA “The Greatest Song In The World”, Tenacious D cover)

Also on Burst.gr - http://www.burst.gr/live/reports/item/2381-devon-graves-live-the-drugstore-athens-greece-8-12-2012

Psychotic Waltz, Royal Hunt, Pagan’s Mind, Live @ FUZZ Club, 28/04/2012

Psychotic Waltz, Royal Hunt, Pagan’s Mind, Live @ Fuzz Club, 28/04/2012

One can find many beautiful words to describe a lot of things, except magic. Because only once the true art of magic unfurls before your eyes, does it become apparent. How can someone find words to describe magic then? One can only try, because there is no actual explanation for certain moments, especially not through words or images.

                Thankfully the time schedule for the concert was kept, and when I entered the venue, Pagan’s Mind was already on stage. The band’s performance was excellent despite certain sound problems here and there. I’ve never listened to them before, but they definitely are a band that every prog/power metalhead should check out. Their songs are a blend of very demanding and melodic metal, and you can tell that they’re all very skilled and experienced musicians. They played for almost 70 minutes and I also have to mention, that they had a certain promotion advertisement running from the Norwegian Embassy and Norwegian Institute as well, which were supporting the event, something that sadly does not happen with Greek bands abroad. Go Norway!

                Almost half an hour after the end of Pagan’s Mind set, Royal Hunt were getting ready to blow our minds. The band had recently reunited –after popular demand- with their former vocalist D.C. Cooper and had released a new very good record. Certain part of the audience had mixed emotions regarding the appearance of Royal Hunt, because the band that was originally announced to play was Mekong Delta, who cancelled their appearance for unknown reasons. As far as I’m concerned, Royal Hunt is one of the best bands of the genre and D.C. Cooper is a born frontman. Everything was rolling smoothly –except the damn sound-, D.C. was communicating with the crowd at all times and his voice is sensational as always. The band was giving it’s best self and it was hard to notice reactions from the crowd, but I believe most of them were pleased. It was after all the first night of their world tour and they were full of energy. Their set was almost 90 minutes and it consisted mainly from their last record with great songs like “One More Day”, “Angel’s Gone” and my favourite “Half Past Loneliness”. I hope that the next time they visit us (soon please!) we’ll get the chance to hear some more of their 90s classic stuff. “Paradox” is a fantastic record and probably their most famous -at least here in Greece-, and no song from it was included.

Royal Hunt Setlist:

One More Day

The Mission

Flight

Hard Rain’s Coming

Lies

Step By Step

Wasted Time

Age Gone Wild

Guitar Solo

Half Past Loneliness

Kingdom Dark

Angel’s Gone

Last Goodbye

                And finally, it was time for a lifelong dream to become reality before us. The legendary Psychotic Waltz would be on stage in a matter of minutes. One of the most underrated progressive metal bands, if not THE most underrated, had reunited after more than 10 years. The band members had their own projects since then, especially their frontman Devon Graves (aka Buddy Lackey) but once again the ongoing demands and prayers from the fans were heard. The full original lineup was back together and they’d already announced that they were going to play 150 minutes (2,5 hours) in both Athens and Thessaloniki. Suddenly, Ward Evans came on stage and picked up the 2 pages of their setlist and showed them to us. The cheering from the crowd was simply unprecedented. And the trip into madness began… I can’t easily pick a few songs here because I consider them all being great in their own way. The bands performance was much more than we expected and Devon Graves is what we call “the right man in the right spot”. His theatrical moves and tribal dances throughout the gig guided us inside the crazy world of Psychotic Waltz. The only problem during the first songs, and I hate that I have to mention it once more, was the sound. It was that bad that the crowd started screaming “turn the voice louder”. When the time came for the band to end their show, we were all standing speechless for a minute or two, still unable to believe what we had just experienced. Then it was time for the 10 minute applauds to take place. I’ve said it in the beginning and I’ll say it again now. This was purely magic. Nothing more, nothing less.

I could go on for hours about this band, but I’d rather end it here. There is never enough to say or write about Psychotic Waltz. They’re one of the mysteries in music that each and every one must discover on their own.

Psychotic Waltz setlist:

Sleeping Dogs (Intro)

Ashes

Out Of Mind

Tiny Streams

In This Place

Mosquito

Faded

Locust

Northern Lights

Haze One

Into The Everflow

Hanging On A String

My Grave

I Remember

Morbid

Cold

Shattered Sky

Drift

Freedom?

Freakshow

All The Voices

Mindsong

Another Prophet Song

Halo Of Thorns

Nothing

I Of The Storm

...And The Devil Cried

Spiral Tower

Also on Burst.gr - http://www.burst.gr/live/reports/item/1147-live-report-psychotic-waltz-royal-hunt-pagan%E2%80%99s-mind-28/04/2012-fuzz-club#