MARCH METAL DAY FESTIVAL @ Krtirio Kisfaskias - Egatastaseis Ellinikou
\r\nLet’s take it from the start. Doors opened with an\r\nhour’s delay but to tell you the truth I din’t expect them to open on time.\r\nSure thing is doors opened and De\r\nProfundis. Their intro was very impressive and it got you in the mood right\r\naway. The English band was well\r\nbonded and their sound pretty good. I felt that what was missing is that extra\r\nsomething that makes bands stand out. However since I don’t want to miss judge\r\nanyone so I have to admit that my judgment was influenced by the fact I was\r\nwaiting at the bar for my coffee. By the way, I think that having only one\r\nperson to make coffees at that hour was a bad choice! \r\n
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\r\nThe location this year was much better. Placing the\r\ntwo stages the one opposite the other and leaving out the grill which made the\r\nclosed venue smell like a tavern was a very good choice! The prices in the bars\r\ncaused a little grins but as I was told they were reduced during the festival.\r\nHowever by 20.00 o clock the place run out of food and everyone thanked god for\r\nthe cantinas outside the venue. \r\n
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\r\nWhat left a good\r\nimpression on me was the fact the promoters had people trying to maintain the\r\nvenue clean at least during the first 4 hours of the fest. However having three\r\ntoilets for women and three for men was in fact intolerable. People were\r\nwaiting in line for at least half an hour to get in one. \r\n
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\r\nOVERGARVEN\r\n
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\r\nAfter that Overgarven hit\r\nthe stage. They had a relatively good impact on the fans. The singer seemed\r\nto be a great In Flames fan because apart from the fact that he was wearing a\r\nt-shirt of the band his whole stage act was almost the same as Fridens’ s. However he managed to warm up the audience and\r\ncommunicate well with them. Especially when they covered CARCASS the fans\r\nreally responded to it. However it would have been better if we could listen to\r\nthe solo. But\r\nsound problems were always present in MMD’08. \r\n
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\r\nThe guest appearance of Morena of the Italians Macbeth\r\nwas very sweet but the sound problems broke in again! It’s truly a shame if you\r\ncan’t listen to the singer of a band. \r\n
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\r\nHANNIBAL\r\n
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\r\nHannibal went on the DEMON stage along with the guest\r\nappearance of Roland Grapow. Hannibal who have managed to\r\nmake interesting things in the metal scene opened their set with their own\r\nstuff and then made some covers on Judas Priest, Iraon Maiden and finally a\r\nsurprise cover on Rammstein! And the crowd went nuts! Their appearance was very good but like everyone who\r\nappeared so far their sound was bad. \r\n
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\r\nSomewhere in between a voice came from the speakers welcoming us in the festival, letting us know we should turn on our Bluetooth in order to participate in a treasure hunt,\r\nsend out sms to vote for the band’s we want to see next year etc. And the\r\nsimple question risen by that announcement was whether it was so hard to have a\r\nwritten announcement in front of the speaker so he can read it? Except, if the\r\nblanks and the stutters, were all about giving out a more natural effect. In\r\nany case the idea of giving out information over the festival’s speakers isn’t\r\nbad however it would have been better if it weren’t that rough! What was about\r\nto follow was the battle between IRON MAIDENS and ORION tribute to METALLICA\r\nfrom Italy.\r\nThe audience had to run from one stage to the other and vote in another four\r\ndigit number through sms. \r\n
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\r\nIRON MAIDENS\r\n
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\r\nUnbelievable, energetic, wildcats οι Iron Maidens! Incredible energy on stage, all time favourite\r\nsongs, and the crowd goes mad Alexander the Great, Trooper, Fear Of The Dark, Run To The Hills, 666 The Number Of The Beast everyone singing not a head not banging! The restless singer gave an amazing show and if you\r\ncount the audience screams they were the absolute winners! \r\n
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\r\nORION\r\n
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\r\nHowever the winners in terms of messages were the\r\nreally amateur disappointing ORION. The Italians were wrong in my point of view\r\nto not play the hit songs of Metallica. They also were unfortunate enough to\r\nplay on the DEMON’s stage which was the death trap of sound so far. What can we say when their fans were willing to pay\r\nsms to give them the victory?\r\n
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\r\nANORIMI\r\n
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\r\nAnd then on the ANGEL’s stage came the time for ANORIMI\r\n(Immature in Greek). I don’t really know what to say. Personally I am not a fan\r\nof what the band plays, metal for fun with lyrics that are only meant to make\r\nyou laugh. However for those who do like it I feel that what they do, they do\r\nwell. Lyrics like ".. the fat one digs me.. on the first date your breath\r\nsmelled like tzatziki... the almighty tycoon of the Ninja..." I can’t comment. The\r\nsure thing is that the fans liked them and they had a good time with the funny\r\nlyrics. \r\n
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\r\nSODOM (Manos Maragos)\r\n
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\r\nSODOM. .SODOM.SODOM...\r\nHow many more times should I write that What can I write first of all? What I\r\ncan first of all remember? I do not know. To be honest if I was in the position\r\nnot to write anything about the particular Live report, I would do it...not\r\nbecause it does not deserve, but simply because only with words and texts\r\ncannot show what happened in the particular live performance from the gods of\r\nsaint trinity of thrash metal in Germany (SODOM, KREATOR, DESTRUCTION)... Thus\r\ntherefore, not because I SHOULD, but because I OWE to enter in the honorary\r\nprocess to write a Live Report for SODOM...I\r\nbegin...
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\r\nDespite the fact that the Germans was programmed to come out at 17:00, finally\r\nthey were presented at 18:30, but this has minimal importance, because the\r\npatience for their live performance became bigger. Under the screams from the\r\naudience, Tom Angelripper - wearing a t-shirt of TANK-. .and his company (Bobby\r\nSchottkowski and Bernemann) entered the scene and...chaos was born.
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\r\nWith the sound initially got into our nerves, but only for the first song,\r\nafter then it was improved, Blood On Your Lips from Sodom 2006, began to\r\nvibrate the atmosphere and putting us in the ideas of what would follow next.\r\nTom ecstatic from watching the reactions of the fans, and after welcoming us\r\nsaying with his heavy German accent in Greek "Hello Athens", he continued\r\nwith his company taking our brains with Outbreak of Evil, giving the\r\nopportunity for the first firework to light on, but also fights beginning in\r\nthe mosh-pit that was created in a blast of eye in front of the scene...
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\r\nNext with Napalm In The Morning from M-16, calm for few seconds with Tom\r\nthanking us (thank you very much malaka) and Sodomy and Lust from the EP\r\nExpurse of Sodomy 1987, City Of God from Sodom 2006 and Obsessed by Cruelty\r\nfrom their first homonymous album of 1986, to create us ....wild appetites\r\nfor the rest... What followed afterwards? The Saw is The Law, Blasphemer under\r\nthe escort of second fumigant and afterwards.... moments of\r\nrelaxation....!!! Of course, I am joking.... The four next songs came in\r\norder to finish us off and remind us that even if the years have passed,\r\nsomething that is obvious exterior in the members of group, nothing has\r\nchanged...
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\r\nAgent Orange, Remember The Fallen, Ace Of Spades in a small tribute in MOTORHEAD\r\n(even if all of us waited for Iron Fist) with the final blow to come through\r\nthe first sound of Tom’s bass.... and Bombenhangel!!!! Despite the fact that I am\r\nbig fan of SODOM, this was the first time that I saw them performing on stage,\r\nand I am wondering what would have happened, if they had played not only more\r\ntime - as more of one hour does not reach for anything- but also in \r\nfront of more fans... SODOM\r\nwe thank you....and we will wait for you again... and again and again... It’s that simple...\r\n
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\r\nSetlist:
\r\nBlood On Your Lips\r\n
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\r\nOutbreak Of Evil \r\n
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\r\nNapalm Ιn Τhe Morning \r\n
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\r\nSodomy And Lust\r\n
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\r\nCity Of God\r\nObsessed By Cruelty\r\n
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\r\nThe Saw Is The Law\r\n
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\r\nBlasphemer\r\n
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\r\nAgent Orange\r\n
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\r\nRemember The Fallen\r\n
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\r\nAce Of Spades (Motorhead cover) \r\n
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\r\nBombenhagel\r\n
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\r\nTRISTANIA (Elena Mihailidou)\r\n
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\r\nI really don’t know what to write so that it won’t sound\r\nmean. Because I really am not what went wrong.\r\nTRISTANIA played right after a SODOM\r\nwhich was definitely an adrenaline stir up. Right after a set that rose an\r\nextremely big mosh pit. Their sound was very bad. When Osten opened his mouth to sing there was nothing.\r\n(I heard someone saying that the wireless mikes might have had problems because\r\nof the active Bluetooth is the venue due to the treasure hunt of the festival\r\nbut I am no sound engineer to know). It might have been the fact that the new\r\nsinger sounded awfully, almost like a cat screaming. It’s truly a shame because\r\nthe band’s performance is really about atmosphere and under the circumstances\r\nunder which they appeared in front of the Greek audience for the first time\r\nthey got the worse feedback possible. \r\n
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\r\nAt this point I should mention our talented photographer’s Jim Hatzimoisis comment who struggled to get Mariangela on a shot without her\r\nhair in her face. «Does she ever take her hair out of her face? »\r\n
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\r\nAnnihilator (Barbara Karpodini)
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\r\nAt about 9 pm, after additional delay, it was Annihilator’s turn to come up on\r\nDEMON’s stage. With their appearance they made up for the exhausting waiting.\r\nThe Canadians’ set was for sure one of the best times of MMD 08. From the first\r\nnotes of King Of The Kill and for one whole hour they created an incredible\r\natmosphere. They raised a little hell while everybody was ecstatic and\r\nthroughout their set we experienced moments of chaos caused by the huge\r\nmoshpits.\r\n
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\r\nAfter King Of The Kill, we listened to 2 songs from their new album, Metal,\r\nOperation Annihilation and Clown Parade, where it was rumoured that Jeff Loomis\r\nof Nevermore would join them on stage as he had composed a solo for the song.\r\nBut the time for the big surprise hadn’t come yet...\r\n
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\r\nOn with the show, hale and hearty mr. Jeff Waters and his gang (Dave\r\nPadden-vocals, guitar, Ryan Ahoff-drums, Dave Sheldon-bass) reminded us the old\r\ngood stuff! They literally Set The World On Fire from the homonymous album of\r\n1993 and then they took us to the diabolic Never, Neverland. I Am In Command\r\nwas the firt stop and then Never, Neverland followed. After Fun Palace\r\nwe left from Never, Neverland for a while to travel back to 1989. W.T.Y.D. was\r\nthe first taste of Alice’s\r\nscary world... Pure sheer phantasmagoria (and in my not at all objective,\r\ncompletely personal opinion the best 4 minutes of MMD 08), Phantasmagoria was\r\nthe last stop on Never, Neverland before sinking completly to Alice’s paranoid\r\ndreams.\r\n
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\r\nIn Alison Hell, Jeff Waters revealed the surprise he had for the Greek fans. He\r\nbrought on stage Bob Katsionis and the result was something close to poetry\r\nfrom those two virtuosos. Human Instectiside was the appropriate conclusion\r\nwhile none of us wanted this rush to end.\r\n
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\r\nThus, Annihilator’s show at MMD 08 was over, leaving the crowd rubbing their\r\nnecks, sore from the constant headbanging, and hoping there won’t be another 7\r\nyears until they visit us again.\r\n
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\r\nSET LIST:\r\n
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\r\nKing of The Kill\r\n
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\r\nOperation Annihilation\r\n
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\r\nClown Parade\r\n
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\r\nSet The World On Fire\r\n
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\r\nI Am In Command\r\n
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\r\nNever, Neverland\r\n
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\r\nFun Palace\r\n
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\r\nWelcome To Your Death (W.T.Y.D)\r\n
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\r\nPhantasmagoria\r\n
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\r\nAlison Hell\r\n
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\r\nHuman Insecticide\r\n
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\r\nEDGUY (Manos Maragos)\r\n
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\r\nWith our minds still filled with memories of what SODOM and ANNIHILATOR\r\noffered us before, but also with all the planning of the Festival has gone very\r\nlate, it was the time for German EDGUY to come on stage. In another live show\r\nin our country, the company from Essen of Germany, is not the youths that we\r\nlearned in 1998 through their third full-length album, Vain Glory Opera, that\r\nhad then made a big impact, but they have changed very much. To a better\r\nway or not... you decide...
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\r\nEven if I am not big fan of group - something that means that I have not\r\nwatched their progress- their appearance in MARCH METAL DAY proved to me from\r\none hand that they have acquired comfort in the scene and directness with the\r\nfans, but on the other hand that they have begun to bored ...Especially, the\r\nsinger of the band, Tobias Sammet, who tired us...leniently. This man talked\r\nabout various personal searches, but did not ask the fans, if they were\r\ninterested in listening to him.
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\r\nSo, EDGUY came out in the scene with Catch Of The Century and they continued\r\nwith Sacrifice from their last album of 2006 Rocket Ride, with Tobias warning\r\nus for the next: "You heard dark, thrash, maiden... now it is time to party with\r\nus!!". For the next we had Babylon from Theater Of Salvation of 1999, which\r\ndespite the fact that it is almost 7 minutes length, they made bigger it’s\r\nduration, by playing a part from Trooper of IRON MAIDEN, before they continue\r\nand finish with Babylon.
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\r\nThe main man of the band, wanted to have fun with the audience by separating it\r\nin two sides and putting them to shout as much as they could to see which side\r\nwill cheer more. Lavatory Love Machine afterwards and then they returned to\r\n"old" stuff with Vain Glory Opera from the homonymous release of 1998, which\r\nwas the best moment of their particular show, together with Tears Of A Mandrake\r\nthat followed...and afterwards came again... the philosopher Tobias to explain us a\r\nmystery...!!!
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\r\nHow a man feels... if shampoo falls into....his penis!! All these to inform us\r\nabout Mysteria, that followed and leaving to us with the query, but also\r\nwith....the thought to throw shampoo there when we return in our place to see\r\nwhat the... poet Tobias means!!! (oh! My God!!!).... The hour\r\npassed... Tobias continued to give philosophic thoughts and EDGUY, played two\r\nmore songs... Superheroes from Rocket Ride of 2006 and very good King Of Fools\r\nfrom Hellfire Club of 2004, before they say goodnight and leave...\r\n
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\r\nAnd the woman’s point of view ... (Helena Mihailidou)\r\n
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\r\nThe little rubber boy of METAL! Unfortunately the band\r\ndidn’t really click with the crowd even though the front man of the band Tobias\r\nmade some desperate tries to warm the crowd. «Shout out, a little more, a little more, now you sound like Greece! »,\r\n«Now we’re going to split the audience shout those of you on the right, now on\r\nthe left, left, right, now everybody...» Not commenting on the absurd comment he said right before the song Mysteria «This next song is\r\nabout some things in life we can’t explain. And the men out there will know what I mean like why does it hurt when shampoo gets on your penis» Toby I think only\r\nyou got that joke! Another cute trick he did was to place the mike in front of his penis facing the ground and as we shouted more and\r\nmore he raised the mike in order to represent he was aroused. I really can’t understand the reason why he felt he should do such stuff. He even mention how his friends told him he was crazy\r\nto come and play Greece a one off show but he did it cause he feels Greece has\r\na great audience and he wanted to prove them wrong. So he made us shout more\r\nand more in order to show how warm we are. And I wonder did we look that not\r\ninto their music? Is it that different abroad where he usually plays? (From\r\nwhat I know he acts like that everywhere) You draw your own conclusions. \r\n
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\r\nSetlist:
\r\nCatch Of The Century\r\n
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\r\nSacrifice \r\n
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\r\n Babylon \r\n
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\r\n Trooper (Iron Maiden cover) \r\n
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\r\n Lavatory Love Machine\r\n
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\r\nVain Glory Opera \r\n
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\r\n Tears Of A Mandrake\r\n
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\r\nMysteria\r\n
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\r\nSuperheroes \r\n
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\r\nKing Of Fools\r\n
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\r\nNEVERMORE (Nikoleta Sarantou translated by Barbara Kapodini)\r\n
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\r\nWe are in front of DEMON’s stage where part of the\r\ncrowd is already gathered leaving Edguy, who are still performing on the\r\nANGEL’s stage, to enjoy the audiovisual live experience of NEVERMORE. It’s\r\n23.25 and the now four-member band comes on stage... and that’s when the heart\r\nbeats start rising dangerously.
\r\nThe show starts with "Engines of Hate", which was the appropriate\r\nsong for the adrenaline to start flowing.\r\n
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\r\nListening to "I, Voyager", "The River\r\nDragon Has Come" and "Never Purify" that followed a ceaseless head\r\nbanging begun. This atmosphere made us forget all the fatigue caused by the\r\ninexcusable delays, recharged our batteries and on "This Sacrament"\r\nand "The Seven Tongues of God" the crowd and the band sang with one\r\nvoice, while Jeff Loomis was showing all his excellence on his guitar. As\r\nexpected though, the sound was "poor" in a away as a group with such\r\nmassive compositions attempted to go on stage with only one guitar. But still\r\nthat didn’t have any impact on the crowds perfect mood. "Dead Heart In a\r\nDead World" that followed gave everybody goose bumps. The song begun with\r\nWarrel singing a cappella and everyone was stunned. Unreachable levels of expressiveness\r\nand passion. Next was "Enemies of Reality" and "Heart\r\nCollector" and the unique chemistry between Nevermore and their fans was\r\nonce again obvious. Fans go on stage singing with the band and somewhere\r\nbetween "Medicated Nation" and "Narcosynthesis" Warrel gets\r\noff the stage and goes closer to the crowd. The show ended, after an hour and\r\nsome minutes, with "This Godless Endeavor" and the crowd in the flush\r\nof emotion was calling for an encore.\r\n
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\r\nMany years have passed since I first listened to Nevermore and my opinion about\r\nthem remains the same. Nevermore have been tested and proved immutable through\r\ntime despite all the trends. Riveting is the adjective that best describes the\r\nband. Going against constant, completely irritating sound problems, they threw\r\na great show once again, proving they are a really great band.\r\n
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\r\nSetlist:
\r\nEngines Of Hate \r\n
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\r\nI, Voyager \r\n
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\r\nThe River Dragon Has Come\r\n
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\r\nNever Purify\r\n
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\r\nThis Sacrament \r\n
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\r\nThe Seven Tongues Of God \r\n
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\r\n Dead Heart In A Dead World \r\n
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\r\n Enemies Of Reality\r\n
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\r\nThe Heart Collector \r\n
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\r\nMedicated Nation\r\n
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\r\nNarcosynthesis \r\n
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\r\nThis Godless Endeavor\r\n
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\r\nNIGHTWISH (Elena Mihailidou)\r\n
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\r\nI wonder if we can’t hear the keyboard in Nightwish,\r\nthen what? Isn’t it tragic for the\r\nheadliners to not have good sound? They are a very well paid band, they bring along\r\ntheir own backline, their own sound engineers how can the result be this bad?\r\nKeys unfortunately weren’t the only thing absent in the result of Nightwish\r\nset. The new singer was so discreet that you could barely\r\nhear her. And you can imagine our struggle since it was the\r\nfirst time we were seeing her perform with the band. She definitely was better\r\nin the songs that were written for her. Because when she sang songs that were written for Tarja - I am sorry to say\r\nthat even though I think Taja is a little snob for my tastes Olzon can’t reach that\r\nhigh. What is for sure is that she has a different way of\r\nexpressing on stage and she misses the aura Tarja has. What I liked most about\r\ntheir appearance was Marco Hietala. \r\n
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\r\nSetlist:
\r\nBye Bye Beautiful\r\n
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\r\nDark Chest Of Wonders\r\n
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\r\nWhoever Brings The Night \r\n
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\r\n Siren \r\n
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\r\nAmaranth\r\n
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\r\nIslander\r\n
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\r\nPoet And The Pendulum \r\n
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\r\n Sacrament Of Wilderness \r\n
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\r\nLast Of The Wilds\r\n
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\r\n Nemo\r\n
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\r\nI Wish I Had An Angel\r\n
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\r\nThe taste MMD’08 left behind. \r\n
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\r\nThe promoters organizing the festival made a great effort to make a metal festival in Greece that would be close\r\nto the big European metal meetings. The second volume of the festival was much\r\nbetter than last year. The setting of the two stages one facing the other\r\nworked really well and the games in between were a good trick to have some fun\r\nin-between sets. The market was relatively small and there were things missing\r\nwhich had been announced before the festival suck as tattoos and piercing etc.\r\nI also consider the announcement in www.mmdfestival.gr\r\na sign of respect to the fans. Even though I feel there could have been better\r\nprogramming in the time table and sound checks. Especially for the one we went\r\nthrough before Annihilator’s set. I am sure that big festivals outside Greece\r\nare no better than Greece who are sound checking one stage while the another\r\nband is on the other stage. It’s a pity to to try and make such a good effort and loose points in\r\ndetails. Because, it is a good effort, with a reasonable ticket price, and many\r\nbands within one day, it’s a shame to be wasted in bad sound. \r\n
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\r\nAnd one more last thing, I appreciated very much the\r\nway security handled the fans crowd surfing and the way the barriers were safe\r\nenough for photographers to do their job. \r\n
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\r\nI think that the billing could have been much better but also the row of appearance of the\r\nbands. TRISTANIA after SODOM was such a bad\r\nchoice! After a while security left the doors open and whoever came in late\r\ncould get in with no ticket at all. The bands in the festival should have had\r\ntheir official merchandise for sale in the venue. There were huge empty spaces which could have been used for sitting rows. \r\n
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\r\nBut first and far most I feel that the first thing they should take\r\ncare of for the coming festival isn’t the line up but the venue. They should find a venue with better acoustics because no matter\r\nhow good the backline and the sound engineer in the venue the result would\r\nstill be tha same if you’re trying to put out a decent sound in a tin box! \r\n
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\r\nEditors Manos Maragos, Labros Tenes, Myra Paxinou, Barbara\r\nKarpodini, Nikole Saradou \r\n
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\r\nPhotos Jim Hatzimoisis \r\n
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\r\nEditorship: Helena Mihailidou, Vasilis Mazaris, Kostas Kyriakakis \r\n
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