Υπόγεια Ρεύματα, Ενδελέχεια, Magic de Spell: Rock is alive!

Rock n' Roll never dies… Rock n' Roll lives forever… But what about the Greek rock scene? Where does it stand? The answer couldn't be louder. We got it last Wednesday (7/7/21) at Θέατρο των Βράχων! Our messengers: the Υπόγεια Ρεύματα, Δ. Μητσοτάκης and Π. Κατσιμάνης (Ενδελέχεια) and Magic de Spell. The musical feast that flooded our ears was enough to make us realize that we will never be alone. This music will always be by our side. In the good times… In the bad…

Even though "I like not saying much", I'm going to say plenty!

So did the pandemic crisis set everything back? Yes! That's the truth. Bands couldn't even rehearse, let alone work. Musicians remained inactive before our eyes. Nobody knew if or how we'd ever come back. Even now, we're not quite at full normality.

Being a musician myself, it's really hard to go without gigs. That vibe you get from the crowd. The shiver you feel when you step on stage and the lights hit you. The sound. The intensity. The interaction with the audience. You miss all of it. You get hooked from the very first second. And after your first live show, everything's different. Every time you finish, you're already thinking about the next one. The moment you'll come back. Not to mention the fact that, playing live, you share feelings and personal experiences with your audience through your songs.

It's hard for the audience too

Of course we're not just bystanders in all this! It's a dance for two. The musician needs to share. The audience needs to travel. Because at the end of the day, that's what music does. It takes us on a journey.

Quarantine: Time to create!

That's roughly how the concert began. The artists shared all the thoughts above. And immediately, images came to my mind of corners with dusty guitars sitting around.

But that's not quite how it went! Υπόγεια had other plans for us. New album in the works (which we'll listen to with huge interest, and a dedicated article will follow). In the end, quarantine turned out to be an opportunity for work and fresh music.

Δ. Μητσοτάκης – Π. Κατσιμάνης (Ενδελέχεια)

The concert kicked off with a bang! Δ. Μητσοτάκης and Π. Κατσιμάνης, the songwriting duo of Ενδελέχεια, gave us some of their many hits. Outstanding musicians. Songs that call out society and are timeless. And suddenly the crowd took off.

Classic hits that made us long for pre-quarantine life. The band's energy was excellent. A mix of acoustic and electric guitar sounds. Lyrics full of intensity and a manifesto that makes us defy whatever holds us back.

Υπόγεια Ρεύματα brought us out of the darkness

They were up for it and it showed (like all the musicians who performed, for that matter)! They joked around! But once they started playing, they showed us that they mean business. They didn't need words to say it. They said it through their choices and their craft. When you're setting the work of iconic poets to music, after all, you're on another level.

A mix of classic rock sounds with sounds from pioneering musical instruments. When Νίκος put down the bass for his musical saw, the whole vibe of the music changed completely. We were pulled into a journey of images that kept unfolding with every note that came out of these wonderful musicians.

Surely the way the sound was delivered to the audience mattered too. But heading to the theater, I had no doubt about that last part. Πέτρος (Πέτρος Πετρόπουλος – Polyphoniki Studio) worked his magic once again. He handled the sound for Ενδελέχεια and Υπόγεια Ρεύματα. I've known his work for a long time, actually, from when we first started collaborating (and we still do, of course).

Magic de Spell: They put a spell on us

When you're one of the longest-standing bands on the Greek rock scene, you don't need much introduction. That was obvious when the crowd went wild. Legendary songs from way back, yet they felt as relevant as ever.

And because every major band should also pay tribute to other legends, the band played Rock n' Roll στο κρεβάτι του Παύλου, the prince of rock, and the crowd returned that love in kind! Suddenly an explosion happened like nothing before.

The intensity that came out on stage from Magic was something I didn't expect. Really, the crowd seemed like they'd been waiting for that spark and were finally swept away by the sounds. There wasn't a gap between songs without shouts of: 'More!', 'Play Sarajevo!', 'Let's go hard!'.

Here again I'd like to give credit to Μιχάλης Σκαράκης who handled the sound for Magic. The quality kept at the same level, and that showed in how the crowd reacted!

Music lives and reigns

So yes, in the end! It's not just Rock that's alive. Music in general keeps waking up and stirring passions and emotions that can become a reason to live and can create images and dreams. At every concert I go to, I see the same principles at work. Yes, we're living in a new reality. Masks, fear and restriction. And we can't even watch our favorite bands standing up. Hug our friends. Bang our heads to the beat.

But music is the thing that will once again become the driving force. A driving force that will help us get past whatever difficulty comes our way. In the end, this concert too showed the most fundamental thing to emerge from this whole situation. Everyone kept saying that professional artists were the ones who needed us through all this. I confirmed that we need them even more. And helping me reach that conclusion were Ενδελέχεια, τα Υπόγεια Ρεύματα and Magic de Spell with their music.