Cool Music Central: Live: Blonde Redhead @ Gagarin 205 (Athens, March 19th, 2017)

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Live: Blonde Redhead @ Gagarin 205 (Athens, March 19th, 2017)

Thankfully this time we didn’t have to wait 10 years for Blonde Redhead’s return to Athens, as it was the case between their first gig at Gagarin 205 way back in the spring of 2005 and their return in March 2015.

In the two years since their previous gig, the only new material from the band came just a few days ago with the release of the four-song EP "3 O'Clock", which they played in its entirety. The rest of Blonde Redhead’s 90-minute set was comprised with selections from their back catalogue, mainly from "Misery Is a Butterfly" και "23", perhaps their two best albums to date. Despite the recent re-release of their first two albums as part of the "Masculin Feminin" compilation, the band chose not to revisit its '90s noise-rock days and the only representation of this period came early in the set with an excellent rendition of "Bipolar" off "Fake Can Be Just as Good", their third album which recently turned 20.

Apart from the four songs off the new EP, which admittedly does not find the band in its best form, the other recent material that Blonde Redhead played were "Mind to Be Had" and "Drippin", two of the most upbeat songs off their 2014 LP "Barragán", for which Kazu Makino abandoned her guitar and started a little dance over her keyboards.

The highlights of the set, apart from the already mentioned "Bipolar", included also "Falling Man", "Elephant Woman", "Dr. Strangeluv", "Spring and by Summer Fall" and the anthemic "23" which came near the end of the three-song encore. The finale of the show came in the hushed reverie created by the atmospheric "Golden Light", a serene ending to a night of many electric delights which certainly satisfied the faithful fans of Kazu Makino and the Pace brothers.

The evening started with a set from Jack Heart and his band who presented his new album "Emotional Piñata". Unfortunately Sunday’s football derby did not allow us to be at the club early enough to catch all of his set, but the two songs we did hear, sounded very promising indeed. We’ll certainly try to see him again at the next available opportunity.