Live: Shellac @ An Club (Athens, June 4, 2015)

Each and every time I've watched Shellac live, from the very first time around '93 or '94 at London's Garage when the band had only a few singles under its belt, up until the two recent gigs, firstly at Barcelona's Primavera and then this one a few days later in Athens, I was left absolutely amazed by the sheer power of their playing and their electrifying energy.

The magnificent trio of Steve Albini, Bob Weston and Todd Trainer are the punk rock equivalent of a well-oiled racer car that accelerates from zero to a hundred at the drop of a hat. Just one strike from Trainer's drum sticks and their turbo-charged rock engine starts roaring at maximum velocity.

Their set list is also faultless, methodically built to perfection; they have kept in play key tracks from their past ("Wingwalker" was present at that very first gig I saw 22 years ago and remains to this day a glowing highlight of their sets) while they select just the right ingredients from their recent work. Songs from "Dude Incredible" blend perfectly with career highlights like "My Black Ass", "Copper", "Prayer to God", "Watch Song", "Steady as She Goes" and, of course, the magnificent "The End of Radio" which never fails to amaze.

It's no understatement, and I'm sure that almost everyone present at the packed An Club on that night will agree, that Shellac's killer 90-minute performance, the opening event of Plisskën Festival 2015, was not only the best one of the festival, but actually the gig of the year for Athens.

We have, of course, to give credit also to local heroes Bokomolech who opened for Shellac, exactly as it happened 18 years ago at the same club, when Albini (who recorded their second album "Jet Lag") and his gang made their live debut in Athens. Let's hope we won't have to wait this long for the next one!

Bokomolech, live @ An Club

Shellac - Steady as She Goes (live @ An Club, Athens)

The Afghan Whigs, live @ Vox (Athens, May 29, 2012)

The last week of May turned out to be a major '90s flashback trip for me. It began by spending several hours listening to singles from 1993 for our latest ’90 Top 50 list and then The Afghan Whigs rolled into town for the fourth show of their reunion tour which kicked off in New York just a few days before. And then came the weekend with live streaming from Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival where The Afghan Whigs were once again among the protagonists, playing along several other legends of '90s indie rock including Mudhoney, Mazzy Star and Archers Of Loaf. Without a doubt, the '90s are back in a big way and The Afghan Whigs are leading the charge!

Although I’m not particularly fond of reunions and reliving the “good old days”, I think that if a band feels that it can still do justice to its old material and there is an audience out there willing to pay good money to see that, then they should definitely go ahead and give it one more try. And after seeing last Tuesday what The Afghan Whigs are still capable of doing, I must say that in their case it would have been criminal neglect not to reform. After all with such a stellar back catalog which boasts not just one or two but four of the greatest rock albums of the '90s, I think it would be very difficult to make a botch job of this reunion.

16 of the 19 tracks that Greg Dulli, John Curley and Rick McCollum presented along with Dave Rosser, Rick Nelson and Cully Symington who complete the 2012 version of The Afghan Whigs, came from those four albums released between 1992 and 1998, with "Black Love" and "Gentlemen" rightly having the lion’s share and "Congregation" along with "1965" contributing a few of their key tracks.

The three non-album tracks that completed the stunning 95-minute set were all soul and r’n’b covers - not surprising given Dulli’s love for these genres and the influence they have had on his work. The covers included The Supreme’s hit "Come See About Me", from the "Uptown Avondale" EP, as well as two new entries in the band’s repertoire, Marie "Queenie" Lyons’ "See And Don't See" (available as a free download here) and Frank Ocean’s "Love Crimes". These two covers along with "Fountain and Fairfax" and "Miles Iz Dead" made up the encore of a truly breathtaking performance from a band that proved that it can still perform with the same fire and passion as it did in its early '90s heyday. And given that Dulli’s songwriting still remains strong as proven by his recent work with The Twilight Singers and the one-off collaboration with Lanegan as The Gutter Twins, I think that they should seriously consider taking this reunion to the next level: into the recording studio to add another chapter to a most remarkable story that deserves much wider recognition and success than what it got the first time around.

Here’s the night’s complete set list - all killer no filler:

1. Crime Scene, Part One
2. I'm Her Slave
3. Uptown Again
4. What Jail Is Like
5. Blame, Etc.
6. When We Two Parted/Dead Body
7. Gentlemen
8. Come See About Me (Supremes cover)
9. Crazy
10. My Enemy
11. 66
12. Debonair
13. Bulletproof
14. Summer's Kiss
15. Faded

Encore:
16. See And Don't See (Marie "Queenie" Lyons cover)
17. Love Crimes (Frank Ocean cover)
18. Fountain and Fairfax
19. Miles Iz Ded / Into the Floor

The Afghan Whigs - My Enemy, live @ Vox (Athens, May 29, 2012)

Support came from one of the best Greek rock bands of the '90s, the also recently reunited Bokomolech, who have already taken that next step into the recording studio for the album "Mass Vulture". They successfully mixed their old classics with the new material adding even one or two brand new, so far unreleased tracks, proving that once you get the ball rolling again there is no stopping to the creative flow.

Bokomolech, live @ Vox