Live: Ejekt Festival with The Killers, The Kills, Circa Waves (Athens, June 24, 2017)

The Killers, live @ Ejekt Festival 2017

The summer festival season is upon us and as the first heatwave of June made its presence felt this Saturday, we paid our first visit this year to Plateia Nerou by the seaside to checkout the first ever performances in Athens by The Killers, The Kills and Circa Waves.

Actually this was not the first time that The Killers visited Athens, but a sudden hailstorm on the day they were supposed to headline the Rockwave Festival of 2009 pulled the plug of that gig. Eight years later, the road finally led the band back to Athens and although personally I have stopped following them for sometime now, I have to admit that they still put on a great, crowd-pleasing show and it is no surprise that they are still in high demand as headliners for big festivals.

In the 90 minutes of their set, The Killers revisited all their previous albums, from the big hits of their ace debut "Hot Fuss" ("Mr. Brightside", "Somebody Told Me", "Smile Like You Mean It", "All These Things That I've Done") up to their latest release, "The Man", the funky first single off their forthcoming album "Wonderful Wonderful". They even included a couple of songs from their b-sides compilation "Sawdust", Joy Division's "Shadowplay" and "Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll", the track that perhaps best describes their musical aspirations. All in all, a well-executed, professional hit by The Killers that pleased their fans who have been waiting a long time to see them in action.

Our favorite performance of the day however came by The Kills, the dizzying indie rock roller-coaster created by the supremely talented guitarist Jamie Hince and the amazing Alison Mosshart, whose singing and explosive stage presence is always captivating.

The Kills, live @ Ejekt Festival 2017

The chemistry between the two of them remains strong after all those years together and the sparks fly as soon as they hit the stage. Their 70-minute set pulled mainly from their latest album "Ash & Ice" ("Heart of a Dog", the ESG sampling "Siberian Nights", "Doing It to Death", "Whirling Eye") but did not neglect their rich past, including a few older favorites like "U.R.A. Fever", "Tape Song", "Sour Cherry", "No Wow", "Kissy Kiss".

Admittedly there is a lot of material in their back catalog that I would love to listen to live, but the force of their performance is unrelenting no matter what they choose to perform, so a great show is guaranteed every time you get the chance to see The Kills on a stage (check out here our impressions from the first time we got to see them up close, 5 years ago in Lisbon).

 

The Kills, live @ Ejekt Festival 2017

Early in the afternoon we also sampled the melodic pop-punk of Liverpool's Circa Waves. The young quartet presented their new album "Different Creatures", giving a confident performance in front of a rather small crowd, as the intense heat made most people wait for the sunset before making their way to the festival. Their anthemic sound, however, had enough energy to earn the good will of those present who seemed to enjoy the performance despite not being familiar with the material.

Circa Waves, live @ Ejekt Festival 2017

A good start this year for Ejekt Festival, finally deciding to bring over some bands who had never played in Athens before. The second day of this year's event is scheduled for mid-July and we are planning to be there, mainly to see the return to Athens after around 20 years of The Jesus And Mary Chain. We are hoping it's going to be a blast! Meanwhile, here are a few of the highlights of the first day of the festival:

The Kills - Whirling Eye (live @ Ejekt Festival, Athens, June 24, 2017)

The Kills - Sour Cherry (live @ Ejekt Festival, Athens, June 24, 2017)

The Killers - Read My Mind (live @ Ejekt Festival, Athens, June 24, 2017)

Circa Waves - T-Shirt Weather (live @ Ejekt Festival, Athens, June 24, 2017)

Optimus Alive 12, live @ Passeio Marítimo de Algés, Lisbon - Part 2 (July 15)

In the second part of our Optimus Alive '12 coverage, we are presenting our favorite performances from July 15th, the sold-out third day of the festival which drew approximately 55000 people, most of them there for Radiohead’s first appearance in Lisbon in ten years.

But before we get to the festival’s big event, here are the three performances that really made my day that Sunday:

Warpaint

Once again, my favorite performance of the day was not on the festival’s main stage, but took place early in the afternoon at Palco Heineken, the smaller stage at the opposite side of the site.

A quarter past seven, just as they finished setting up their equipment, Warpaint kicked off their 45-minute set with an intriguing, groove-heavy new tune sung by Theresa Wayman who was kneeling on the floor, tweaking her guitar’s effects pedal for the most part of it. It was the first of just a few new songs that the band had in store for us, whetting our appetite for their upcoming album, but as expected it was the familiar older material from "The Fool" and "Exquisite Corpse" that elicited the loudest applause.

The fluid bass and drum rhythms provided by Jenny Lee Lindberg and Stella Mozgawa form the strong backbone of Warpaint’s intricate song structures upon which singers Emily Kokal and Theresa Wayman add their perfectly combined guitar melodies. The results are truly mesmerizing and tracks like "Bees", "Composure", "Undertow" or the extended version of "Elephants" captivated the audience who rewarded the quartet with enthusiastic cheers. With such inspiring performances, Warpaint should soon find their own place on the main stages of festivals like this.

 

The Kills

The Kills also played at the festival's second stage, but the bravado of Alison Mosshart’s and Jamie Hince’s performance would have you believe they were headlining at the world’s largest rock arena.

Supported by a small army of drummers (ok, they were maybe three, but they sounded like a marching army) and a few gospel singers on occasion, The Kills played a magnificent, hour-long, rabble-rousing set featuring a significant portion of last year’s "Blood Pressures" LP as well as a few choice cuts from their rich back-catalog (favorite moment: "Fuck the People").

It was the last set we witnessed at Optimus (Metronomy followed them at 3 am but there was no more gas left in the tank for us) and, frankly, I can’t think of a better way to say the last goodbye.

The Kills’ complete set list from here: No Wow, Future Starts Slow, Heart is A Beating Drum, Kissy Kissy, DNA, Satellite, Baby Says, Tape Song, Last Day of Magic, The Last Goodbye, Pots and Pans, Fuck the People, Monkey 23.

Mazzy Star

Mazzy Star played at Palco Heineken an hour before Radiohead’s headline slot at Palco Optimus (you guessed it, palco means stage) which meant that as their set progressed the audience began to thin out. All the better for me, of course, as I was able to get even closer to the stage and enjoy a better view of Hope Sandoval’s and David Roback’s band performance that took place in near darkness, with most of the light coming from the images projected in the background.

It’s been 19 years since the last time I had the opportunity to enjoy Mazzy Star live and for approximately an hour the band managed to take us back into the '90s with a masterful, slow-burning, psychedelic performance that included material from all three of their albums (with "Blue Flower", "Ghost Highway" from "She Hangs Brightly" and "Fade Into You" and the title-track from "So Tonight That I Might See" being my personal favorites) as well as a couple of new tracks ("Lay Myself Down" and "Flyin' Low") that leave the promise that the magic can continue in their highly-anticipated new work.

Mazzy Star’s set: Blue Flower, Disappear, Ghost Highway, Halah, Still Cold, She Hangs Brightly, Look On Down From The Bridge, Fade Into You, Lay Myself Down, Flyin' Low, So Tonight That I Might See.

Radiohead

I have to admit I have a rather unusual relationship with Radiohead’s music. I liked their debut album but lost interest with "The Bends" and I still cannot understand why the OK "OK Computer" is considered a masterpiece. Things began to change with "Kid A", as the band managed to surprise everyone with its unexpected turn into electronic-influenced, experimental pop territory and my Radiohead affiliation grew stronger with the records that followed.

Given my preference to their electro leaning '00s period, I have to say I was rather pleased to hear a live set culled mostly from the more recent material with "The King Of Limbs" having the lion’s share, although I suspect that the favorite part for most fans came closer to the end of the 90-minute performance, when they brought out the '90s big guns: "Climbing Up the Walls", "Exit Music (For a Film)", "Lucky", "Paranoid Android" - especially this one, and the closing  "Street Spirit (Fade Out)". Undoubtedly, Radiohead gave a solid performance which was enhanced by an elaborate light show, but the decision to not broadcast it on the video screens (they were used to display arty flickering images) made it rather difficult to follow what was going on on-stage and as a result part of the connection that a live show should create between a band and its fans was lost for a significant percentage of the large crowd.

Radiohead played: Bloom, 15 Step, Morning Mr. Magpie, Staircase, Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, The Gloaming, Separator, Pyramid Song, I Might Be Wrong, Climbing Up the Walls, Nude, Exit Music (for a Film), Lotus Flower (with "Sun" Intro), There There, Feral, Bodysnatchers. Encore 1: Give Up the Ghost, Reckoner, Lucky, Paranoid Android, Everything In Its Right Place (with "The One I Love" intro), Idioteque. Encore 2: Street Spirit (Fade Out).

Caribou, live @ Optimus Alive '12 (July 15)

Other notable performances of the festival’s last and most full day included Caribou’s intelligent dance-fest at Optimus Stage, The Maccabees’ highly energetic britpop and SBTRKT’s Sunday night fever party at Heineken Stage, and Carbon Airways’ electro mayhem at Optimus Clubbing Stage that sounded like Crystal Castles gone disco.

The Maccabees,  live @ Optimus Alive '12 (July 15)

Watch below Warpaint performing "Composure", Mazzy Star playing their biggest hit "Fade Into You" and The Kills killing it with "Tape Song" at Optimus Alive '12:

Optimus Alive '12, day 3 playlist featuring Warpaint, Mazzy Star and The Kills

Click here for our coverage of the first two days of the festival.

Listening Habits 04-05.11

The two albums that stand out among the latest pack of new cds that pile up next to our stereo come from a pair of names that belong to the cream of the ’00s alternative rock crop; TV On The Radio and The Kills.

"Nine Types Of Light", the fourth album by TV On The Radio (fifth if you count their self-released and hard to find debut "OK Calculator"), may not scrape the same heights as their three previous stellar efforts, but it certainly helps the band to maintain its remarkably high career average score. The record’s laid back, melodic grooves give the impression of a band that doesn’t feel anymore the pressure to prove a point and who is confident enough to kick back and have some fun. The aim is no longer to experiment or try to find new ways of expression but to make robust, impeccably produced dance-rock rhythms and pop melodies with soul. The mission is successful and the end result is an entertaining record that although it may not make history like "Return to Cookie Mountain" or "Dear Science", it will certainly move your body and your mind.

Another early 2011 highlight comes from The Kills and their fourth full length "Blood Pressures". The powerful combination of Alison Mosshart’s irresistible wail and Jamie Hince’s killer guitar riffs has given us some of the most addictive tracks of the ’00s. Their struggle for dominance over the drum machine’s primitive rock beats continues in The Kills’ latest work, where the band’s unique chemistry still creates sparks and its unique blend of blues, punk, reggae and dance music produces once more some truly memorable tracks like "Future Starts Slow", "Heart Is A Beating Drum", "Nail In My Coffin", "DNA" or The Congos’ sampling "Satellite", all necessary additions to a future "best of".

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart’s sophomore effort "Belong" shows the young band’s ambition to create a bigger and bolder sound. By handing over production and mixing duties to esteemed producers Flood and Alan Moulder the band has upgraded its sound, while the influence of the ’90s indie rock big guitars threatens to overshadow the lo-fi C-86 naïve obsession that was pivotal to its debut’s effortless charm. In the new record the ’80s twee-pop melodies of the band's early efforts step into ’90s fashion shoegaze shoes, while The Smashing Pumpkins prove to be just as influential as Ride or The Jesus And Mary Chain. Although this new batch of songs lacks the immediacy of the first record, the attention given to the details of the sound and the band’s desire to evolve and expand its sonic palette has helped to create a strong whole that promises even greater things for the future.

The top 5 of the third edition of Listening Habits for 2011 is made up by Cold Cave’s second album "Cherish The Light Years" where the band’s '80s dark electropop sound transforms into an anthemic synth-rock orgy that sounds better with each spin and Religious To Damn’s promising debut "Glass Prayer", a record that draws inspiration from legendary names of the early '80s such as Siouxsie & The Banshees, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush or Japan and introduces us to the amazing vocal talents of their singer and songwriter Zohra Atash.

Top 20 Albums

1.  Nine Types Of Light - TV ON THE RADIO
2.  Blood Pressures - THE KILLS
3.  Belong - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
4.  Cherish The Light Years - COLD CAVE
5.  Glass Prayer - RELIGIOUS TO DAMN
6.  Riot Now! - ELEVENTH DREAM DAY
7.  Mazes - MOON DUO
8.  Degeneration Street - THE DEARS
9.  Share The Joy - VIVIAN GIRLS
10. Helplessness Blues - FLEET FOXES
11. Alela Diane & Wild Divine - ALELA DIANE
12. Tao Of The Dead - …AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD
13. Wasting Light - FOO FIGHTERS
14. Mine Is Yours - COLD WAR KIDS
15. What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? - THE VACCINES
16. Trump-Harm - 31KNOTS
17. My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky - SWANS
18. Cloak And Cipher - LAND OF TALK
19. Untitled - FACTORY FLOOR
20. Dagger Paths EP - FOREST SWORDS

Top 20 Tracks

1.  Future crimes - WILD FLAG
2.  Heart is a beating drum - THE KILLS
3.  Will do - TV ON THE RADIO
4.  (R E A L L O V E) - FACTORY FLOOR
5.  Slow motion - HUSBAND
6.  Terra - RELIGIOUS TO DAMN

7.  Through the floor - CRYSTAL STILTS
8.  Satellite - ELEVENTH DREAM DAY
9.  When you cut - MOON DUO
10. Throw away this - TELEPATHE
11. Underworld USA - COLD CAVE
12. Strange - THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART
13. The dog is black (feat. Liela Moss) - UNKLE
14. Milkman - EMA
15. To begin - ALELA DIANE
16. Helplessness blues - FLEET FOXES
17. Blood - THE DEARS
18. Rope - FOO FIGHTERS
19. Vanishing of time - VIVIAN GIRLS
20. Norgaard - THE VACCINES

TV On The Radio - Nine Types of Light

(mp3s via Stereogum, KEXP, Spinner, Sub Pop)

Tracks of the Year: The Kills - Last Day Of Magic

Actually, most tracks on The Kills super-cool third album "Midnight Boom" could be counted amongst the best tracks of this year, but I have decided to go with "Last Day Of Magic" simply because there is also a hilariously violent video that goes with it. Jamie and Alison must really love to hate one another or is it the other way round? Let the punching begin:

The Kills - Last Day Of Magic