Plisskën Festival 2014, part 2 (Athens, June 7, 2014)

Black Lips, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

In the second part of our Plisskën Festival 2014 coverage we bring you photos and live videos from some of the best performances of the event's second day which took place at the Hellenic Cosmos Cultural Center on Saturday, June 7th. For the first part, click here.

The Soft Moon, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

The two bands that attracted the largest crowd at the festival's indoor main stage on Saturday were Black Lips and The Soft Moon. For both bands this was the second time that they were playing in Athens.

The Soft Moon

Luis Vasquez's band popularity with the Greek indie fans was evident from their very first visit here, a year ago. The love affair continued with their Plisskën performance which was very well received once again. Dark, post-punk sounds evoking the ghosts of new wave past and some amazing guitar shredding, propelled by a relentless rhythm section, created the perfect setting for The Soft Moon to shine once again.

Black Lips

Black Lips first ever show here was six years ago (actually one of this blog's very first live reports) and, great as it was, had not attracted a very big crowd back then (to put it mildly). Fast forward to the summer of 2014 and Black Lips finally get the recognition they deserve also in Greece by headlining  Plisskën Festival in front of a packed crowd of adoring fans. The popularity of garage rock, as I've mentioned before, is on the rise once again here and tracks like "O Katrina!", "Bad Kids" or "Boys In The Wood" make perfect anthems for the new generation of the genre's disciples.

Wooden Shjips, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Another highlight of the festival, also in the spirit of the revival of garage rock but with much heavier doses of psychedelia and kraut-rock repetition, came with the excellent, hour-long set of Wooden Shjips who played in between The Soft Moon and Black Lips. This was also the second appearance in Athens for Ripley Johnson' main band (he has also visited us with Moon Duo) and once again the controls were set for the heart of trippy space rock and we eagerly followed them there. Looking forward to do it all over again in the autumn when Moon Duo visit again (click here for our impressions from Wooden Shjips' first Athens gig).

Wooden Shjips' Ripley Johnson

Earlier in the evening we also enjoyed sets by Crocodiles (Brandon Welchez and his band mates proved to be fans of most bands on the festival's bill as they stayed and watched their performances by the side of the stage), Dirty Beaches (Alex Hungtai's popularity is rising with Greek fans as his tunes get more minimal and experimental), Damien Jurado (he performed solo with just his acoustic guitar for accompaniment) and Nightmare Air.

Crocodiles, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Dirty Beaches, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Damien Jurado, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Nightmare Air was definitely one of the pleasant surprises of the festival with their energetic, shoegaze-influenced, noise rock. The Los Angeles trio is formed by former Film School member Dave Dupuis and have released last year the album "High In The Lasers" which is definitely worth checking out. Swaan Miller, on bass and vocal duties, continues the great indie-rock tradition of outstanding female bass players!

Nightmare Air, live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Nightmare Air's Swaan Miller

Check out below Black Lips, Wooden Shjips and Crocodiles performing "Bad Kids", "Ghouls" and "Neon Jesus" respectively, at  Plisskën Festival's main stage on Saturday, June 7th:

Black Lips - Bad Kids (live @ Plisskën Festival 2014

Wooden Shjips - Ghouls (live @ Plisskën Festival 2014)

Crocodiles - Neon Jesus (live @ Plisskën Festival 2014)