Diamond Head : The Underworld, Athens, Greece, 19/02/2006



Set list: Am I Evil (intro) / Its Electric / Give It To Me / The Prince / Mine All Mine / Lightning To The Nations / Fallen Angel / To The Devil His Due / Alimony / I Can't Help Myself / Borrowed Time / Sucking My Love / Streets Of Gold / Helpless / Am I Evil.
Encore: In The Heat Of The Night

 

Diamondhead/Vice human/Power crue
Sunday, 19 February 2006
The underworld, Athens, Greece
By Dimitrios Fatouros

Ah, hell - Am I Evil ? I 'm not sure! I was totally awed by Diamondhead's amazing "All will be revealed" album - a superb return to form - that received a limited release initially - about a year ago - and a broader - still European only release a couple of months ago. As part of their renewed interest in conquering the world - the band undertook an extensive European tour with Megadeth last year, as well as a stint of headline dates - in countries that they didn't play on the previous tour, this time around.

The gig started at the familiar haunt - the underworld. The first support band was Power Crue - a sort of veteran band with a number of releases under their belt. Sporting a rather new lineup - well since the last time I saw them, (quite a long time ago, yet in THIS GALAXY.) They were - pretty good, yet didn't manage exactly to set the world on fire. Their songs are quite similar with each other in structure - and tended to veer on and overstay their welcome - with choruses being repeated over and over and over again. Vice human - are a cult trio - with not too bad musical ideas, that however get compromised by the rather one dimensional if not weak voice of their singer/guitarist. Both support bands seemed to please their fans and ultimately that's what matters most.

However, the bulk of the 250 people that must have been in the club were there for Diamondhead. Sporting an also updated line-up with the up and coming Nick Tart - replacing iconic front man Sean Harris - quite capably too - the Brits took the stage at about 11.20 and proceeded to blast out a carefully selected set with many of their earlier songs. Songs that nourished metal leviathans like Metallica and Megadeth and were in the former case even slightly plagiarized - not to mention officially covered too ... Brian Tatler - ever the guitar hero - made me want to drown my sorrows in the bar - realizing that my months of guitar practice - were almost devoid of meaning managing to score some outstanding solos and crunching out some simple yet VERY effective riffs, that many bands would kill - to have written. Like mr Guitart, mr Tart himself , was a loose canon - moving like a man possessed and underlining almost each line with different postures and grimaces. Very impressive - and vocally very close to Sean Harris - while being himself. It's one of those rare occasions were I didn't mind the change of frontman that much, like in the cases of Marillion, Judas Pries and Skyclad...to mention but a few. The rest of the guys - kept an amazingly tight backbone - that enable the band to groove wildly and really rock the appreciative crowd. If memory serves me well and without pertaining that I even remotely remember the sequence of song they must have played : "Am I Evil (intro)" followed by the magnifiscent "Its Electric". New songs like the groovy "Give It To Me" and "Mine All Mine" sat very well along "The Prince". Hm what else "I Can't Help Myself" and another new track "Fallen Angel" were aired as well as a slightly modified version of "To The Devil His Due". Pleads for "Ismael" - "Call me", "Lost at sea" and others were ignored (boo-hoo) but "Alimony" made it. Hopefully no band member had to pay it. "Sucking My Love" aka "Seek and Destroy" before it was "nicked" made the people headbang wildly. Then we were treated to some more songs in the form of the "Streets Of Gold" a wild and reckless rendition of "Helpless" and the cathartic and ultra heavy "Am I Evil?"... Great stuff... The crowd wouldn't allow the band to leave without a proper encore so the band - even though it was late - did play "In The Heat Of The Night" and really gave a er fitting epilogue to a fine and rocking night. The sound - that usually - is rather mediocre - was superb - and the performance was nearly flawless. Showmanship and crowd interaction were also - not only great but also ver heartfelt and heart warming - and thus the night ended as a very happy sort of rock n roll ceremony/celebration....

Lad's don't take another 20 odd years eh ?!

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Report by Grigoris on 2006/03/04
Lineup: Diamond Head / Vice Human / Power Crue

The first minute I heard legendary Diamond Head would perform live in Athens, Greece, I couldn’t stand but ’bear’ a big smile. No, nothing like "At last!" or "D.H. ruuuule!" etc. The 19th of February 2006 would be the biggest opportunity I’d have to see how many friends of mine (30+ year olds) would show up (you old farts...). The Diamonds may be the first thing - for many people - coming in mind when chattin’ ’ bout the New Wave of British heavy Metal. Not because of their - assuming - superiority against other British bands of the time or - factually - due to their capability of still releasing studio albums. Dunno, it may be simply because Diamond Head - in my mind - represent the purity of transmission from the hardrockin’ 70s to the metalizin’ 80’s in British music.

The Underworld Club - the proper place for such events - was not even half packed the time I arrived. Football matches are still a high priority for many metalheads, as if Diamond Head could play day after day in our town. Yet, it was proved that prior to the band’s headline appearance the venue would welcome many ’late additions’ , summing it up to a total of 200- flashrockin’ heads. The appropriate Metal Nation Records stall was a good reason to spend some money - before spending the rest on booze - on hard-to-find CD releases, while the gig was about to begin with Athens’ Metal heroes Power Crue.

With more than 15 years of existence, the Heavy/Power Metal quintet burst out like hell, with a new vocalist George (ex-Stendor) full of energy and the rest of the band in their standard ’let’s-destroy-this-fuckin’-place’ appetite for destruction. Supported by a good - in general - stiff sound, the tunes outta their latest release, "Night...mares!", made a very nice impression to the audience while classics like "Torture", "Before The End" or "Spend On You" raised bloody hell in a crowd thirsty for classic Metal the ’80s’ way. Power Crue - a band that surprisingly has not pushed its limits abroad yet - is the living proof of true devotion to Metal music.

If Power Crue are representing the old-school Metal style, then the follow-up band needs no introduction to some. Founded in 1980 (or even earlier), Vice Human is the living legend of Greece. The band’s age - compared even to D.H.’s years of life - speaks for itself in terms of music: classic-to-the-bone Heavy Metal music, with a lot of elements reminding of NWoBHM (as if there was something else to be influenced at that time...). As a trio, with long-running guitarist/singer Nick Papakostas as the leader, Vice Human are a ’touching’ experience. Their songwriting may be considered as ’naive’ - in today’s standards - but the mere fact that this band carries on, twenty four years after their self-titled debut release, needs no other explanation. "Running Ways", "Can You Feel The Night", "Heavy Metal", "Hooligan Hero", "Metal Wars", "We Are The Future", "Wind", "Night Hunter", "Born To Rock" and "Set Me Free" set the venue on fire and - as far as I’m concerned - the final applause was/is/will be the best motive for this band to carry on eternally. Thank you!

Due to Diamond Head’s appearance, the talkin’ regarding their setlist/appearance grew high. Then, the lights went dim and the intro part of "Am I Evil?" took our breaths! Damage done. Switching off to "It’s Electric", I was sure this would be a helluva night. With a raw, solid sound, Diamond Head took command of the whole venue in seconds. The new vocalist, Nick Tart, is a cute guy with adequate voice chords and I felt relieved he’d sang this legendary tune that fine. Mainman Brian Tatler (guitars) seemed so astonished watching 200 maniacs singing all along, and this was a good thing. Why? Isn’t "The Prince" a good reason? "Lightning To The Nations"? "To The Devil His Due"? "Borrowed Time"? Should I mention classics such as "Sucking My Love" or "Streets Of Gold"? Should I refer to "Helpless" or the full -this time - version of "Am I Evil?" to put you in the picture? In brief, the old stuff was played/sung/operated/presented/sound really great and (it’s a fact) a big part of the 80’s British Metal history found its way through the center of Athens, Greece really ’smooth’ and easy that evening.

The new stuff is not that ’retro’ - an honest move from the band, I should add - and I can recall "Mine All Mine", "Give It To Me" and "Alimony" receiving a warm applause but nothing more. The same goes for "I Can’t Help Myself", off the 1993 "Death & Progress" album. Yet, the ideal song for wrapping up the setlist - "In The Heat Of the Night" - stroke hard in heart and left the best of feelings as Diamond Head left the stage after 90 minutes. Did not see any disappointed faces, did not hear any harsh comment. Diamond Head surely enjoyed the gig, the fans did also. It does not have to be something neck-ripping to rate a gig high. Emotion was/is a crucial factor for D.H. and I felt really ’warm’ that evening. Is ’enthusiasm’ the word?

Review from Metal-Temple.com