Karma To Burn, Rozbub, Hidden In The Basement, Black Hat Bones // Eightball Club, Thessaloniki, Greece // 26.01.13
After last year’s holocaust in Karma To Burn’s concerts inGreece, the American trio returned for another promising stoner night. Having a big fan-base inThessaloniki, the venue (Eightball Live Stage) was quite easy job to fill up although the financial crisis have also affected on the attendance of the gigs. Fortunately, it seems that the fans are “here” for any “worth-to-see show” and Karma To Burn was definitely one of them.
Black Hat Bones was the first band that hit the stage. To be honest, I haven’t heard of them before, I didn’t even know their name and this show was my first touch with the band. From the very beginning of their performance I knew that I would love them. It was obvious from the first minute that this band rocks! Playing for around 40 minutes they delivered a professional heavy-rock show presenting some really catchy songs from their upcoming debut album. Heavy rhythms, stoner touches, rock attitude and an amazing singer (his voice really blew me away!) warmed up the crowd for good leaving the best impressions. Definitely a very-promising band for the future!
Next band was Hidden In The Basement fromLarisa. I have seen that band once couple of years ago and this time was my second one. Coming from the stoner metal scene but with faster riffs and alternations between clean vocals and growling ones they have made a really good progress since last time I saw them. Having fresh the release of their debut album “Ego” the band is at their best and that’s something they deliver on stage as well. Really professional appearance with great chemistry in the band, awesome guitars and a powerful performance: enough to make some heads bang!
When everybody was waiting for Karma To Burn, another band called Rozbub hit the stage. They were an addition of the last moment being a personal choice of Karma To Burn. Obviously inspired by Jimmy Hendrix and classic rock/bluesy sounds they played for 25’ minutes giving a different note to the whole package.
After all, it was time for the West Virginian trio. Karma To Burn hit the stage with “Eight” and that’s how Eightball Club turned into desert! The sound was awesome (same was with the other bands as well) and you could feel Rich Mullin’s bass’ rhythms inside you. Will Mecum’s style having a toothpick on his mouth and delivering a storm of southern groovy riffs is a never forgotten “picture” stuck in my memory. This time, Rob Oswald hasn’t been behind the drum-kit but the new drummer met the requirements for good and looks like an excellent choice for the band! Many say that singers are the strongest card in a band. Others believe that it’s boring listening to just music and not vocals. It’s also known that it’s harder for an instrumental band to became famous than a band with a singer. To tell you the truth, I was a little bit prejudiced about that too. However, it’s really amazing how can Karma To Burn make you forget the absence of vocals and travel you with their music. Roadrunner Records once forced them to hire a singer in order to make a deal with them. I have to say that Karma To Burn really don’t need a singer and that’s something they prove on stage! Awesome show, can’t wait for their new album later this year.
Report & Photo: Panagiotis Karagiannidis