X-mass Explode Fest
Nightstalker, Lord 13, Low Gravity , Mapple Run
An Club, Athens, Greece
24/12/09.
Well, it was Christmas time and except from all the known figures, trees, gifts etc there’s something in this city that keeps us waiting every year at this time: Nightstalker playing live on Christmas Eve! The venue, well known, was An Club at Exarchia and we couldn’t miss the feast. Lord 13, Low Gravity and Mapple Run were the other bands that participated.
Unfortunately, we were late for Mapple Run, the hot prospects of stoner scene in Athens that have appeared in Live Tv Shows, and we reached the venue just as Low Gravity hit the stage. Following the tradition of the legends of this genre, Karma To Burn, Low Gravity’s work contains only instrumental tracks. Inspired by Clutch, Low Gravity had a good time playing on the stage of An Club getting the people warmed up as we waited for Lord 13 and Nightstalker who were the stars of that night. Although, having some sound difficulties, which are well known in Greek venues, and a little out of form compared to the last time I’d seen them on April, Low Gravity left the stage after 45-50 minutes.
Next in line, Lord 13. Although, heavier and closer to heavy stoner sound compared to Nightstalker, Lord 13 have always been considered second after the pioneers of Greek Stoner. Full of energy, Lord 13 hit the stage some minutes after midnight playing tracks like All Right giving us a taste of what will happen on January 16th when they’ll have the honor to open for Orange Goblin. After 50 minutes of crowdsurfing and headbanging Lord 13 left the stage leaving us waiting for Nightstalker.
To be honest, I was fairly disappointed on November, when Nightstalker had a gig on An Club. They appeared tired, disorganized and surely a lot worse compared to April 10th which was the last time I’d seen them live. Well all doubts I had in mind concerning the attendance, weren’t at all confirmed and once again the people that packed An Club had a nice time with Nightstalker playing tracks that have become a part of Greek rock’s history. New ones, “Baby God Is Dead”, “Heavy Mental” (total chaos!), “Superfreak” and older ones “Use”, “Trigger Happy”, “Just A Burn”, “Line”, “All Around”, “Voodoo U Do” and so many other.
After playing for one hour and half approximately, Argy and Co left the stage leaving us fully satisfied. That’s what I call Merry Christmas!
Chris “Wild Child” Zarkadakis.