Moonspell, The Foreshadowing, Eleine// Eightball Club, Thessaloniki, Greece // 07.09.2016

It is quite known, that the Greek audience is not that font of the atmospheric metal sound, at least, not that much, as it used to be in the near past. This factor, together with the forsaken economy crisis that still disturbs this particular country, have sealed the concert attendance to minimum. This is exactly what the scene has been, for this great expectations line-up, in contrast to its attendance. Eightball live stage has an estimate of maximum capacity of under a thousand attendants, and believe me I’ve seen it packed. Quite a sad moment in time, for concerts in Greece, indeed. But, my bitterness has to be stopped for now, because there is a bright side to it, after all.

ELEINE was the first band to hit the stage with the belly dance eastern-dressed, female singer getting all eyes on her. For the lovers of this kind of metal where heavy riffs mix up with oriental-influenced melodies, I bet this band is a must-check.  The band was really solid on stage and a great opening for what was about to come leaving positive impressions to the little audience inside the venue by that time.

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After a, short in time, stage change over, second band THE FORESHADOWING from Italy, got on stage in time, for their show. A fifty minute set of  doomy atmospheric metal, that really aims high enough, in terms of on stage performance. They blended their set with songs  from their full back catalogue, making it impossible, not to give them credits for being good at what they represent. I just have to mention one small detail that cannot be omitted, anyhow. Their singer just seemed out of tune, at quite a number of times, a fact that might have been occasional but has to be pointed out to the negatives of their performance. All in all, though, there were fans of their music in the audience, who seemed to enjoy each and every sound of them, and that means a lot and not just for the band.

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Followed by a lengthy applause and a fast change over, the Italians left the stage and it was time for the best Portuguese metal band of our times to hit the stage. MOONSPELL, entered the stage at about 22.20 and got off of it around midnight. A one hour and a half full show,  with beautiful lighting direction and great performance that made it clear that at our times, the Portuguese, are back on top of their game. With a set focused on their latest release “Extinct” , but also including a best of setlist as well, they did everything that a professional band has to do!

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They kicked maximum ass! Fernando Ribiero, is a great crowd manipulator and performed brilliantly, though he seemed a bit restricted to the small stage, as for the rest of the band, accuracy in performance and professionalism, are the exact words to describe them. A small surprise, made their set even more special, when local female singer Maxi Nil of JADED STAR joined them on stage for the songs “Scorpion Flower” and “Luna”. The crowd, on the other hand, was somehow stable through most of the show, until the great old ones appeared now and then on the set, with highlight activity songs being “Alma Mater” and “Full Moon Madness” which closed their set.

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I have to admit that the timeline and the process of the changeovers etc. was exemplary! An overall beautiful tour package, that none should miss. MOONSPELL, as I mentioned before, are on top of their game, and in great shape! All of them! Don’t miss them!

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Photos: Panagiotis Karagiannidis