The call had gone out to all Greek followers of hard rock/heavy metal music. The date had been set for quite some time. And the local hard n’ heavy scene had organized a big celebration, this time at Ilion Plus, in the center of Athens, featuring three Greek bands: Hideaway, Dentures and Destiny Calls. Myth of Rock had received its invitation to this party and, of course, we were there on that Sunday evening in October. What exactly happened? You will find out right below!
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
Hideaway photos by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
Dentures and Destiny Calls photos by Iro Kalligeri (@irokalligeriphotography)
A few minutes after 20:30, the intro prepared by Hideaway was heard. Having been active in the melodic hard rock scene since 2010, Hideaway came on stage full of energy and enthusiasm, greeted by the warm applause of the crowd. This was my first contact with the band, and it was a completely positive and highly satisfying experience, although that does not mean everything was perfect. What do I mean? I really liked their songs, which are clearly the result of inspiration and love for this particular genre. However, I felt that, as a band, they still need some work to become as tight as they need to be. It’s not that they made mistakes; rather, the connection between the instruments was not particularly strong, but somewhat fragile. Also, while the singer’s tone and power made a good impression, his vocals were on the edge in terms of pitch in some parts. In any case, though, I liked Hideaway – they know their way around melodic hard rock, they have good songs in their repertoire and, if they pay attention to the details and work on them, their live shows can be excellent. I’m very happy that a band with so many years of existence is still going strong and, in fact, coming back even stronger!
What do we have next? Dentures, of course! They are a newly formed heavy metal band, although almost all of their members have many years of experience in the Greek hard n’ heavy scene. Dentures love fast, guitar-driven and wild heavy metal, the kind that owes a lot to Black Sabbath, Dio, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Accept, Motörhead, Raven and others. They too stormed onto the stage of Ilion Plus with confidence and enthusiasm, making it clear that they don’t mess around and that they have all the essential metal virtues: speed, intensity, solid technique and genuine, powerful emotion! Indeed, the quartet launched a strong classic metal attack, delivering excellent musicianship, intensity and “pain”, while giving us their soul, heart and mind! Lilian has a powerful voice that fits perfectly with the hard sound of the electric guitar and the intense bass, which, together with the drums, create a rough groove. It should be noted that three different drummers took turns behind the kit, as their regular drummer was dealing with an orthopedic problem – all three were absolute machine guns! Overall, Dentures gave a very strong performance and played their well-written songs with great skill. Just imagine what they will have to offer in the future, considering that they are only at the beginning of their journey!
With all that going on, time flew by, and the audience at Ilion Plus had really warmed up and was ready to enjoy Destiny Calls. The well-known hard rock band, faithful and consistent in keeping its appointment with its fans, took the stage, bringing us joy and excitement. The five musicians took their places and, in great spirits, with plenty of passion and smiles on their faces, delivered a beautiful, brilliant set of quality, well-played hard rock! It was an amazing feeling to hear and a real experience to “live” these sweet hard rock songs, packed with catchy melodies, memorable rhythms and a healthy sense of nostalgia! As expected, the show was stolen by both Aggeliki Rossolatou, who sang with her intoxicating tone, and the rich guitar sound of Spyros Fousekis. But what can one say about the thunderous drums of Peter Papapetros, the elegant keyboards of Georgios Georgiou, and the heavy, technical bass of Loukas Adamopoulos?! The setlist included songs by the band – I particularly enjoyed “Lonely Days”, “Falling Apart”, “Angel” and “Into the Night” – as well as two good and faithful covers: Bonnie Tyler’s “Hide Your Heart” and Survivor’s “Desperate Dreams”. You can understand that Destiny Calls’ live performance was fantastic and that we all had an amazing time! After their final notes, Destiny Calls said goodbye to us – we thank destiny for allowing us to experience such a night, and we are already looking forward to the next one! Yes!
Having seen and heard Hideaway, Dentures and Destiny Calls, we headed home, truly happy! We will always be grateful to God as long as we continue to experience such celebratory concerts!
