After releasing one of the best albums of 2024, “Mean Streets”, Riot V quickly conquered the world, touring and visiting numerous corners of the globe. This extensive tour brought the American heavy/speed/power metal band to Athens as well as other cities in Greece. Myth of Rock, thrilled to witness this reincarnation of Riot live, secured its spot at Kyttaro and thoroughly enjoyed this exceptional heavy metal event.
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
photos by Iro Kalligeri (@irokalligeriphotography)
The first band to play that November night was the Greek heavy/power metallers Diviner. I hadn’t seen the band at their previous concert at Kyttaro, so I was eager to experience Yiannis Papanikolaou and co. on stage. Diviner were great, and they absolutely nailed it, providing the best possible opening for Riot V. Papanikolaou was in great form, and with his positive energy, he led Diviner to a beautiful performance. The audience, who had already packed the venue, was super satisfied with Diviner, who played some of their best songs, including the fan favorites “Mountains High” and “Waste No Time” from their latest album, “Avaton”. The Greeks played with confidence and, from the first refrain, won over the attendees, who started singing along and headbanging to Diviner’s tunes. Diviner is one of Greece’s top heavy metal bands, and they proved that once again. We have to be grateful to Diviner and its members, who, apart from being great players, pour their soul into every gig and never lose their smile.
After Diviner’s majestic live show, we were warmed up and ready for the headliners, Riot V. The historic band stormed the stage with power and passion, selecting as their opening song the first track of “Mean Streets”, “Hail to the Warriors”. They humbly saluted us, and the speed/power ceremony began! From the first note, we admired how bonded, tight, and solid Riot V are. Without any doubt, we can say that Riot V is cataclysmic at their live shows, and they take everything by storm. We are talking about a tornado, a maelstrom that doesn’t leave anything standing! Riot V were furious, relentless, and tore everything down, selecting and performing both new and old classic songs.
Of course, the Greek audience was crazy and turned the venue into a giant mosh pit! The fans were screaming like there was no tomorrow, something that further ignited Riot V’s fiery force! You can imagine what happened at Kyttaro, especially during the classic songs like “Swords and Tequila”, “Road Racin’”, “Fight or Fall”, “Flight of the Warrior”, “Fire Down Under” and of course, “Thundersteel”. The legendary band, with the amazing Todd Michael Hall behind the microphone and the veterans Don Van Stavern on bass and Mike Flyntz on guitar, shocked the fans and brought us to hysteria. They performed twenty songs and didn’t want to leave the stage.
A stage that caught fire, as all hell broke loose! It was a triumph for Riot V, who played more songs during the encore than they usually do. Both the band and the audience had a FANTASTIC time in a live show that will be engraved in our memory!
As the musicians and fans gave their all, by the end of the concert, we were all exhausted but incredibly happy! It was a monumental live show, worthy of Riot’s legacy. Those who are no longer with us were surely watching from the heavens with pride!
