Universe217, When Oceans Align, Embargo // Eightball Club, Thessaloniki, Greece // 17.01.2015
January 16th 2015. It’s been two weeks since this new year has given a fresh start up of exciting concert dates happening in our area of interest, Thessaloniki, Greece. One of these is this particular show with two bands that I’ve seen before and really worth attendance the least, and a new band I even hadn’t heard of before.
21.00 o’clock sharp and though the starting hour is set to 20.30, the club is not yet packed, which ultimately means the show is going to be delayed. A common and undeniable mistake all bands and venues/promoters should take under consideration to fix, in order for the shows to be more attended and professional.
The clock goes on a half hour later with the venue starting to fill and at about 21.30 youngsters Embargo take their place on stage and start to perform their versions on Karma to Burn tracks combined with their own material. A band consisting of two guitarists a bass player and a drummer with the average age of 13 yrs they were really a nice apocalypse in the way they performed and supported their place on a big stage. Their stoner/ post/ sludge instrumentals and their covers even without a singer were performed tightly and really were a big surprise for almost everyone that were there and heard them! A band that will surely have a bright future, keep an eye on them!
A short break and When Oceans Align take place on stage. Using a nice video art projecting on the back of the stage, supporting their performance, their 3 guitars/ bass/ drums instrumental quintet takes off with some sound problems that are fixed shortly after and their material really flows smoothly and fast. This almost made me believe they played less minutes than the first performance of the night! Quite active and communicating their material nice When Oceans Align will shortly make their own break through having this strong musical and visual material!!!
A few changes on stage, and headliners Universe 217 are on stage rather late at night, and ready to kick ass as usual! Visiting Thessaloniki now and then, within every year since their formation, they manage to almost pack the venue and the world seems familiar with their material and performance! One guitar, one drumkit, one bass, a short video projection and the unearthly presence of Tanya on vocals unveil in front of us with dark red and purple/blue lighting boosting their performance to another level of pleasure!!! With a setlist containing songs from their entire discography they really blow everyone’s expectations as always! A band that really enjoys every moment and supports their material to the maximum as all professional bands should do!!! Their dark doom oriented post metal with clean and growling vocals stands out with its character and none shall defy them when they’ll see them! Universe 217 are a band that really should be beyond borders, their music and performance is a gift that every corner of this world should have the chance to admire! Probably, one of the best and unique underground bands that you’ll ever come up to!!! To everyone reading this don’t miss this quartet!