Principal Club, Thessaloniki, Greece 19.01.2018

It’s been three and a half years since the Canadian hardcore act, COMEBACK KID, has visited Thessaloniki, Greece. Nobody really expected them to come back (no pun here, move along) for another show so soon, but after the fantastic album “Outsider” proved to be, nobody complained either. In fact, it was quite the opposite. COMEBACK KID gave everyone that made it to Principal Theater on the chilly Friday night of the 19th of January a round for their money.

To the event management’s credit, the show kicked off on schedule, despite the extremely discouraging attendance (about 30 people give or take).

I can’t think of a better band in the Greek hardcore scene more fitting to open for CBK than MY TURN. For those not familiar with MY TURN, the four-piece hardcore act from Volos are the best Greece has to offer when it comes to hardcore music, touring abroad numerous times. The stage experience they assimilated within those tours definitely showed up for them in their performance. Their whole set was consistently energetic and the absence of a second guitar was never noticed, as their sole guitarist, Stelios, was on a one-man mission to riff his way into the fun set MY TURN had in store for the few attenders that were present at the time. I’d have to point out “To The Kids” and “Ούτε στιγμή” as the set’s highlights.

Going into this show I knew nothing about OYD as this was my first ever acquaintance with them. To be honest, I was caught off guard with how tight the group from Kalamata were instrumentally. Their style was close to that of DEFTONES, KORN, and TOOL while giving their own twist to it by putting significant emphasis on samples and keyboards. In terms of energy, they picked right where MY TURN left off, being even more engaging with the crowd on top of that. My biggest takeaway from OYD’s set was some very original grooves and riffs and overall interesting ideas, but I’d like to see them utilize their clean vocals a little better in their next works. Overall it was an intense set and I’d be glad to attend one of their shows again.

As the venue was getting progressively more crowded (didn’t really surpassed a hundred people in attendance by much though) the time for COMEBACK KID to unleash was nigh and after a relatively brief soundcheck, the first chords of “Outsider” surfaced and within seconds, the crowd that was until then spaced all throughout Principal’s ballroom, was now gathered close to the stage. The sound was not ideal but the Canadians made sure we’d never have to care about that for the rest of the show. Pretty early in their setlist, Andrew (vocals) noticed the protective bar that was set in front of the stage for next day’s KREATOR show, called the venue out for it and encouraged everyone to hop over it and go right beneath the stage. Few responded to his call, so he took matters into his own hands by spending half of the show off stage and stuck to that protective barrier, passing on the mic to the crowd, making the show a lot more intimate. Things really started picking up in “G.M. Vincent And I” and never let out from there. Andrew kept the crowd involved and they definitely responded to that. Going into a COMEBACK KID show, you know that “Wake The Dead” is going to be intense and probably the highlight of the set, but I can’t help but mention the fact they gave older albums a nod by playing “Broadcasting” and “All In A Year” which happens to be my personal highlight.

At the end of the day, COMEBACK KID made an almost empty ballroom feel like it was full. After watching them live twice, I can’t find a reason why I wouldn’t go back to do the same each and every time the come to Greece and I recommend that everyone that likes their music should do so as well.