Mayfair never had this huge break. Maybe it was because of where they are from (Austria), maybe because of their very special music or I really don’t know why. It doesn’t matter. It’s not what we will talk about here. What matters is that the group is reunited and came to Greece for two concerts in Larisa and Athens, 23 years after the release of their first demo “Live For The King”.
Rockoverdose.gr of course could not be absent from such an event and editor Apostolos Pantazoglou traveled to Larisa to witness it.
The concert started at 22:00 exactly as it was scheduled with a local band called Innosense. The band steps on progressive paths with obvious influences from big names of this scene as Fates Warning and Conception. It was not by accident that the phrase “he sounds like Roy Kahn” was told many times among the fans. The band started with a great rhythm and from the beginning managed to make people head turn to the stage. The setlist of course was based on the band’s first album called “Outcast” which was released April 2011. In total we listened to 9 out of 10 songs from this album in the 50 minutes of their appearance. The band also did a cover of Conception’s “Roll The Fire”. In general the band seems to be quite strong, very bonded and has what it gets to go far. My only objection was that there was no connection with the fans which is quite important in such “family” concerts.
Setlist:
At The Edge Of The World / On And On / Revolution Rise / Utopia / Where Darkest Thoughts / Roll The Fire (Conception) / Mystify / Release / The Cradle Of My Soul / The Fall
About half an hour later, the lights go out and Mayfair appears on stage with the last person to go on it, being Mario. First song on the setlist was “Behind” and the frontman seems to do anything to capture everyone since the first minute. From the beginning it was clear that we were about to witness a very special concert. A concert which as I said above was a “family” one because everyone that was at Stage Club that night, was friends with each other one way or another. Of course this includes the band as well. Maybe that was the best way to enjoy this experience. An experience that everybody who was there will remember for a long long time. A great part on this was the feeling of the band. When they were playing their songs it was like they were not in the same place as we were. It was like they were somewhere else and nothing else mattered at the moment. Mario told me later, after the concert that “when we play music we are like aliens”. He particularly was AMAZING. Incredible energy, acting, performance. And of course the voice!!! As a friend of mine told me, it was like he had this voice in a closet all these years and he took it out for these concerts. I really didn’t expect it to be so good. On his right hand, the foundation of the band, Rene was a bit calmer but he was living something else when he was playing. During the songs he was rarely seeing the fans because of this “transcendence”.
Of course we could not have lived all these without the two other members Jolly and Hannes who form the Attacking Love Brigade. Jolly behind the drum set was smiling all the time and could not believe the reaction of the crowd after and also during each song. On his left, Hannes, the other member of the rhythm section was doing exactly what he was supposed to. Completing with total success the Mayfair puzzle.
Maybe the setlist is quite weird. The band decided to leave the album “Fastest Trip To Cyber-Town” out of it and focus on the other releases. We also had the chance to listen to several songs from their upcoming album which is due to 2013. These songs fit perfectly to the rest of the songs and gave a sense of continuity with the classics and not something strange or foreign.
Unfortunately time flies when you have a good time and thus after approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes the band left the stage but only for a while. Before the band leaves the venue they had a surprise for us. One of the people who helped for this concert to become reality, Vasilis Kar, went on stage and played with the band “Advanced In Years”. It was a very special moment and for some people it will be unforgettable for sure. Unfortunately for reasons out of the hands of the band and promoters, we could not listen to the last song of the setlist a cover of Warlord’s “Penny For A Poor Man”. It would be a very beautiful moment but things like this happen. Maybe next time?
A few minutes after 01:00 the concert was over leaving me full of feelings and really happy that I was there. I believe same goes for all of the people that were there. But the group was not ready to leave yet. A couple of minutes later they went off stage to talk, sign, take a photo with everyone that wanted to do so.
In general I would say that it was an amazing concert, with very good sound. But the most important is that everybody had a great time. Let’s hope Mayfair will visit us again soon.
Setlist:
- Behind
- Advanced In Years
- Tric Trac
- Wwwrong
- Generation Isolated
- Madame Pest
- Die Flucht
- Schlage Mein Herz, Schlage
- Sunlight
- Last Spring
- Firestorm
- Die Schlacht In Mir
- Bitter Or Sweet
- Der Abschied
- One Night And A Dream
- Daily Screams
- Abend**orno
- Drei Jahre Zuruck
Encore:
- Advanced In Years
For Rockoverdose.gr
Apostolos “Astaldo” Pantazoglou
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