Wednesday, 17 February 2021

A View From The TV Screen: Puta Volcano - Stages A/Live Concert Film (Review By Matt Bladen)

Puta Volcano - Onassis Stegi: Stages A/Live, Live At An Club, Athens, Greece

Another livestream/Concert film event from the Onassis Foundation Stages A/Live series came on Valentine's Night where alt/prog/riff monsters Puta Volcano welcomed us into their heavy world of deliberate rhythmic riffing and evocative vocal passages. Filmed at An Club one of the oldest 'alternative' venues in Athens, tuck away in a basement down a side street like all the best venues.

Unlike the Nightcrawler show, which almost had a documentary style, 'playing in your backyard' sort of style to it. This felt like a much more like an intense gig experience the camera in line with the edge of the stage so it was like you were looking up at the band. This was deliberate due to the impressive lighting rig above the band which shifted colours as the mood of the songs changed adding a hallucinogenic nature to the show.

Front woman Anna Papathanasio cut an imposing figure the camera basically at her feet for most of the gig as she unleashed her unique, raw vocal style the backlight almost making her look like a shadow, albeit one that banged its head when Alex Pi (Guitar), Bookies (Bass) and Steve Stefanidis (drums) all locked into a floor shaking groove such as on the Sabbath-like Neon4.

The camera didn't fix on Anna though it shifted between the band members who were all doused in the light boxes on top of them the rhythm section driving away on the psychedelic Black Box as we get brief glimpses of the scintillating guitar work. Visually it was stunning but also the sound was incredible you could hear every nuance. A massive kudos to the production team involved who have been so great in recording/editing/engineering these concert films. They really capture the essence of the bands and help all those involved in the local music scene.

The show (and Nightstalker) is still available on the Onassis Foundation YouTube so go check it out as it's made me want to see Puta Volcano on a live stage very soon.

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