Anathema (namely only the Cavanagh brothers) have once again visited our city. To be honest, when I heard about this concert I wasn’t so eager to attend it because I was afraid, especially after having listened to "Natural Disaster", that Anathema tend to slide to more acoustic progressive-like, Radiohead-ish and definitely less metallic directions. However I decided to attend them respecting their name and their overall contribution.

On Saturday the show took place at Club 22 and started around 8 p.m. because there were restrictions concerning the after concert use of the club. Even the “wet blanket” guys have the right to entertain themselves allowing us to watch a quality concert!

The Cavanagh brothers appeared on stage under the warm endorsements of the audience. After a small Intro they begun with Angelica, followed by Fragile Dreams. They referred to the previous day concert and how friendly the people had been. Surprisingly there was a great number of them that night. They continued with Deep, Forgotten Hopes and Destiny is Dead. At that point they presented us a girl they met the day before, Katerina, who was a singer and fan of the band. She sang with them the next two songs: Everwake and Parisian Moonlight under the cheers of the audience not only to encourage her, but also because she was a wonderful singer, although being (and absolutely justified) a bit stage-frighten at the beginning.

At this point I want to clear out that one of my initial fears has been spread out. I don't know what is definition for the word "acoustic" according to the organizers, but the show wasn't unplugged. Danny alternated between keyboards and a electric guitar, while his brother Vincent between electric and acoustic guitar.

"Pressure", "Hope" and "Balance" were of the best moments of the show. Vincent referred to this friend Manthos, who had help him to the organization of these two shows, and also thanked all the people at Go Underground Club. He referred to the side effects of tequila and he attributed his "bad" performance to it. Taking his assumptions for granted we didn't mind at all, because we didn't notice it and if it really happened, the luck of technical abilities was in favour of the live enthousiasm, which we undoubtedly prefer.

A set based on latest and past tracks enraptured us. Re-connect, Leave No Trace, Silent Enigma, Inner Silence, One Last Goodbye, Wish you Were Here, Temporary Peace, Flying. Danny for a moment referred positively to the marvelous releases of "Antimatter".

They made a short break and Danny returned alone and played at keyboards "The Wasted Years", accompanied merely by the audience vocals. The same happened with "One". We could say that he was just giving the rhythm and the audience followed or that he was conducting the audience choir. Vincent returned ( tequila side effects!!?) and they both played "Exit Music" of Radiohead. Vincent made a mention to Jeff Beck and played a song of this (don't know which). It followed an unknown song to me, which sounded good. Later on I learned it was Beetle's "Norwegian Wood" and finally the famous "Comfortably Numb". Although it was only around 10 o'clock the Cavanagh brothers said farewell to us rather unwillingly. Both us and them wanted to stay longer, but …the Club obligations I mentioned before.

They once again thanked the wonderful audience and said that Greece is may be the best place for them to play live. Generally speaking bands whenever they go say the same things in order to coax their fans worldwide, but I think that night Danny and Vincent really meant it. They promised to return in April for an official Anathema tour.

Although they finished rather early they left us a wonderful sense. I don't know to what extend is this due the club's cozy structure. The stage is not very big, next to (not to say in) the audience. The band is given the opportunity to play literally among us. However defects can be easily observed. Anathema despite the previous day hang over were a 100% live band. Their performance was excellent and the audience despite the low profile of this special case concert was more than 100% warm, friendly and expressive.

After the show I met my friend Antonis, who had also being at Friday's concert at An Club. He told me that An club had been packed (700 people). I assume that also tonight Club 22 has also full with a capacity around 1000. They had played responding to people's stubbornness a bigger set list for about 2 1/2 hours!

There are many who might disagree with their late music direction but undoubtedly these two nights Anathema proved that are in a good shape and honoured our country with their presence. We are eager to see them in April.

PS: Many thanx to my friend Antonis Fanaradellis for the Friday's report and for having helped me to recollect the track list as accurate as possible.