Nikos Economopoulos: Concert in Patras (2010)

by

Lucy Vaganova

We live in amazing times!

Who would have thought some ten years ago, that it could become the norm to write critical articles about concerts which happen at a distance of many thousands of miles, to follow the creative artist, to witness his development and to assess the status of his voice and much more! And it is good that this is now possible, because, as the saying goes, “There is no prophet in his own country”. I simply could not find anything substantive, written in Greek about Nikos Economopoulos and his triumphal performances in Patras. Well, given this situation perhaps it is the duty of people living in the other hemisphere to write about his most recent concert. There are enough videos posted on YouTube and Facebook; there is quite a lot of information received from friends who attended the performance and describing what it was like; and, even more than that, there are some spontaneous telephone voice messages directly from the concert, which enable one to appreciate and distill a feeling for the atmosphere in a performance. So, it’s time to forget about the tyranny of distance! The concert, which took place in Patras on the night of 25 July, 2010 is available to be viewed and listened to, and it should be evaluated. That’s what music journalism is about! Initially, there were rumours regarding a possible Patras concert by Nikos Economopoulos. Not everyone believed that Nikos would sing at home exactly one year after his previous stunningly successful concert in front of his countrymen (25 July, 2009). The news sounded like the name of the song – “Ive heard (Akousa). But soon all was confirmed by two short notes in a local magazine, “The Best”. Patras was captured by excitement from every window, from each household, one could hear: Economopoulos, Economopoulos! People from Athens, from various cities and towns of Peloponnesus started arriving in Patras. Posters with the name of the concert: Akousa appeared on the lanterns! This time Nikos was anticipated not as a rising, new musical star on the horizon, but as a widely recognized, loved and respected singer, the pride and hope of the Greek laiko song. The year separating these two shows was an incredibly productive time for Nikos Economopoulos: he received his first Gold Disc Award for the CD “Akousa” (November 2009) and then a Platinum Disc Award for the new CD “Katathesi Psychis”. At the same time he was honoured to perform a winter season together with the legendary Giannis Parios at Fever and – straight after that – to sing to packed houses at Thea, together with Kostas Martakis and two young finalists of the X-factor, Eleni and Polina, during the spring season and first two months of summer. Nikos regularly gave interviews on radio, performed live on various TV shows and took part in one of the popular Mega TV series Travelling by Christos Nezos. So, Nikos homeland was ready to meet its own, home-grown hero. The concert took place in the biggest open air venue of the Patras region the night club Asteria, which is situated in the village Drepano Patron, 15 km from the city. On the evening of 25 July, Asteria was packed full. By 12.30am there were not even a tiny empty space remaining. Thousands of people! The show started at 1.00am with performances by the supporting singers, Christina Ralli, Elizabeth Christou, Eva Fragou and Vassilis Anemogios. Christina Ralli not only delighted the audience by a qualitative interpretation of the famous laika hits, with “Viastika” by Natasa Theodoridou and “Treno” by Anna Vissi among them, but also supported Nikos as a backing vocalist. Elizabeth Christou, an award-winning beauty, has attracted special attention of the public with such songs as “Eisai I foni from Elena Paparizou and Pixida by Evridiki. Vassilis Anemogis excellent performance of the song “Gia senane mporo” (Christos Dantis famous version) could not leave listeners indifferent. Eva Fragou, who had the opportunity to open the concert, also left a very good impression, especially with the song Anatheorisa by Peggi Zina. The orchestra working with Nikos and his supporting singers consists of excellent musicians. It is a traditional laika combination: two bouzoukis (Manolis Methimakis and Christos), clarinet (Spiros), violin (Christos Bousoudoukos), guitar (Georgos Retikas), bass (Giannis Gregoriou)) two keyboards (Vassilis Katsaros and Nikos Kerkiras), drummer (Dimitris Antoniadis)) and specific instruments krousta (Georgos Psallidas). This band deserves to be the subject of a comprehensive article on its own merit, such is the professionalism and high quality of the musicians. And of course, the perfect work of the sound engineers Christos Peltekis and Antonis Moratis needs to be recognised. Nikos performance began at 2.00am by which time spectators were in an electric atmosphere of expectation. The orchestral prelude sounded and then, the one who was so eagerly awaited appeared, signaling the first hint of madness in Asteria. Nikos, elegantly dressed in a dark silk suit, was literally inundated by an avalanche of flowers while performing his trademark opening number “Akousa. Successfully passing through the first floral salvo, Nikos said a few warm words to his countrymen, expressing his gratitude for their support and then continued with his performance, giving the audience one after another of their favorite songs: Mou pe mia psychi, Koita na mathaineis, Tipota sto tipota. Nikos successfully combined songs from his most recent album Katathesi Psychis with those ones from his previous album Akousa. Nikos voice had an excellent soaring quality and everyone in the audience could hear that Nikos was in great creative form! The singer maintained the intensity of excitement for his public by singing his most beloved songs during this set of his programme. After a short quote of Ksekatarisma Nikos then indulged his fans with the lyrical garland of two ballads: Mes tin diki sou filaki and Apolyto. The last one is the hardest in Nikos repertoire, as it demands serious vocal skills. Nikos did it pefectly well: all the golden sparks, which are unique feature of his rich overtonal voice, were shining bright on the waves of the melody. The top note in the chorus was not just taken beautifully, but enriched by ornamentation. At the same part of the programme Nikos sang his hits from the CD Akousa: Pistevo and Ftaiw (after performaces with Parios he sings the last one united in a bigger composition with Parios song Ftaime ki oi dyo). Another cover from Parios repertoire Poios na sygrithe mazi sou – was placed between these two songs from Akousa. Every song out of that set was a real masterpiece of interpretation, demonstrating Nikos exclusive qualities: perfect intonation, very refined taste and excellent breath control. The flower shower that accompanied the first part of Nikos performance continued, non-stop. After a few more songs, Nikos left the stage to let the public enjoy the entertaining programme of his supporting singers. Nikos’ second set started at 4.00am. This time the singer was wearing his traditional laika outfit, the most characteristic detail of which is a white shirt/ black waistcoat combo. Nikos stage costumes always have a perfectly stylish looks because of his attention to detail, such as the unique belts or ties by G.M.K. (Gerasimos Markos Katsilioni). This time the public was happy to dance and people were trying to find any small space for dancing along with his songs. Amongst many of the songs originally written for Nikos Economopoulos, there were some old and popular songs, such as Oi Anamniseis (from Tolis Voskopoulos), To kalytero paidi (from Giannis Ploutarxos), Den thelei apopse anthrwpo na dei (Tolis Voskopoulos), Kaneis edw den tragouda and Autoi pou den milane (Pasxalis Terzis). The audience was so excited, that it was not very easy for Nikos to keep some space for himself. Finally, he asked his fans: Please, can you not come that close, otherwise I will not be able to breath! It was said at just the right time, because everybody was starting to feel like it would be a great idea to hug Nikos as hard as possible. Close to the end of his programme Nikos sang Parios most popular songs, which Parios, the maestro, entrusted Nikos, whom he anointed as the future and a son while they were singing together in Fever. Lipisou me and Ena gramma sounded impeccably fresh, although physically to sing at the end of the show, which lasted more than four hours, is not so easy. Flower baskets, which essentially had to be thrown at the feet of the singer sitting on a high chair, covered Nikos almost up to his waist. Finally, Nikos stood up to sing Etsi nomizeis and found that moving around the stage was not easy a layer of the flowers and baskets was nearly a metre deep! Nevertheless Nikos managed to walk and finished the concert with this super popular hit of his repertoire. While the band continued to play, Nikos said some final words, one more time expressing his joy and gratitude to the people and repeating a few times the title of his last album Katathesi psychis – Offering of the soul. The audience literally roared – it was a real triumph! According to songwriter and lyricist Spyros Giatras, Nikos Economopoulos is a big artist, who can really make a breakthrough in Greek music and introduce it to a wider world. Furthermore, the managing director of Sony BMG Greece Dimitris Giarmenitis proclaimed Nikos as our investment for the future on the Platinum Award Night (18 May, 2010). But what is more interesting is that this acclaimed singer who is recognised as the future of Greek music is mostly described in various articles and notes written predominantly in English. You can even find one in Portuguese, yet hardly ever in Greek. Yes, there are some interviews (not many!) but there are no reviews, not even the slightest attempt within the Greek media to evaluate one of the most talented singers of a new generation. In the context of the problems created by the financial crisis, we can perhaps accept the fact that Sony could not afford to film a proper video clip for the CD Katathesi Psychis and had to cut it out of the bits and pieces from the TV show Taksidevontas. But how can it be explained that no one in the Greek media made any attempt to write a few lines about Nikos unique voice, his artistic quality and dedication? We were eagerly waiting to read a review on the Patras concert, but in vain. It did not appear anywhere and, sadly, it is impossible to make any breakthrough in show business without proper reviews and critical acclaim. Nikos concerts and, consequently, his CDs could be easily sold in various countries, but this should start first within Greece itself: Nikos Economopoulos deserves more promotion and greater exposure. He must be the one that people in Greece speak about and loud enough to make the rest of the world listen, to remember and become curious about this phenomenon called Nikos Economopoulos. Lucy Vaganova Editing: Theo Simeonidis Special thanks to Eirini Eusebi, Christos Fragos, Konstantina Drakopoulou and Xristina Ralli for providing us with all sorts of information about the concert!

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Nikos Economopoulos: Concert in Patras (2010)