For those who have never seen nor heard of him, the best way to describe him would be to imagine the Gods of Metal granting a shepherd in the mountain of Crete the boon of rocking the three-stringed Cretan lyre hardcore and even make him look the part too.
In the first part of the concert, Psarantonis (Cretan lyre) was joined on stage by his son Yiorgos Xylouris (lute) and Dirty Three’s drummer Jim White (percussion). The first set was relatively mellow and warmed up the crowd to the stomp frenzying madness that they had in store for us in the second set.
In the second set, they were joined by Yiorgos Xylouris’ three children and Psarantonis’ grandchildren in a rare display of cross-generational musical synergies on stage where the youngins glance every now and then to the oldest for cues and try to figure out riffs as they are playing. I was entranced by Apollonia’s voice, who for one song took over the mic from her grandfather, accompanied by the side-by-side rhythm lute playing of Yiorgos Xylouris and his son Adonis and the spectacular, torch-passing Cretan lyre performance of Nikos Xylouris right next to his grandfather.
Psarantonis’ capacity to work a crowd through sudden pauses and explosions leading to a sustained crescendo is on par to nu-metal, his esoteric singings bring a raw, tribal element that in tandem with his virtuoso lyre playing pierces right through your subconscious and takes you on a soul searching journey with a one stop ticket to the ever snow-capped Mount Psiloritis.
This act hands-down benchmarks music performances that go beyond Greek folk music. You will find yourselves stomping your feet at the frenzied two-quarters beat while you are sitting at the edge of your seat. Miss this act next time and you will be missing out; this 70-year-old dude’s hardcore.
BY NASH PETROPOULOS
LOVED: The chemistry between the familial musicians.
HATED: The repetition of a couple of songs in the first set.
DRANK: Asahi – although raki would also be appropriate.
