Prog & Roll VS Football (10/7/2016). The complete playlist and more...

Hello all! :-)

  Last night one more Prog & Roll radio show was online as usual. To be honest, I was perfectly sure that it would be a failure, because our show was beginning at the same time with the Euro's final game between France and Portugal. So I was expecting a very quiet and kind of boring evening. I'm really glad and proud to say that it was quite the opposite actually. Yes, we had fewer people listening (and on the chatbox) than usual, but we had a good number of people who joined our show. The French were of course missing, but that is totally normal.

  The result was that we spent 2 very pleasant hours altogether, while listening to music and chating through the chatbox. We begun our show with some classic Hard Rock and Heavy Metal from the '80's and we continued with some Neo-Psychedelic bands. We played songs from many different music genres once more and this time we included some bands and artists that we never played before. (Mosty because their style doesn't match Prog & Roll's style so much). The people seemed to enjoy the whole thing, so I believe it was a success. As for next Sunday's show, we are preparing something very special with many surprises, because it will be the last show before our summer break. But because I'm going to write a post about it in the following days, I will say no more.

Here you can take a look at the complete playlist from last night:

Part 1: GARY MOORE: Wild Frontier / QUEENSRYCHE: Warning / OZZY OSBOURNE: The Ultimate Sin / IRON MAIDEN: Quest for Fire / TYGERS OF PANG TANG: Mirror / HELLOWEEN: A Tale that wasn’t Right.

Part 2:  THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE: Anemone / SABBATH ASSEMBLY: The Saints shall Inherit the Earth / PURSON: The Sky Parade / AMY WINEHOUSE: Back to Black.

Part 3: JETHRO TULL: Broadsword / KANSAS: Miracles out of Nowhere / DAVID GILMOUR: Cry from the Street / JEFF BUCKLEY: Grace.

Part 4: BIG BIG TRAIN: Wassail / KWOON: Schizophrenic / ARCADE FIRE: Neigborhood #1 / THE PINEAPPLE THIEF: Don’t Tell Me / PENDRAGON: Shadow.

I would like to say a very big thanks for listening to our show last night, despite the football on TV. I must admit that it was something I wasn’t expecting, and I felt very happy. I know that we have said that again and again in our show, but I really believe that we are blessed to have such a fantastic audience!

Thank you all! :-)

GFreedom's Juke Box No.168

Hello all! :-)
After a weeks' break my usual 'Juke Box' post is back, with this week's Top-5 songs. From all the songs I listened during the week, I picked those as my best ones:
JETHRO TULL: Hunting Girl (Songs from the Wood - 1977)
STYX: Suite Madame Blue (Equinox - 1975)
HELLOWEEN: A Tale that wasn't Right (Keeper of the 7 Keyes Pt.1 - 1987)
MANFRED MAN'S EARTH BAND: Road to Babylon (The Roaring Silence - 1976)
THE ROLLING STONES: 2000 Light years from Home (Their Satanic Majesties Request - 1967)
By clicking on the following YT links you will be able to listen to the songs in my list right away.
Enjoy! :-)
JETHRO TULL: Hunting Girl
STYX: Suite Madame Blue
HELLOWEEN: A Tale that wasn't Right
MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND: Road to Babylon
THE ROLLING STONES: 2000 Light Years from Home

TV Series: Penny Dreadful (The complete series). My review...

I have refused to watch this series for some time now, because I thought it would be one of those cheap vampire stories. At some point I decided to give it a shot and I realised how wrong I was! 

Penny Dreadful is one of the best TV series I have even seen!

  Penny Dreadful is gorgeous in every aspect; Expensive production, fantastic atmosphere, great costume design and superb cinematography. Especially the night shots of Victorian London, when the fog starts creeping through those narrow alleys, are really gloomy and nearly every frame looks like a beautiful, gothic painting. As for the actors, I must say that all of them are playing their roles very well, but there is one star that shines brighter above all others. This star has a name: Eva Green.  She seems as she was made to play this role, or maybe it was the other way round? Her  performance is simply astonishing! But it would be unfair not to mention also some of the other actors who are giving great performances, such as Timothy Dalton for example, in the role of Sir Malcolm, an explorer who needs to bring together this group of mysterious individuals in order to locate his missing daughter Mina; or Harry Treadaway who plays the role of Dr. Frankenstain in a very dramatic and convincing way. I should also mention Josh Hartnett as Ethan Chandler, the “Yankee” of the series.

  As for the main story, is the usual and never ending fight between Good and Evil, but in many occasions it is given in a very poetic and dramatic way. While some scenes are genuinely scary in a tension building, "old school" kind of way, we also get blood soaked action sequences that will probably put off some viewers, but seem entirely appropriate given the show's title (in the 19th century a "penny dreadful" used to be a booklet of cheap, sensational fiction printed on pulp paper which could be purchased for a penny).     

  Penny Dreadful draws its setting, characters and general inspiration mainly from some famously dark tales written by Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde (and to a lesser extent from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories).

The script is one of the best on any TV series at the moment, in the fact that every line of dialogue is loaded with meaning, coupled with the Victorian setting means that everyone is hiding something and every word is crafted.

  Penny Dreadful lasted for 3 seasons, having a total of 26 episodes. Each episode is between 50 and 60 minutes long, so you will need about 23-24 hours in order to finish the whole series. 

  If I had to complain about something, I would do it only for the 3^rd season, because it is the “weakest” of all 3, that in my opinion only decreases the average rating. They could add 2-3 more episodes in the 2^nd season for example, and finish the story there.

  If the style of the above description matches your taste, you will most surely be enchanted by this series. If it does not... well, don't let my point of view to be an obstacle in watching this truly magnificent piece of art. Give it a shot at least.
Because Penny Dreadful is more than just a TV series; it's music, it's image, it's literature, it's poetry. In a few words, it’s art!

                           My rating would be:

Season 1: 9 out of 10 

Season 2: 9 out of 10   

Season 3: 7 out of 10.

IMDB’s overall rating is: 8.3 out of 10.

By clicking on the following link you will be able to see the trailer for Season 1:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFXHfEqMcis 

Verbal Delirium & Ciccada live in Athens. The Setlists and more...

  As I wrote in a post here a few days ago, on Monday evening a one-day Progressive Rock festival with Greek bands took place in Athens. (The event took place at a very small theatre inside a big park, having as background the setting sun and the lights of Athens. It was really beautiful).
There were 4 bands participating in this event, all of them good ones.
  I went to see the concert, which I must say it delayed a lot to begin. It was suppose to start at 20.00 or something like that, but because of some technical and sound problems it has finally begun in 21.30.
Because I was very tired and the next day I had to wake up very early, I couldn't stay to see all the bands. I saw only the first two ones, which thankfully were the ones I wanted to see the most.
Verbal Delirium and Ciccada. 
 By the way, I learned that Verbal Delirium will participate in the HRH Prog Festival that will take place in Wales in March of 2017, together with some legendary bands, like for example Strawbs, Curved Air, Wishbone Ash, Barclay James Harvest and many many more. Verbal Delirium will be the only Greek band that will play live at that festival, and this is a big honour for them if nothing else.
 Each band played for almost an hour, and here you can see the setlists of the first two bands:
VERBAL DELIRIUM:
WORDS

CLOSE TO YOU

LULLABY

DANCING GENERATION

FIRTH OF FIFTH (Genesis' cover)

SUDDEN WINTER

 CICCADA:

GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

AROUND THE FIRE

NIGHT RIDE

EPIRUS

SONG FOR AN ISLAND

On the pictures on the right you can see Verbal Delirium on stage, plus a pic of me together with Nicolas Nikolopoulos, the leader of Ciccada and member of Verbal Delirium.

PROG & ROLL Radio Show (3/7/2016). The complete playlist and more...

Hello all!
  Last night one more Prog & Roll radio show was on air as usual, so here I am in order to write down a few things about it, together with the show's full playlist once more . 
  It was a nice and relaxing show I believe, because most of the songs we chose to play were kind of melodic and cool ones. During the first half hour we made a small tribute to some Rock operas (not concept albums), and we continued with an hourly-length tribute to the Progressive Rock scene of the 70's. At the last part of the show we played songs from bands that have a rather heave sound, influenced deeply by the music of Medieval and Renaissance ages.
  I believe that it was a pleasant show in general, and because our listeners seemed to enjoy it I am pleased.
Here you can take a look at the whole playlist:

Part 1: AYREON: Day 11 - Love / CLIVE NOLAN: The curse of the Baskervilles / KAYAK: The curse of Isis / TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA: What is Eternal.

Part 2: GENESIS: Lillywhite Lilith / YES: Soon / FANTASY: The award / CRESSIDA: To play your little game / EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER: Lucky man / GENTLE GIANT: Why not?

Part 3: RENAISSANCE: Opening out / PROCOL HARUM: As strong as Samson / THE MOODY BLUES: New horizons / STRAWBS: Tears & Pavan / BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: For no one / SUPERTRAMP: Babaji.

Part 4: DUNWICH: Il falso principio / THERION: Liusalfheim / RHAPSODY (OF FIRE): Echoes of tragedy / HAGGARD: La terra Santa.

'Epic' song: BLIND GUARDIAN: The ninth wave.

  At this point I would like to inform you that Prog & Roll will be on air for 2 more Sundays 'till our summer break, on the 10th and 17th of July. As you can understand, we will try to make these remaining 2 shows as pleasant and good as possible. Especially the last one, for more than one reason, but you'll be informed about it later on.

  I want to say a very big thanks to all those who listened to our show, choosing to spend their Sunday evening/night with us once more.

Thank you all! :-)

Progressive Rock Festival with Greek bands on the 4th of July...

Hello all!
In case you are living or visiting Athens, I think you should attend this one day Progressive Rock festival, which includes some of the finest Greek bands. The Festival is on the 4rth of July and it will take place at Alsos Veikou in Galatsi. It begins at 20.00 hours, and there is no entrance fee.
The bands that will appear there are: Methexis, Iraklis & Lernaia Ydra, Ciccada and Verbal Delirium.
I believe that it will be a really great concert, so try not to miss it!
I will continue with the text in Greek...
Την Δευτέρα 4 Ιουλίου, στο Άλσος Βείκου στο Γαλάτσι, θα λαβει χώρα ενα μονοήμερο φεστιβάλ στο οποίο θα πάρουν μέρος μερικά απο τα καλύτερα συγκροτήματα της εγχώριας Progressive Rock & Progressive Folk σκηνής. Η ταπεινή μου άποψη είναι οτι δεν θα πρέπει να το χάσετε, επειδή θα είναι μια πολύ καλή ευκαιρία να απολαύσετε κάποια πολύ καλά συγκροτήματα ενός ιδιαίτερου μουσικού στυλ μαζεμένα σε μια εκδήλωση.
Να αναφέρω οτι θα εμφανιστούν οι: Ηρακλής & Λερναία Υδρα, Methexis, Ciccada και Verbal Delirium. (Η σειρά που τα αναφέρω είναι τυχαία).
Η έναρξη έχει οριστεί για τις 8 το απόγευμα, και η είσοδος είναι ελεύθερη.
Ελπίζω να τα πούμε εκει! :-)