Villagers of Ioannina City - The Garage London 'Through Space & Time Tour'

 

 

 

 An all to rare trip down to the capital for the Villagers of Ioannina City gig in the evening. Lots of time time to kill in between. A little wander from Euston Station up to Camden is a good start. Passing a couple of goo music venues in the process; Koko and The Underworld. We drop down onto the Regents Canal to get to Camden Lock and the thriving bustle of cafe culture. A chap in a second hand bookshop spotted my Marillion and we got chatting. Turned out he lives on the canal at Earls Barton close to me. He was down here for the 'Terrorvision' gig at The Electric Ballroom. The first pint of the day was enjoyed at the Ice Wharf, it went down very well too. Named after the adjacent Ice Wharf – which was built in 1837 for ice imported from Norway.

Continuing on the canal path we head towards Regents Park. In the process we pass London Zoo with  the Aviary and Elephant House visible. It's quite amazing just how much you can cover on foot walking in London. The bonus being that you see so many places of interest compared to taking the tube. It's a nice Autumn day to be walking through Regents Park. The trees are starting to take on their seasonal colours and look spectacular.

We pick up the tube at Great Portland Street to move a bit nearer to the gig destination. We arrive at Finsbury Park, there seems to be an awful lot of dress shops. Thankfully we find an area which is very much the food quarter. We choose a Lebanese Restaurant that we can sit inside. I opt for the mixed 'Lamb and Chicken Shawarma', accompanied by a bottle of Beirut Beer. Which pretty much tastes like any other Lager I've tried. The food was absolutely fantastic! I had asked for chips but the very helpful lady had also given me a large portion of rice and salad. A walk to Highbury is just what is needed to help the food go down. It's dark now of course as we get our first view of  'The Garage' our venue tonight. Time first though for a beer or two

There are about 100 or so people already in the queue as we arrive , an hour before doors open. Tonight is a sellout, there a few people looking for tickets with little success.   

The Garage was originally a Temperance Billiard Hall.It was also a haunt for some dodgy local characters back in the sixties. The notorious Highbury Mob often used the Billiard Hall as a meeting place. The building was officially reopened as the Garage with 'Pulp' headlining in 1993. The capacity is 600and not as big as I expected. On a par with The Roadmender where I am in Northampton I suspect. Surprisingly most of those already in are in the bar area. We are able to get right down the front on the barriers, which is a result.

I have to confess to only recently discovering 'City of Ioannina City' quite recently. A good friend of mine was raving about them and I felt duty bound to check them out. They are from the Greek area of Epirus and very much influenced by the landscape of the area. They are defined as a Psychedelic, Post Stoner Folk/Metal band. The sound is a fusion of guitar and traditional Greek instruments. 

Drummer Aris (Aris Giannopoulos)

The band formed in 2007 and have released their debut album, 'Riza' in 2014. The big break followed with the release of' Age of Aquarius' in 2019 though. The live album 'Through Space & Time' came out in 2021 which comes from the legendary performance in Athens in 2020. Current band members are as follows,

• Alex (Alex Karametis) – Guitar, vocals
• Akis (Akis Zois) – Bass
• Aris (Aris Giannopoulos) – Drums
• Konstantis (Konstantis Pistiolis) – Clarinet, backing vocals
• Kostas (Konstantinos Lazos) – Pipes 
  

We also had additional keyboards. This was the first of three British tour dates. The others being Manchester and Glasgow. The crowd has swelled as the band take to the stage with the epic 'Age of Aquarius'. As you would expect there is a large Greek following which adds to the atmosphere. 

Myself and Bob

The music is powerful, stirring and pulsating, totally captivating. I wished that I was more up to speed with the songs. It doesn't really matter though as the sound is so good. Things are really hotting up behind us too with some rather large swarthy Greek looking characters  are crowd surfing! Not seen that for a while. It's all the fun of the fair though, and nobody seems to mind.

An enthusiastic crowd

Things are getting even more wilder, there are some high velocity headbangers down at the front. Of course I would be joining in with the best of them if it wasn't for my recent whiplash injury. I have a Doctors not prohibiting me from any such activity. Suddenly something akin to a mosh circle combined with traditional Greek dancing breaks out. Arms linked around the shoulders, spinning like a wheel, taking out anything that gets in the way. Don't know if it has a name? I'm going with 'Storm Circle' unless I hear differently. I notice that a lot of the Greek men have dispensed with their shirts too.

Front man Alex Karametis is the star of the show though. He looks genuinely pleased to be here with his band mates that grew up together as youngsters.The latter part of the set list is more orientated to the traditional Greek sound. The lyrics sometimes in Greek, sometimes in English, and sometimes even in an unknown language. It has been a really enjoyable night and what an atmosphere. As the set draws to a close Alex slips into a bit of the Doors classic 'The End' as if to confirm a close to the proceedings is nigh.

Set List

• Welcome 
• Age of Aquarius
• Nova 
• Skaros
• Dance of Night
• Arrival
• Father Sun
• Millenium Blues
• Cosmic Soul
• Ti Kako
• For the Innocent

Encore

• Zvara
• Karakolia
• Outro