DJs, VJs plug in at old power plant
Quite fittingly, one of the country’s biggest events dedicated to electronic music and digital art, the Synch Festival, a three-day event beginning today on the outskirts of Athens, will be staged at a complex that includes Greece’s first ever power plant. Needless to say, much has changed in the world since the pioneering industrial site’s early days, including the ways music and other art forms are created. Try imagining the early workers of the French Mining Company of Lavrion, which goes back to the 19th century, anticipating that by the year 2004, individuals would be giving vent to their creative urges at the very same location via an odd, portable device known as the lap-top computer. The festival’s agenda includes lap-top sets – for outsiders, that’s individuals on stage with their lap-tops as instruments – plus live performances and DJ sets from leading electronica figures. The old plant, some 55 kilometers (31 miles) southeast of Athens, or about a 40-minute drive via the Attiki Odos highway, has been renovated and turned into the Lavrion Technological and Cultural Park. Big names promised there include leading acts from the Detroit techno scene such as Robert Hood, Octave One, Keith Tucker, Detroit house great Theo Parrish, tech-house stars such as John Tejada, Steve Bug, Luomo, and Thomas Brinkmann. Billed as festival highlights are performances by Tony Allen, the ex-drummer of Fela Cuti and also a leading figure of the current Afro-beat circuit, who plays tonight, and Senor Coconut (Atom Heart), one of electronic music’s most prolific producers, who, in more recent times, has rendered well-received Latin mixes of work by seasoned acts such as Kraftwerk, Jean-Michel Jarre and Michael Jackson. Besides music, the event will also host new trends in the digital visual arts by visiting and local artists, including an interactive video installation, «Totale della Battaglia,» by the Italians Studio Azzuro, VJ sets – the visual alternative to DJing – video art, and video archives from the Athens National Technical University. The action will take place on four stages, from the Main Stage to the Experimental Stage. Organizers will provide a bus service (2.30 euros) to the complex from the Ethniki Amyna metro station. (For further information, log on to www.synch. gr.)
