Big names in dance music set to rock Greece this week
Dance music fans get it good this week with two standout events on the concert agenda. Currently touring to celebrate their 10th year in the business, Faithless have been booked for two shows in Greece, beginning tonight at Thessaloniki’s Principal Club, and followed by the Lycabettus Theater in Athens tomorrow. Just days later, on Saturday, the inaugural Eject Festival, an electronic music bonanza, brings several leading acts to the capital, including the Chemical Brothers as the headliners, to the Olympic Baseball Facility in Hellenikon in southern Athens. The bill at the Eject Festival also includes DJ sets from Bent, French act Miss Kittin, Spain’s Cristian Varelas, Dave Clarke, and local performer Expert Medicine. No introductions are necessary for the Chemical Brothers, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons, the duo that has managed to figure prominently in the dance-electronica arena for over a decade now. Their latest album, this year’s «Push The Button,» has sold in the millions internationally, which has further sustained the act’s popularity. The album’s first single, «Galvanize,» features a guest appearance from New York rapper Q-Tip of the pioneering hip-hop trio A Tribe Called Quest. Other contributions to the material were provided by Brit-pop newcomer Kele Okereke of Bloc Party, New York art-rock band Mercury Rev, as well as Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips. The album has proven to be a major comeback for the Chemical Brothers following its unjustly neglected predecessor «Come With Us,» released three years earlier. The French DJ Miss Kittin’s work, a fusion of dance styles such as minimal, techno, funk, and electro, has established her as one of the dance circuit’s most popular acts. Dave Clarke, also on the bill, is widely regarded as the leading techno DJ. He had emerged during the ’80s as a hip-hop DJ, and was later taken by the acid-house movement of the early ’90s. Spanish DJ Cristian Varela has experienced a similar trajectory. Fans considering going out to the Eject Festival should keep in the mind that the event gets off to an early start, 6 p.m. Returning to the two Faithless shows tonight and tomorrow, the popular dance act, formed in 1995 with producers Rollo and Sister Bliss at its core, quickly reached worldwide status with major dance hits such as «Salva Mea,» «Insomnia» and «Reverence.» Prior to the sensational impact of their work, Rollo had been active remixing material by various acts, including the Pet Shop Boys, Bjork and Simply Red. Sister Bliss, his partner in Faithless, was a piano and violin protege from the age of 5. However, she eventually switched to the acid-house scene in the late ’80s and quickly became one of the UK’s best DJs. They have dubbed this 10th-anniversary series of shows «The Greatest Hits Tour.» Faithless: Tonight in Thessaloniki (Principal Club); tomorrow in Athens (Lycabettus Theater). Tickets on sale at Metropolis music stores, and Tickethouse (42 Panepistimiou, Athens). Eject Festival: Saturday, 6 p.m., at the Olympic Baseball Facility. Tickets on sale at Metropolis stores and Tickethouse.
