More changes on the concert front
In terms of postponements and cancellations, it has been a summer of confusion and letdown for numerous concertgoers, the latest round of disorder provided by date and venue changes for two eagerly awaited acts, Antony and the Johnsons, fronted by singing sensation Antony Hegarty, and intriguing neo-folk artist Devendra Banhart. Antony and the Johnsons’ performance, originally scheduled for the open-air Vrachon Theater last Sunday, was postponed until tonight after the heavy rains on Sunday. Banhart’s show, slated for the Gagarin Club tonight, has been switched to a far smaller venue, the Underworld club (Themistocleous & 5 Gamveta), for reasons that remain unclear. Banhart, an American who spent much of his childhood in Venezuela, has enjoyed heightened stature over the past couple of years in underground music circuits as a result of his intriguing and prolific burst of several albums in less than five years. Many critics have described him as being at the forefront of an apparent «freak-folk» scene. Banhart has played in Athens once before, about four years ago, as a total unknown at another tiny basement-level club just down the road from where he will be performing tonight. But his popularity has since skyrocketed. On his previous visit here, Banhart, who these days has earned enough respect to curate leading indie festivals such as the UK-based event All Tomorrow’s Parties, had performed solo as an opening act for Michael Gira, formerly of the New York noise-art act Swans. Gira runs his own label, Young God Records, which raked in Banhart several years ago to offer the free-roaming artist a home for his music. Tonight, Banhart will be accompanied by his recently formed Hairy Fairy band, which reflects the fuller sound of his recent, exceptional «Cripple Crow» album.
