I just returned to Athens from vacations in Tinos, a beautiful island in the Aegean archipelago. Serendipity had it that one of my favourite Greek performers was there at the same time, touring the islands like so many artists do in the summertime (islanders are then promptly forgotten for the next 10 months and remembered again come next July). Kostis Maraveyas and his band the Ilegal played an open theatre at the tiny mountain village of Koumaros in Tinos on the 4th of August, drawing a big crowd from throughout the island - including tourists from around the world, most of whom had never heard of Maraveyas before. People filled all the stands, some sat on the rocks around the small amphitheatre and some watched the whole show standing up. A couple next to me sat on an anthill, with unpleasant results for everyone around. Yet we all had a great time, singing and dancing along to the songs. The singer played his heart out, interacting with the audience and often telling amusing stories about the songs. Now,I've followed Maraveyas from his first concerts with Ilegal (early 2007, I think) until I left Greece, in December 2009. Last time I saw him before I left, he was playing at the garden of the Agricultural School, in a festival organised by a small Marxist party. In music and politics, Maraveyas is very similar to Manu Chao, as he stands politically very much to the left and often makes that apparent in his songs, but never gets preachy or depressing, always focusing on giving his audience a good time. Which is why he had old villagers, small children and German tourists happily clapping and dancing along to his music in Koumaros and why in the last years he's often appeared on TV and shared the stage with some of the most popular Greek singers. He's now made 4 CD's with Ilegal, the latest being this one, a live recording "from the Mansion's Garden". The Mansion of Music in Athens (a non-profit cultural space ran by one of the country's oligarchs) contains a big concert hall and various other structures but this concert was advertised as a picnic with music in the mansion's garden, much more appropriately for this kind of music - an upbeat mix of Greek folk, Latin music and retro swing. |
| Maraveyas Ilegal at the open theatre in Koumaros, Tinos 4/5/2015 |
This double CD contains live versions of almost all of Maraveyas' hits and constitutes a great introduction to the artist. At 27 tracks, it's a bit too long for a track-to-track presentation, so I'll only confine myself to the highlights: The album opens with "Diktator Des Marktes" sporting a ska/punk tone and uncharacteristically angry anti-troika lyrics: "This here is no Amsterdam/ this is no Berlin/ mores here have changed/ your past I will erase/ Down with your head!/ No more of your mess!/ Stop saying they lied/ Stop saying you're a victim/ Just work, slave, work!/ Money is your crime/ Don't seek God/ Don't ask who's to blame/ just walk straight without looking or I'll turn on the siren...". A lighter song with a similar subject follows: "Welcome to Greece" celebrates (or mocks?) the Greeks' carefree attitude in the face of the financial crisis "Have a nice holiday/ lie under the sun on the hot sand/ and don't worry about debt-filled tomorrow". Now that he's established the party atmosphere, he continues in Italian with "O’ Sarracino" (a 1958 hit for Renato Carosone) and English with "I'm Going Away". His own accordion-led "Pare Chroma" is played as a medley with "Clandestino", a staple from the early days when Ilegal were actually a more multicultural mix, true to their name. "Kato apo ton pato" (under the bottom) is a multilingual call for revolution, immediately followed by a swinging take on the classic rebetiko "Partides" by bouzouki legend Manolis Chiotis. Another 50's Greek folk hit "O Minas ehei ennia" aka "Mia zoi tin ehoume" (we only live once) gives way for his own "Den zitao polla" (i don't ask for much) about a girl that only shows her love at night or when she's drunk. Girl trouble is a recurrent theme here, most notably on the infectious "Lola". Disc 2 opens with a bit of syrtaki introducing a ballad lamenting the state of modern Greece ("Tsalapatas" - You tread on me). Maraveyas' international side is further evidenced by a couple of tango songs, "Rue Madame" and "El Tango Del Rio-Antirrio" and another Italian song, "Fila me akoma" (Jovanotti's "Baciami ancora" with translated Greek lyrics). Retro music hall number "Na to pareis to koritsi" (You have to marry the girl) is played in an upbeat jazz manouche style, dispensing laughs and good humour, while the album ends among cheers with ballad "Den Stamato" (I'm not stopping). Listening to this CD again after the Tinos concert brought a smile to my face because it took me back to the jovial mood of that night, but under any circumstances it's a fun record, brimming with positive energy. I do believe you'll be able to enjoy it, even if you don't speak Greek.
***** for Welcome To Greece, O Minas ehei ennia-Den zitao polla
**** for Diktator Des Marktes, I'm Going Away, Pare Chroma-Clandestino, Partides, Lola, Rue Madame, Na To Pareis To Koritsi
*** for O Sarracino, Ase Me Na Mpo, To Kalokairi Efyge, Kato Apo Ton Pato, Pes Mou Mia Leksi, Sto Kalo, Arkei Na Eimaste Mazi, Tsalapatas, Kyriaki Ekdromi, Pou Na Vro Mia Na Sou Moiazei, Dyo gynaikes, Trelo apo Hara, De Stamato
** for Feugo, Stin Kataigida, El Tango Del Rio-Antirrio, Fila Me Akoma, Pote Ksana Mazi
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