HIM
Live at Rockwave Festival
Greece, 22-6-2004

The day started with us, in a bus, waiting in the traffic! This year Rockwave festival was held in a beautiful area surrounded by forests, outside of Athens. But reaching it was another thing! The traffic was horrible, it took us almost 1 hour to be there, whereas you only need 30-45 minutes to be there. As soon as we saw the stage and the huge crowd waiting outside in long queues, I cheered up.

Surprise number 1: only 2 entrances and no people responsible for the press and guests. My brother and I had to wait for almost 2 hours under the hot sun, almost fainting myself before the people responsible showed up. To tell you the truth we both have bought our tickets months ago, but since Seppo was kind enough to put our names on the guest list, why use them? For me it was a matter of pride and stubbornness. ;)

Surprise number 2: Security people all over the place searching our bags frantically for cameras and stuff… still we manage to pass our video camera and also my digi camera inside. Lucky?

Finally we were in and started to explore the area. One big stage, several food and drink areas but unfortunately limited band merchandise. The heat was unbearable and I saw many people taken away by security.

The big names for the evening were HIM and Placebo. Fans from all ages were gathered around, waiting impatiently. After 3 bands including Film and Starsailor, at about 8 o'clock in the evening, a big roar from the crowd and HIM were on stage. From the first moment though, I sensed that something was wrong. Ville was very distant, almost cold and certainly very bored. He kept having problems with the sound and all the time making signs to the technician to fix it. He kept forgetting the lyrics, almost not speaking at all towards the audience during the whole gig, except making some comments nobody understood. Even Ville's "thank you" after the songs was bored and reluctant. Big star of the gig was Burton who came on stage, wearing a blouse with the Greek flag on it, making the fans scream, waving at the crowd and rocking heavily all evening. Linde, Mige and Gas also gave their best during the show, interacting with each other and with fans. Ville's mood didn't go unnoticed though and it was the first time that the fans in Greece didn't ask for an encore, since I have been to all HIM's gigs since 2000 in Greece and every time we demanded an encore. Many people threw bottles at the end on the stage, nearly missing Ville.

HIM performed 15 songs and the setlist was:

01. Buried Alive By Love
02. Wicked Game
03. Right Here In My Arms
04. Heartache Every Moment
05. Your Sweet 666
06. Join Me
07. Beyond Redemption
08. Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart
09. Solitary Man
10. Poison Girl
11. The Sacrament
12. Razorblade Kiss
13. Sweet Pandemonium
14. It's All tears
15. Soul On Fire

Conclusion of the evening: HIM need to rest…

As for me, remembering HIM's smashing performance last year at Lycabettus Open Theatre in Athens always brings a smile.

Also, seeing Placebo for the first time after Him, made me jump up and down, something I haven't done for quite a while. :)

Klio