Alkistis Protopsalti
in concert

The crowd screams, claps and whistles as Alkistis comes onto the stage shortly after 9:45pm. She is dressed in black singing "Dithesio" (literally, a two-seater car). The sound is perfect, her voice clean and powerful.

After the first song, she welcomes everyone saying how happy she is to come to Symi again to open the Festival. Lights go off as the band starts playing "Dikaioma" ("Right"), one of Alkistis classic songs. Everyone sings along...

She continues in the same romantic and pensive mood with "Sinantise me" ("Meet me") and "Horis esena" ("Without you"). What makes Greek music great is not just the unique melody but also the lyrics, the poetry and the power of the voice...

Now I have a house where you have never been
And I have a car that you have never seen
And a sadness, oh a sadness, that you can't imagine...
because everything goes on without you...
... and they call this life.

Christina Argyri comes on stage singing "Mi mou milas gi agapi" ("Don't talk to me about love") together with Alkistis. Towards the end of the song Giorgos Karadimos and Konstantinos Kotsadam joins them on stage. A solo Klarino makes an entrance and the mood becomes Eastern and dancy. A bouzouki joins in beautifully with the klarino as Alkistis sings "Ta hartina" (“Made of paper”). Everyone on stage dances and a large group of mainly teenage children stands up and starts dancing just below the stage. You can see a smile on everyone's face as they sing along.

The stage turns red and the red-coloured smoke looks like fire during the song "Lava". Everyone is dancing.

Like a volcano awakening from a deep dream
And whatever creates the mountains cries to be born
Like a volcano awakening for seven generations inactive
Lava of mine, lava of mine, warm blood of mine

The lights go off... the music stops.... Alkistis’s long, powerful, sigh can be heard all over Yialos as she sings "Theos an einai" ("If there is God")... The light changes to purple as soon as "I sotiria tis psihis" (“The salvation of the soul”) starts. It is time for Alkistis to lower her voice and let the people sing. And they all do, quietly, with no instruments... like a giant choir.

No-one stops singing as Alksitis starts sings "Prolaveno" ("I have the time").

I have time until the taxi comes
To turn you around and ask you back again
To ring the bells like a mad-woman
And then never to return
A moment until the taxi comes
I have time to destroy my life.

She continues with "Kathe fora pou me koitazeis" ("Every time you look at me") and starts jumping and dancing and moving all over the stage. She doesn't just sing a song, every word she sings is expressed in her movements and expressions.

Alkistis takes a one-song rest as Konstantinos, Giorgos and Christina sing "Mono mia fora" ("Only once"). Altogether they sing "An mou tilefonouses" ("If you called me"), first sung by Mihalis Hadjigiannis and "Dodeka" ("Twelve"), a very popular 80's song first sung by Anna Vissi.

We are almost half-way through the programme when she sings "Ola auta pou fovame" ("All I am afraid of") from her latest solo album, followed by "O Aggelos mou" ("My angel"), a wonderful song from the same album that became an instant hit only hours after being released in 2004.

My angel, my man, my death
You
You who were slowly turning the knife
You who were sweetly taking my life.

We are now half-way through the show and Giorgos sings "Fos kai vgeno" ("Light and Leaving").

Alkistis returns on stage with a new look as she managed to change clothes in just a couple of minutes.

She starts the second half with "Trava skandali" ("Pull the trigger"). The young crowd in front of her is out of control and Alkistis is enjoying every minute of it. She hands her microphone to a young girl who sings the first part of the chorus... wonderful!

"Adonis" is next. This is one of my personal favourites as it brings back childhood memories. "Adonis" is a cafe-bar in the central square in Nea Smyrni, a suburb in the south of Athens and Alkistis sings about going for a walk and a coffee there. I used to go to "Adonis" every day as a teenager - my school was only a short walk from there. Everyone is clapping rhythmically to the chorus and Alkistis is dancing with the other three singers.

Konstantinos is now on stage alone singing "Eimai allou" ("I am somewhere else").

Alkistis comes back to sing a jazzed-up version of "Zoi misi" ("half a life") followed by "Na minis edo" ("Stay here"). The party is well under-way and Alkistis is as ever giving a full-of-life and energetic performance and it is clear that she is enjoying herself.

Everyone now stands up to the sound of "Ole-Ole" which was the people’s song of hope for the Greek national football team during Euro2004, the European Football Championships, two summers ago, and became something like an alternative Greek national anthem after the team won the trophy.

Alkistis takes a megaphone and everyone suspects what is coming next. It is the "Loufa kai Paralagi" song from the recent Greek film with the same title. The stage is on fire, the choreography is brilliant and anywhere you look, there are people dancing.

A few seconds of solo bouzouki introduces song number 27, which is "Ta laika" ("Songs of the people"). Giorgos and Konstantinos are on stage with her and at the end of the first chorus, just as they are all dancing on stage, and just before she is about to say "come on don’t' cry, I have cured you", the music stops, and George and Konstantinos stay still like statues. Alkistis, laughing, pretends she is controlling them and they can't move saying "that's it... you dare move...". She then goes to Giorgos and kisses him on the cheek. This makes him 'wake up'... music resumes and Alkistis sings "come on don't cry I just cured you...".

After "Giati s'agapisa poly" ("Because I loved you very much"), it is time for "Venzinadiko" ("Petrol station"), the song that changed the course of modern popular Greek music when it was released in the early 90s. It was the start of an era in the history of Greek music focusing on the use of contemporary (and sometimes difficult) language as well as the use of words that never before appeared in songs.

I wish I could have a petrol station in the clouds
In the emptiness, to put myself at risk for an unfair star
Bring me glasses and smash the glass
Cut the kiss to drink and get drunk
For you were late with all the favours
And I went away high in the sky.

The 30th and last song of the main performance is "Hirokrotima" ("Clapping"), a classic end-of-concert song.

We are still alive on stage like a rock band
And it will depend on the clapping
Whether the string will hold
(in Greek, stage and string sound the same).

After the first chorus, Alkistis presents her team, the singers, musicians, sound mixers, light technicians, cameramen, etc.

She ends the main programme in a frenzy of screams, whistles, claps and shouts. Everyone wants a lot more even though it is almost midnight. Of course, she comes back smiling and asks whether we want more. Of course we do!

It is time for "Paradehtika" ("I admitted"), a modern-day tsifteteli written by Serbian composer Goran Bregovich. Half-way through the song as everyone is up dancing, she shouts "Να ζήσει η Σύμη" ("Long live Symi"). In the background, everyone can see the Vergina star from the Macedonian region in northern Greece.

She now asks everyone to stand up as she sings "Kathe fora pou me koitazeis" for the second time. The first of the fireworks can be seen at the top of Vigla and the Mayor steps on stage with a big flower bouquet. She asks for the lights to go out so we can all watch the fireworks.

But everyone wants another song, so lights are on again and Alkistis sings "Ola auta pou fovame" again. She thanks everyone for a wonderful night, she wishes all the best for the festival and for beautiful Symi and leaves the stage with a big bow and a lovely smile.

Alkistis, thank you ever so much for this magical evening. Να είσαι καλά Αλκιστάρα, να γελάς, να τολμάς και ν' αγαπάς όπως σ'αγαπάμε και μεις. Φιλάκια πολλά!