Release Athens x SNF Nostos / ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN (Water Plaza) & VIAGRA BOYS (SNFCC Great Lawn) will join SIOUXSIE and INTERPOL on June 23, 2023
In 2023, Release Athens and SNF Nostos from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) are joining forces to present three unique days of concerts on two stages. On Friday, June 23, they will host two bands that have defined, in their own way, the past and the present of rock music.
The greatest band – after The Beatles – to come out of Liverpool, the legendary Echo & The Bunnymen, will take the stage at Plateia Nerou, while at the Great Lawn stage of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center (SNFCC), we will have the chance to enjoy one of the most exciting post punk bands of our days, the Swedish Viagra Boys.
More artists will be announced soon, both for this day and for the other two days of the festival that are part of this collaboration. Release Athens x SNF Nostos is taking place on June 20, 21, and 23, presenting acclaimed Greek and international artists at the Water Plaza and at the Great Lawn of the SNFCC, giving us the chance to experience an electrifying three-day concert event that will be an integral part of Release Athens 2023.
Echo & The Bunnymen were formed in 1978, having their love for New York’s punk and the psychedelia of bands like the 13thFloor Elevators and The Doors, as their main source of inspiration. Driven by the mesmerizing voice and outsized persona of singer Ian McCulloch and the undeniable talent of Will Sergeant on guitar, the band made music history in the 80s, by releasing an extraordinary quartet of records, the now legendary “Crocodiles” (1980), “Heaven Up Here” (1981), “Porcupine” (1983) and “Ocean Rain” (1984) that, not only earned them die-hard fans but also pushed them, from the beginning, beyond the confines of the UK’s post punk scene.
Over the next few decades, the band would enjoy critical acclaim as well as commercial success, non-stop airplay on the radio (from the iconic John Peel, who invited them six times on his show, to the most mainstream stations), experience tragedy (such as the death of their amazing drummer, Pete de Freitas), and line-up changes, but in the end they would find a way to continue to this day, as McCulloch and Sergeant have cemented a musical bond that cracked but never shattered, over the course of a lengthy career, that never stopped treating us with great songs.
On Friday, June 23, we’ll have the honor to host one of the most important bands of the last few decades and the opportunity to witness live, impeccable tracks like: “Rescue”, “Going Up”, “The Cutter”, “The Killing Moon”, “Bring On The Dancing Horses”, “Lips Like Sugar”, “Nothing Lasts Forever”, “All My Colours”, among many others.
Follow Echo & The Bunnymen:
The Viagra Boys are not your typical post punk band. They are a raw sextet, comprised of classically trained jazz musicians, seasoned hardcore punk veterans and tattoo artists, who managed in five years to sweep everything in their path: they have released three albums, played countless, chaotic gigs and injected post punk a breath of fresh air, thanks to their satire and inventive compositions that seem to define the rock music of our time.
Since they formed in 2015, Viagra Boys have been releasing some of the most groundbreaking sounds the genre of post punk has heard in recent memory. Starting with their debut EP, “Consistency of Energy” (2016), the band has been building a fan base of frantic fans who can’t resist their hectic rhythms and, of course, the exhilarating Sebastian Murphy, a charismatic frontman who seems to have emerged from the same mold that birthed the great Iggy Pop. In 2022, after the release of the stunning “Cave World”, they experienced acclaim and established themselves as one of the most important music acts in the business.
Follow Viagra Boys:
Presale continues at €30. Additional phases of ticket sales will be announced soon.
Limited VIP tickets are also available for €100.This category includes the following benefits: a separate raised area with stands and stools for everyone, an open bar, priority of access to the venue, private parking, separate toilets, and a souvenir of the event.
Kindly note that VIP ticket holders will have access to both stages, but the specially designed space offering the above benefits is available at the Water Plaza only.
Tickets Available*:
By phone at 11876
Online at www.releaseathens.gr / www.viva.gr
Retail at Wind, Public, Media Markt, Evripidis, Yoleni’s, and Viva Spot Technopolis
For all information (prices, lineup, access, etc.), visit www.releaseathens.gr / www.snfnostos.org
*Ticket proceeds go exclusively to Release Athens. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) is a philanthropic organization that makes grants to nonprofit organizations. SNF does not accept funds from private individuals, corporations, or any other organizations.
In parallel, SNF is making €500,000 in additional grants under the name SNF x Release Athens to nonprofit organizations whose mission is to support mental health, in line with the wider mental health theme of this year’s SNF Nostos.
More about Release Athens 2023
Launched in 2016, Release Athens has become one of the most important summer music events in Athens and across Greece, hosted mainly at the Water Plaza (Plateia Nerou), a beautiful open-air venue right by the sea within minutes of downtown Athens.
Having presented a multitude of outstanding artists from the global music stage in recent years (Iggy Pop, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Slipknot, PJ Harvey, Pet Shop Boys, Judas Priest, Jamiroquai, London Grammar, Alice In Chains, Parov Stelar, Sigur Ros, Damian Marley, Liam Gallagher, Richard Ashcroft, among many others), Release Athens returns for the sixth time with an even bigger lineup and its motto, “Making Memories Together,” faithful to the principle that has guided it since day one: together, the artists, the audience and the festival contributors shape the unique experiences and memories that will accompany us forever.
More about SNF Nostos 2023
Thrilling concerts are just one component of SNF Nostos, a multifaceted, open annual event taking place this year from June 20 to June 23 at the SNFCC, focusing on the theme of mental health. As every year, SNF Nostos will also include an SNF Dialogues discussion, the SNF Nostos Conference, the SNF Nostos Run, and an artistic program running in parallel. Find out more about SNF Nostos 2023 at snfnostos.org.
