Rodon Live! - Athen's Legendary Live Music Space

When Rodon (Rose) opened up it's gates in the late '80s ('88 if i rememeber right, it was the only big space dedicated to live rock music in Greece. It created the space for rock music fans to watch live some of their favorites bands, which otherwise would't have a place to perform. It was owned and run by the son of a constructor bussinesman, Mpompolas, one of the bigger in the country. At that time Mpompolas was creating his construction and media "empire" in an interweaving with the state and the politicians. Although his son that opened Rodon was a genuine rock guy, speculations and rumors say that part of the project could range from "public relationships" to "creative acounting". In the '80s a lot of the many Athenian movie theatres were closing, to become supermarkets. One of these theaters, instead of a supermarket it became Rodon live and a legend, that people still talk about it. But then, when it closed down in the early 00's, the space was used for a supermaket... The photos i'm exhibiting here,a small sample of the highlights of the place, are taken mostly in the early days, until the mid '90s. Since i wasn't assigned but was taking the pictures for myself, i met the need to decide if i was going to have the experience of photographing or the experience of living the concert. And in a wonderful space like that, i chose the second...Enjoy.

GENIA TOU XAOUS (CHAOS GENERATION)

NEW MODEL ARMY

ACTIVE MEMBER

ECHO TATTOO

EX

VERBAL ASSAULT

JAMES TAYLOR QUARTET

NIGHTSTALKER

STEEL PULSE

PJ HARVEY

Albanian Roma "ghetto" neighborhood in the middle of Athens

These photos are from a part of Athens that used to be the nearby country side and the olive grove of the old city. You can see the Acropolis from there, it's just a 5-10 minute ride from the center. It is now the district of transit and logistic companies, small factories, a heavy traffic and polluted area, a ghetto for people like the Roma that have come from Albania almost 20 years ago and occupied a big field. Their work is to roam around the city and collect scrap metal. Out of material thrown from houses that go under reinovation, they build their shacks. But these shacks are their homes full of life, children's voices, passion. The pictures are taken in the summer of 2010.