The main support to the brutal, intensive, but thoroughly entertaining Kings Of Thrash came in the form of Greek band Andry. Taken from the name of the vocalist Andry Lagiou, they are a female-fronted ‘old school’ Heavy Metal band.
Andry
The Underworld, Camden – 24 October 2024
Words: Adrian Stonley
Photography: Steve Ritchie
As a runner-up on The Voice of Greece and front-woman in The Harps, Andry recently decided to go solo and released her debut solo album Skies, of which eight of the nine songs were performed during this show.
So, to the music and the gig itself. Andry is an artist who is not scared to wear her colours on her sleeve. She has a big voice with an impressive range and clearly was very comfortable in the environment. Not only that, she has a great band around her, and most importantly, she has the songs.
There is a strong power in her delivery and clear confidence in her stage presence, and she rapidly won over the earlycomers who were mesmerised by the show and thoroughly absorbed the experience.
The opening chords and her scream on set opener Do Or Do Not showed that there was a clear resolve to make an impressive statement on the first night of the UK tour. It saw her throw down the gauntlet and provide a clear intent on that which was to follow.
Donning a horned headpiece and whip for Mistress Of The Night, she prowled the stage, cajoling the band and audience.
Adnry has a forceful onstage attitude, which the audience clearly loved as she and the band worked the stage from the moment they hit it. Yet, there was also versatility in the performance and song delivery. The sound may very well be set in the classic Metal of the past, but this is clearly not a tribute band, and Andry is not here to make up the numbers.
From the reaction in The Underworld, there is a clear taste for her style of Heavy Metal, and this has already been reflected in European performances.
If Andry was working up a sweat in the close club atmosphere, then so were her band with Mickey Lyxx on guitar, throwing his blonde tresses around and providing every guitar hero shape possible. Even an obligatory run into the audience to play was well received and helped to build the bonds between band and fans.
The ballad My Love enabled keyboard player Fab Jablonski to show off his more technical prowess, and the piano accompaniment to Andry’s vocals produced a powerful and dynamic performance.
Behind the band is the powerhouse drumming of Hans in ‘t Zandt and the brain-crunching riffs and bass of Marko Vladilo, the two of them providing the engine room to the band.
They closed the set with a cover of the song that made her famous and win over the votes on The Voice. Deep Purple’s Burn saw Andry and her band in full flow and on fire.
If this set was a mission of intent then the message was very clearly received. Powerful and awesome.
