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It is almost certain that if the concert of Αerosmith on Sunday evening was held at any other day two years ago instead, the great Athenian stadium Karaiskaki would be full. Not that it wasn’t good, but it’s a pity that more than half of the stadium was empty during the  performance of one of the largest and most commercial rock bands for the last forty years, that came in Greece for the first time. Thousands rockers of all ages rushed to see Steve Tyler and his company at one of the best concerts of the last years. Αerosmith’s vocalist came on stage with the Greek flag over his shoulders to the sound of Love Ιn Αn Εlevator.  

The spectacular concert of Αerosmith is not the only one with fewer viewers, because there is not much attendance to concerts this year. The same happened at the concert of Rufus Wainwright on June 5 in the theater of Likavitos – one of the most exciting concerts this year, Vima newspaper reported. The benches in the Open Theatre were empty and the arena was full only because there were chairs. It was difficult for the punk Billy Idol to gather about 2500 people at his concert on Friday at the stadium for Taekwondo.

In the last month Grace Jones and Elvis Castello have even canceled their appearances in Greece because of poor ticket sales, which confirmed the forecasts for a very difficult concert summer. Of course, the reasons are economic, since ticket prices are much higher than those in other European cities and the audience can not afford to give a minimum of 50 euros for a  concert during economic crisis.

Another important factor for the few viewers is that the places where concerts are often held are at a great distance from the center of Athens and viewers need to provide additional high budget for their movement. As you know, the fans of Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello and other groups and musicians are not people who will move out of town with ease. We will see what will happen to the concerts of the jazz diva Diana Kroll – the singer who has enjoyed great success in recent years and who will sing in the park of Malakasa as well as with the concerts of the most anticipated rock festival Rockwave, which coincides with the finals of the World Cup.

Otherwise, we keep our fingers crossed for the concert of U2 in September, because Bono has health problems. It is certain, however, that the heavy-metal festival Sonisphere Festival with Μetallica, Slayer, Μegadeth Αnthrax and will be successful because their audience follows them even in times of crisis.