In a one-of-a-kind musical evening filled with rhythm, tradition, and creative improvisation, Mode Plagal delivered a hugely successful concert at the Roman Agora of Athens on Thursday, June 25, officially opening the 1st Attica Roots Festival — organized by the Region of Attica, with NextStep Media Group and iefimerida.gr as media sponsors and Mega as the official television media sponsor. The band received a thunderous standing ovation from the crowd that packed the iconic archaeological site, confirming the warm reception and the truly unique atmosphere of the evening.
More than 300 spectators gathered at the historic venue in the heart of Athens to experience an extraordinary musical journey, where Greek tradition met jazz, funk, blues, and afrobeat — all hallmarks of Mode Plagal’s distinctive musical identity.
Against the breathtaking backdrop of the Roman Agora’s historic monuments and the majestic Tower of the Winds, the audience enjoyed a setlist that showcased the band’s signature sound — a sound that for over three decades has been creatively redefining Greek musical roots and bringing them into the present with a contemporary edge and boundless energy.
Throughout the evening, the band performed beloved compositions and arrangements from Mode Plagal’s rich repertoire, including “Funky Vergina,” “Leventiko tou Miles,” “To gramma,” “Kalanta,” “Pikrodafni,” “I moni sigouri odos,” “13ari,” “Kyklos,” “O vios Panagiotou,” “Giampara,” “Ta poulia,” “Four on the flo,” “Thema titlon,” “Gun Sabah,” “Joc De Unu,” and “To Agio Fos tis Kyriakis” — treating the crowd to a night of intensity, emotion, and musical surprises.
Mode Plagal stand as one of the most important and enduring bands in the Greek music scene. Since the 1990s, they have carried the rhythms, melodies, and scales of Greek tradition into a modern musical landscape, fusing them with elements of jazz, funk, blues, and afrobeat in a musical melting pot that audiences have embraced wholeheartedly for decades. Their artistic approach goes beyond simply reproducing tradition — it is rooted in constant renewal and reinvention, creating a sound that is deeply Greek yet thoroughly contemporary. The band comprises Thodoris Rellos on saxophone and vocals, Kleon Antoniou on guitar and vocals, Florian Mikuta on keyboards and vocals, Antonis Maratos on bass, and Takis Kanellos on drums.
The opening concert of the 1st Attica Roots Festival proved the event’s tremendous potential: this is a brand-new cultural institution, designed to celebrate Greece’s musical heritage — one that reaches deep into the roots of one of the world’s greatest civilizations — while showcasing contemporary artistic creation in Attica through events featuring beloved, widely celebrated artists at historic landmark venues across the Athens basin.
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