media markt

Visiting the capital for the first time, Rizes (Roots) Fest will be on at the City of Athens' Technopolis cultural complex (athens-technopolis.gr) on June 8, with three acts from different parts of the country. Digging deep into the archives, the festival celebrates traditional Greek folk music and dances in the spirit of the classic panigiri.

Hailed for his visceral multilayered take on soul, American singer-songwriter Curtis Harding will be stopping in Athens on his European tour for a show at Gazarte on Tuesday, July 16.

Composer, singer and master lyra player Psarantonis, a cult figure in Greek music, is slated to perform at Temple in Psyrri on April 17 and 18. The widely respected Cretan artist will be joined by Niki Xylouris, Yiannis Papatzanis and Nektarios Kontogiannis for the two career-spanning sets.

Cameroonian Afro-jazz and funk favorite Manu Dibango will be making a stop in Athens on Friday, February 1, as part of his 60th birthday tour. He has made an impressive nine appearances in the Greek capital, always to a sold-out house, so tickets are expected to sell out fast.

German electrical goods chain Media Markt is reconsidering its position in the Greek market after 13 years in the country, as - despite signs of recovery in the local economy - parent company Ceconomy appears to have lost its patience with repeated annual losses by the chain and the failure to expand its market share.

Acclaimed singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki will be performing a career-spanning set at Thessaloniki's Dasos Theater on Wednesday, June 6, as part of the annual summer festival organized by the State Theater of Northern Greece. The concert starts at 9.15 p.m. and doors open at 8 p.m.

Sandra Hall & The Blues Explosion wrap up a run of shows at the Half Note Jazz Club on Monday, May 14. The African-American blues and soul blues singer and songwriter, with five albums under her belt, has performed with the likes of Otis Redding, Joe Tex and the Temptations and is no stranger to the tour circuit. Her final show at the Half Note starts at 9.30 p.m.

Athens-based Planet of Zeus, known for their energetic live shows and whose sound combines stoner rock and heavy metal, will be performing at the Gagarin 205 venue on Saturday, May 12, with special guests Deaf Radio - another impressive local outfit with desert rock influences.

Celebrated tenor sax player Ricky Ford returns to Athens after 20 years for a series of a shows at the Half Note Jazz Club, where he teams up with another acclaimed jazz musician, pianist Kirk Lightsey. The two artists will perform pieces that mark some of the highlights of their remarkable careers. Shows start at 10.30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at 9.30 p.m. on Sunday and Monday.

Shoppers reach out for television sets at a department store in Athens on Friday. The Black Friday sales appeared to beat retailers' expectations as hundreds of customers lined the streets outside the city's most popular department stores long before sunrise.