Driving down to Iera Odos one evening in April, I came to realize that the Votanikos Arena is sometimes used for alternative events and not just as a bouzouki place. When I arrived at Votanikos 9:30, more than 300 people were waiting anxiously to enter the concert area. Amazingly, It looked like it would be a sell-out. How many fans can an Austrian band have in Greece, anyway? Plenty. As I found out, I am not the only one who is up on emerging music genres.

You might not know who Parov Stelar is, but his music has been used on many shows and in TV spots over the past two years. Parov Stelar, the programmer of the Parov Stelar band, creates a unique blend of Jazz, Swing and electronic music. The band’s music is built around 50s-like vocals (Cleo Panther), instrumental music , trumpet (Jerry di Monza), saxophone (Max the Sax) and bass (Michael witter) sounds perfectly supported by electronic music – beats performed by Parov Stelar, whose real name is Marcus Füreder.

At 10, the concert opened with the supporting group from Greece, Penny and the Swingin’ Cats. The crowd started swinging when Penny introduced the group’s new songs and several covers from Elvis and other artists. That warmed everyone up for what was going to follow. The 50s era spread through the arena and “swingin'” was the motto.

Cleo from Parov went on stage at around 11:30, promising that time was not an issue. The area was crowded, but not so much so to make people stop dancing. This tour is dedicated to their new album, Princess, released on April 20. Parov and his band performed songs from Paris Swinging Box, Coco and the Princess album, introducing the crowd to the evolution of their sound. This concert wasn’t going to end easily, even though the band performed for more than two hours to please their guests. At the end of their performance, Parov Stelar thanked the Greeks for their support. When Parov Stelar assured the fans that they would visit again, the crowd let them leave the stage.

Afterwards, in the spring night, the concert-goers went on their way to swinging rhythms. The world seemed a little more wonderful after a Parov Stelar experience.