New Year’s Events
Saturday Night Fever
Formerly Versus club in Nicosia, the venue has had a facelift and has reopened in time for the party season. New Year’s dance party £20 with two drinks. Capital Centre, cnr Makarios and Evagorou sts, Nicosia. Tel. 22-765348.
Super People
Dance party with Agents Zen and Cusack at Tritos bar. Pantheon Building, Diagorou St, Nicosia. Doors open at 1am. £5.
Mukta
Greek and foreign music with DJ Demetris. 29 Larnakos St, Pallouriotissa, Nicosia. Doors open at 1am. £25 with unlimited drinks. Tel: 22-730830.
Musical Journeys
Popular and traditional Greek music along with some rembetika, provided by a full live orchestra. Dinner and drinks £30 per person, with a flask of whisky for every table of eight. Full New Year’s Day programme. 39 Pavlou Valsamaki St, Larnaca. Tel: 24-624266.
La Tocade
Lively Greek music programme, featuring all your popular favourites as played by Litania. Dinner £8, spirits £45 per bottle/£3 per glass and wine £2 per glass. Larnaca-Dhekelia Rd, Larnaca. Tel: 24-646854.
Drifters Bar
Music by DJs Tassos and Nicholas with free soup and breakfast served at 6am. Prices £60-80, depending on drinks. 18 Amathountas Ave, Limassol. Tel: 25-324243.
Cinema
Retro party with all the best hits of the 70s and 80s. Entry £20 with drink card. 2 Ayias Anastasias St, Kato Paphos. Tel: 99-632229, 99-577665.
Keralam South Indian Restaurant
Spectacular new year’s banquet with special buffet – over 15 dishes to choose from. £24.95 with a welcome drink. Keralam Indian Restaurant, Paphos. Bookings essential. Tel: 26-622877.
La Maison Fleuri
Enjoy Le Grand Menu De La Truffe for £60 (drinks not included). For more information: tel:25-320680 e-mail: [email protected]
Tomorrow
‘Getting to know Cyprus Through Books’
Weekly reports of new publications issued in Cyprus from the first of January. Circulated every Monday to inform all who are interested in Cypriot and Cypriot language publications. At the Nicosia Bookshop 19K. Paleologou, 1015. Tel:22-753536
You have one more week to catch the exhibition by Greek sculptor Aristidis Patsoglou at the Hellenic Bank cultural centre in Nicosia.
He is best known for using innate materials to create vivid images and fluid and elegant movement. His work can be found in galleries all over the world, including public and private collections Greece, France and Canada. He studied in Athens, but now lives and works permanently in Paris.
Events where his work has been featured include ‘Deliodromos 2004’, a series of exhibitions held in conjunction with the Olympic Games in Greece, and in an exhibition at Artower Agora.
At the Games, his sculpture exhibition was titled ‘Olympic Champion Love’ and included 70 works by Patsoglou and Angelika Korovessi.
The Artower exhibition was dedicated entirely to Patsoglou and included works from different periods in his career. These included installations and sculptures, many made of pieces jointed together by electrical wires. The Hellenic Bank sponsored this exhibition in 2003 which ran from March until April.
The Hellenic Bank is sponsoring his current exhibition, which comprises mostly of sculptures made of steel and bronze. ‘Hellenic Spirit’ defines this exhibition. Despite the fact that Aristides Patsoglou lives and works in France, his work is absolutely connected to the Greek community. By using his imagination, creativity, thoughtfulness and incomparable skill, the artist creates inspired works that blend everyday life with tradition with absolute success.
Hellenic Spirit
Sculptures and installations by Aristidis Patsoglou. Until January 7. Cultural Centre of the Hellenic Bank, Nicosia. Tel:22-500312
Don’t Forget
Yermosoyia Walks
Cyprus really is a beautiful place, and one way to take in its splendour is through guided tours. These are offered for free by the Limassol Municipality in collaboration with the Cyprus Tourism Organisation and the Cyprus Tourist Guides Assosiation.
The first tour focuses on the nature of Yermasoyia. Participants will be taken to the unruffled surroundings of Yermosoyia village and will be able to walk around at their leisure through the hillside. Then they will be taken down an earthen road by bus until they reach a nature trail, where they can enjoy an even greater view. As it is winter, the trail is full of wild flowers and vegetation, a rare sight in Cyprus.
In contrast, the next tour takes visitors to the traditional, yet tranquil village of Yermosoyia. They can see its architecture by visiting its churches or by walking through its narrow streets and then walk to the beach just 15 minutes away. Then, the tour takes you to the dam on the north of the village, fed by the Amathus river flowing straight from the Troodos mountains.
Easy to join and simple to attend, this tour is a great way to enjoy the splendour of Cyprus and relax.
Yermosoyia Walks
Every other Wednesday between October and April. In English. Walks begin at 10am at the CTO Information Office, Yermasoyia. Tel: 25-323211.
Looking Ahead
Spiral Music Festival
On January 4, fans of rock and metal music will be able to enjoy six different bands at Treno in Nicosia. The festival will begin at 8pm with Gravepig and will continue with performances by Flames In Ice, Fallen Angels, Arkhon, and Blynd.
A local band, Arkhon started in 2002. According to their website they have had lots of name and member changes since their inception. The group disbanded in 2003 only to be resurrected later that year with a brand new line-up.
The band says the regrouping was unusual because of the line-up changes. Demoniak (not his real name) used to be the vocalist and Soulreaper (again, a stage name) the rhythm guitarist. With this new line-up, the band managed have played some gigs around the and have recently put out their first a demo.
By combining the power of three guitarists and Bloodfreak drumming, they are trying to make their way and creating, along with brother bands a new metal scene in their island, stronger than ever, like a fist, ready to crush the famous trance music club, along with the sanitarium.
Blynd was also formed in 2002 with the original line-up of Andreas from Black Horizon (vocals, bass), Louis from Infection (guitar) and Andreas T. (drums). They are a local group and share a name with an American trio formed around the same period.
According to their website, the band started playing covers with a mixture of heavy thrash and black metal. In the same year Louis and Andreas T. left the band for military obligations.
The band was reformed in 2003 with two new members, Liras from infection (guitar) and Vakis from Mild Vertigo on drums, giving it a more particular style for the sound they wanted to put out.
In the summer of 2003 the band entered a studio for their first demo, which is yet to be completed.
The band’s only original member, Andreas, got in touch with the guitarist Constantinos (Godblood) and drummer Andreas Koumis (Fallen Angel), asked them to join the band and it all worked out! With a new line-up and some great live performances Blynd defined their style in the metal scene hoping for the best…
This festival is aimed at giving new artists a chance in the rock and metal scene in the hope of soon reaching a wider audience for this type of music in Cyprus.
Spiral Music Festival (Metal)
With performances by Crestfallen, Arkhon and Blynd. January 4. To Treno club, Sopaz district, Nicosia. 8pm. £5 entry fee with a free beer. Tel: 22-343384, or visit www.music.net.cy/treno
