The Open Sea is a band created in Athens in 1996, which to date consists of the same members, namely:|Vagelis Markantonis-vocals, base|George Vassilatos_ vocals, guitar|Grigoris Femetakis-drums| |Their first gigs in 1996 were held at the off-campus rock bar Lampyrides, with random appearances at University concerts and clubs in various cities of Greece.|From February 1997 to February 1998 they appeared at the live rock club Stavros tou Notou on a regular basis. During the summer of 98 they played at La Rocka, in Piraeus, and toured Greece, performing in a series of concerts.|In September 1997, they participated in the European Rock Prize contest, where they won the first prize. The panel of critics/ judges consisted of such musicians as Mick Taylor, Alvin Lee and Rick Wakeman. The song they entered in the contest bears the title Eroticos Logos, and is named after the poem it is based on, by G. Seferis.|From February 1998 to February 2000, they appeared at the Camel Club as the main band, either in fully live sets or accompanied by dj sets. During the same time, the also performed unplugged at various rock stages with acoustic instruments.|From January through March 1999, they accompanied the band, Katsimichas Bros at the Glass Musical Theatre in Athens and the Mill in Thessalonica, where they performed a tribute to Pink Floyd.|During the winter and spring season of 2000, they appeared at Fazz, a live music bar in Athens. |In the summer of 2001, they accompanied Katsimichas Bros on their final tour throughout Greece and Cyprus.|In these concerts they participated with a tribute to major Greek composers (M. Loizos, Markopoulos, Mikroutsikos, etc.) These concerts were recorded and included on the cd Haris and Panos Katsimichas: 20 years live.|In April 2002, they released their first album named after the band and produced by Haris Katsimichas through the record company Lyra. During the same year, they performed the song Serial (music, lyrics: M. Loizos) on the cd Manos Loizos: 20 years later, which turned gold a year after its release.|They also took part in a concert-tribute to Nikos Xylouris, which was also recorded and released on cd in November 2003 by MBI. The song they performed was Before Christ, written by I. Markopoulos and K.H. Myris. Towards the end of 2003 another album was released, entitled Acoustic Rock Nights, featuring 2 songs from their first album, (The House and I keep coming back to you)|Around the same time, they completed their second album, called Don’t expect news from the war front, which was released in April 2004 by the independent record company Heliothis and distributed by Sony Music.|Throughout the aforementioned period, they performed as a cover band, playing the music of such bands/ musicians as: Savvopoulos, Katsimichas Bros, Xylina Spathia, Sidiropoulos, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Bob Dylan, the Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, etc.|They have also performed numerous tributes to the Beatles and the Rolling Stones at Club 22 in Athens.
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