Thievery Corporation Live at Moni Lazariston, Thessaloniki

Venue: Moni Lazariston, Thessaloniki
Date: July 15, 2026
Review and photography: Dimitris Fatisis

For Thievery Corporation, Thessaloniki is more than just another stop on the road.

Rob Garza performing with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki, playing keyboards under blue stage lights. — Rob Garza performing with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

Halfway through their 30th anniversary celebration at Moni Lazariston, Rob Garza reminded the crowd of a connection that stretches back almost as far as the group itself: Thessaloniki was the first European city to invite Thievery Corporation to perform live, when they appeared at Mylos in the late 1990s.

Nearly three decades later, that history gave their return a significance beyond the usual anniversary-tour nostalgia.

Mr. Lif performing with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki, raising his microphone beneath purple stage lights. — Mr. Lif performs with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki on July 15, 2026. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

From the opening moments, it was also clear why Thievery Corporation have always been a very different proposition on stage than their electronic roots might suggest. With Eric Hilton no longer part of the touring lineup, Garza remains the central figure in a large, constantly shifting live collective where singers and instrumentalists move in and out of the spotlight.

The set opened with the atmospheric Glass Bead Game intro before the deep dub pulse of Assault on Babylon took over. Encounter in Bahia, Shadows of Ourselves, Holographic Universe and Radio Retaliation followed, immediately establishing the musical range that has defined Thievery Corporation for three decades.

Rob Myers playing guitar with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki, with Puma Ptah performing behind him. — Rob Myers on guitar with Puma Ptah performing behind him during Thievery Corporation’s show at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

Electronic textures provided the foundation, but much of the character came from the musicians surrounding them: live drums and percussion, bass, guitar and Rob Myers’ unmistakable sitar continually transformed songs that could easily have remained locked to their studio arrangements.

And then there were the voices.

Puma Ptah brought a forceful reggae presence to the stage, Mr. Lif delivered the sharp rhythmic attack of the group’s hip-hop side, while Laura Vall’s more atmospheric vocals added another completely different colour. Frank Orrall moved between percussion and the front of the stage, reinforcing the feeling that there is rarely a fixed hierarchy within a Thievery Corporation performance.

Laura Vall performing with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki, with Mr. Lif behind her on stage. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

That constant rotation is part of what makes the live show work. Instead of watching a traditional band with one permanent frontperson, the audience sees the character of the concert change from song to song.

Sound Rewind had backstage access throughout the Thessaloniki show, allowing us to photograph the entire performance from the pit, backstage and around the sides of the stage rather than being limited to the usual first-three-songs window. From those different vantage points, the mechanics of the show became even more apparent: musicians changing roles, vocalists preparing to enter and disappear again, percussion driving the performance from behind, and Garza holding the various pieces together at the centre of it all.

The middle section briefly changed the temperature of the night. The arrangements became more intimate and acoustic, with Beautiful Drug, Culture of Fear, The State of the Union and Sweet Tides offering breathing space between the heavier dub-driven sections of the set.

Thievery Corporation performing an acoustic section at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki, with Frank Orrall on percussion in the foreground. — Thievery Corporation performing during the acoustic section of their show at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

Jeff Franca and Frank Orrall performing during Thievery Corporation’s acoustic section at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki, with Frank Orrall holding a tambourine in the foreground. — Jeff Franca and Frank Orrall during Thievery Corporation’s acoustic section at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

It did not last long.

The appearance of the sitar signalled one of the night’s inevitable highlights. Few songs sum up the Thievery Corporation aesthetic as completely as Lebanese Blonde: a meeting point between downtempo electronics, live instrumentation and sounds drawn from far beyond the traditional boundaries of Western pop music. Decades after its release, its opening notes still produce an immediate reaction from the crowd.

Rob Myers playing sitar with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. — Rob Myers playing sitar during Thievery Corporation’s performance at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

From there, the show pushed toward its final stretch with Fight to Survive and Warning Shots, bringing back the political undercurrent that has always existed beneath the polished grooves.

Mr. Lif performing with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki, with the band behind him on stage. — Mr. Lif performing with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

Puma Ptah performing with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki under colourful stage lights. — Puma Ptah performing with Thievery Corporation at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

That contrast remains essential to Thievery Corporation. Their music can function as a soundtrack to a warm summer night, but beneath the surface are recurring ideas of cultural coexistence, resistance, inequality and music without borders. The celebratory atmosphere never completely separates itself from that identity.

The encore brought The Forgotten People before The Richest Man in Babylon closed the night, completing a set that reached across almost the full lifespan of the group.

Laura Vall singing with Rob Myers during Thievery Corporation’s live show at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. — Laura Vall performing alongside Rob Myers during Thievery Corporation’s live show at Moni Lazariston in Thessaloniki. Photo: Dimitris Fatisis

An anniversary tour inevitably looks backwards, and there is plenty of familiarity in a Thievery Corporation set in 2026. The biggest songs arrive where longtime fans expect them, and nostalgia clearly plays its part.

But at Moni Lazariston, it never felt like watching a catalogue being preserved behind glass.

The reason is the live collective itself. The movement between vocalists, the percussion, the sitar, the shifts between acoustic passages and massive dub basslines keep the material in motion. Thirty years into their career, these songs are still being performed rather than simply reproduced.