Venue: Cvetličarna, Ljubljana
Concert date: 17.10.2007
Attendance: 1300
Ticket price: 18,00€
Vlatko Stefanovski clearly has a soft spot for Slovenia. He swings by pretty often, and this year it was already his second visit. After his traditional stop at Lent, this time he landed at Cvetličarna, where a crowd of young and old fans of his music and his wizardry on the electric lute was waiting for him.
We in the audience were packed in like sardines, you could barely find a spot to put your foot, since the show was sold out. People were also constantly wandering back and forth so they could grab five minutes of “fresh” air during the gig. Still, thanks to the new anti-smoking law, the air inside the venue was a lot cleaner. Maybe I was just lucky not to be standing next to some sweaty stinker, but the infamous “worse smell than before” was nowhere to be sensed.
After a half-hour delay, the great Vlatko finally showed up on stage with his two buddies, and the party could begin. Before the start of the show, Stefanovski paid tribute to the late Macedonian “hero” Toše Proeski, kicking off the concert in the “nicest” way possible and honoring a musician cut from the same cloth.
Right away the trio showed what kind of gig this was going to be. The focus was mostly on fast-moving fingers on the guitar. In some of his solos Stefanovski proved he’s just as much of a master as some of the more famous American shredders (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci,…), and his two buddies didn’t lag far behind either. The bassist and the drummer especially shone during their solo spots (each got a couple of minutes with the stage all to himself). Considering how wildly Stefanovski went at the guitar all night, it wasn’t all that surprising that his solo spot was a bit weaker than his colleagues’. He was probably a little worn out by then. For the most part the trio played instrumentals full of Balkan folk motifs, and every now and then Stefanovski stepped up to the mic and sang a few of his best-known pop songs (including “Kao Kakao”). The shifts between fast guitar runs and slower passages worked flawlessly, and so did the switches from instrumentals to sung songs. The whole show ran very smoothly, with no technical problems and no noticeable slip-ups from the main players.
Stefanovski undoubtedly proved he’s a world-class guitarist who can hold his own with the biggest names in the business. If Joe Satriani and Steve Vai had heard him, they’d have gladly invited him to their G3. Technically, Stefanovski has only gotten better over the years, and despite his fairly mature age, his moves on the guitar are anything but rusty. Personally, I was a bit disappointed that he didn’t play more in a jazz-rock style, as I’d been told he would, but it’s not his fault I’m fussy. I’ve simply outgrown this kind of noodling and aimless improvising (oh man, how condescending of me). I enjoyed the first half hour quite a bit, because the music brought back memories from the days when I still listened to this sort of thing, but before long the constant showing off started to wear on me.
Even though Mr. Stefanovski didn’t satisfy all of my picky gourmet appetites, he proved himself a great musician and an outstanding guitarist. He picked a repertoire from every era of his extensive career, from Leb i Sol, through his solo work, to all sorts of collaborations. The man has such a rich and varied discography that it’d be hard to please everyone, but he gave it his all and put on a top-notch show. We can only hope he’ll come back to our country again and treat us to his shenanigans.
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