Venue: Menza pri Koritu (Metelkova) / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 21.02.2008
Attendance: 100
Ticket price: €10.00
Huh… Action! I couldn’t resist the teasers describing Radio Moscow (thanks, FV Music!). It wouldn’t leave me alone. I was just wrapping up a review of some AOR record I was dead keen on, and the next moment I was “bolting” to Metelkova, specifically to Menza pri Koritu, probably my favorite spot on Metelkova. Not to water the horses, mind you, but simply because of the energy that always fills this tiny, lovably grungy little hole. For once, it was packed the way it deserves. Around 100 people. Crazy.
At 22:45, the up-and-coming Slovenian rockers Dandelion Children took the stage to warm up the crowd. A brother and sister. Jure and Katja. Jure on vocals/guitar and Katja on drums. Unbelievable. And so young… Well, whatever, together they’re definitely not even 40 years old. Jure and Katja surprised everyone with a return to the roots. No frills, totally natural. As a member of the lay audience, I was shocked. Jure has an appealing, varied vocal range, which lets him hit the notes spot-on singing through his nose, and on the other end hint at a bluesy, whiskey-soaked, flushed-faced roar that went incredibly well with the raw, stripped-down riffing, dressed up in a proper “old school” look. Jure impressed with his confident approach, especially since the show at Menza pri Koritu was reportedly their first electric gig ever. Soloing, singing, riffing. With a pinch of spontaneity and a noticeable lack of inhibition… Appealing. Soon their uncle joined them on stage on bass, and the duo grew into a trio. The feel was suddenly totally different. The band got some much-needed grounding. The problem was that the band was mixed really quietly. You practically had to stand right at the stage to feel, even halfway decently, the energy the band was trying to push out into the crowd. Even once the bass kicked in, the guitar was still way too quiet. Shortly after the uncle, guitarist Anže came bounding onto the stage, technically much better schooled than Jure. So the band played for a while as a quartet. Jure just sang. After the uncle left the party, Jure picked up the bass. Later Jure and Anže swapped instruments again. The band raged through bluesy rock, with no beating around the bush and no pretense. 24 Lines, Not Elevator Music, My Little Heart, Your Basic Bleuse Lesson, Smokin All Toilets, Story Of It All, Dandenosie, Jamien Tune, In The Wake Of It All, Holes In My Shoes, Iron Pill, Simple Pure,… all original music. Jure has great potential. Guitar, vocals, and soloing suit him nicely, he has real potential to develop charisma (vocals and stage presence), comes across as unselfconscious, and isn’t afraid to talk to the crowd. They had 45 minutes. Of course, there were a few missed transitions and notes, but that’s that. Part of the band’s ongoing tempering. Let’s wish Dandelion Children lots of luck. They fascinated me.
Radio Moscow started roaring at 23:45! This is what we came for. A trio stripped bare, cranked up to full volume, setting heads on necks into an unstoppable spin all by themselves. A fat wah-wah on the guitar opened the show. The hard-hitting trio started grinding. There’s a huge dose of blues in Radio Moscow. In the solos you can feel the “Hendrixisms”. And what matters most is that directness, authenticity, unspoiled-ness, virgin naivety, an eruption with no brakes! Full throttle. Rhythm N’ Blues with plenty of funky touches and a properly amateurish edge. The vocals bared, unhinged, angrily aimed, and above all real. Parker Griggs (guitar, vocals), the band’s main communicator on the band-to-crowd front, was on fire. Interestingly, he didn’t manage much more than a few “Thank You!”s during the show (when announcing the closing Mistreated Queen), but he hypnotized the audience with the energy of his all-in stage act, unhinged singing, soloing, and wild jamming riffage. Authentic rock firepower that doesn’t exactly grow in every garden. Keeping Parker company were Zach Anderson on bass (with a red copy of Alvin Lee’s legendary Ten Years After Gibson ES-335 guitar, and a headband reminiscent of Mark Farner – Grand Funk Railroad), who, unlike the lively Parker, moved only a few steps from his starting spot on stage over the whole show, and also the band’s live drummer Keith Rich, who attacked the drums like an animal throughout. The band rode on the repertoire of their self-titled debut “Radio Moscow” (2007), a mix of “white blues” elements (Deep Blue See sounds suspiciously like Fleetwood Mac with Peter Green), Jimi Hendrix-style standard solo approaches (I Just Wanna Make Love To You), the untamed power of MC5, and psychedelia. Inflammatory stuff. The band scattered their songs Frustrating Sound, Lucky Dutch, Lucksillet, Whatever Happend, Timebomb, Fuse, Ordovician Favna (the Ordovician is a geological period over 300 million years old, known for its reign of cephalopods), and the audience completely lost itself in the moment and the movement of Radio Moscow.
Sadly, this feverish, stripped-bare ordeal was over all too quickly. The regular set ended with Mistreated Queen, then the guys came back for three encores and said their final goodbyes. The trio had barely a solid hour of repertoire. Next time they roll through, they’ll have more albums out by then, so let’s hope for a correspondingly longer set.
Radio Moscow are an exceptional trio. Untamed, cocky, arrogant, young. You really miss more power blues rock shows of this sort these days. If I remember right, the last time I caught a show with a “similar” vibe was in Salzburg (Pat Travers Band, November 2006). A show like this one with Radio Moscow belongs in the endangered-species category. Authenticity above all is the key to the realness of this trio!
text and photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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