Venue: Simonov zaliv, Izola, Noči na plaži
Concert date: 01.08.2008
Attendance: 1500
Ticket price: 10 €
Van Halen recorded the legendary Jump in 1984, and right around then the former Yugoslavia turned out at least two songs that captured that optimistic feeling of the era in a similar way, along with the carefree, positive approach to music you could sense in the eighties in the Balkans and everywhere else in the world. The first was Padaju zvijezde, which Bregovič wrote for his Bijelo dugme, and the second was Ne zovi mama doktora from the album Zlatne godine, which Prljavci released in 1985.
The Croatians played that anthem near the end of the set, of course, when the mostly underage crowd was already pretty tipsy. About a thousand, maybe fifteen hundred of them trickled into Simonov zaliv, which is more than a solid number by our standards, especially since the Noči na plaži parties could probably have been promoted better, particularly beyond the Primorska region. But compared to the meager turnout at Avditorij, which sat empty on plenty of occasions this summer, the night was a complete success.
A good many youngsters had gathered in front of the stage in the picturesque bay in Izola early in the evening, and Prljavo kazalište, who took the stage a little before eleven, spiced up an already lively atmosphere, made giddy by the summer holidays, in the best way possible. They started with lesser-known songs and the ballad Ma kog me boga za tebe pitaju, then moved on to Heroj ulice, which guitarist Jasenko Houra sang while spinning one of the female fans around the stage. Next came the obligatory and somewhat pompous Mojoj majci (Ružo hrvatska), and after an interesting dramatic pause, during which the Prljavci stood with their backs to the crowd in darkness and silence for about a minute, the aforementioned Ne zovi mama doktora. Rather unusual, but extremely effective.
The cult hit Mi plešemo got a special overture too. After a short speech and some fairly successful banter with the crowd, guitarist and mastermind Houra called on the men in the audience to take their shirts off, which is nothing out of the ordinary, but what did come as a surprise was that the band members stripped down too. That was probably the one blunder of an otherwise excellent show. In the humble opinion of the undersigned, older gentlemen with a generous helping of adipose tissue around the lower back and belly, and chests that stopped being heroic long ago and would be better off in a bra, simply shouldn’t be taking their shirts off on stage. Of course, the fired-up youngsters couldn’t have cared less, and Prljavo kazalište took their triumphant leave with the lines “Bože spasi me, a ja ne mogu bez nje”, the way the melancholic Marina ends.
So the veterans did their job with flying colors and proved that eighties rock with a dash of Yugo nostalgia is still the best recipe for a good time. Big foot mama had the thankless task of following the Croatian legends, but they kept the party going just fine and, with classics like Črni tulipan, Oklep, Mala nimfomanka and a cover of Videosex’s Moja mama, wrapped up the revelry around two in the morning like the pros they are.
The Izola event is definitely a welcome addition to the local entertainment and festival scene, which has been slowly waking up again on the coast in recent years. Kudos to the organizers, then, who took good care of the music, the food and the drinks, as well as security, which, as the unpleasant experience of the Portorož nights taught us a good decade ago, matters a great deal at big gatherings like this.
Text: Tomo Jurca
Photos: Tomo Jurca, Ana Porok
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