Summer Breeze Festival Gets a Dash of Vanilla! (2008)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik

Concert date: 22.07.2008
Attendance: 600

Right near the Slovenian-Austrian border, in Kirchbach to be exact, a festival called Summer Breeze went down on Friday, July 11, and Saturday, July 12. Besides local bands and the home-grown rising stars Guadalajara, the increasingly established Italians Vanilla Sky played, and the Saturday line-up also featured Multiball from Celje.

Friday, July 11
FROM DAWN TO FALL: 19.20 – 19.50
The peace of a gorgeous sunny Friday afternoon was cut short by a growling quintet of young Austrians. The twenty-somethings going by the name From Dawn to Fall drew a decent bunch of emo-ish girls and self-absorbed “wanna be skate” boys of tender teenage years up to the stage. Flinging themselves around on the grass to Stefan’s screaming was of course on the menu, even though the security guys weren’t exactly looking on approvingly, but nobody gave a damn about the “tough guys”. The crowd proved that songs like “Autumn Leaves”, “Revolution”, “Farewell Scenery” and “Days Of Neon Grey” from the debut album, simply called “The Beginning”, are already well known, though mostly on the local scene. From Dawn To Fall are the real deal, and they also justified every one of their shows alongside bigger names like Excuse Me Moses, The Used, Ayden, Rise Against, 3 Feet Smaller and others. These guys definitely promise a lot more.

GOODBYE KITTY: 20.05 – 20.40
If Stefan woke us up with his animal screeching, Goodbye Kitty lulled us right back into drowsiness with their reggae swing. There was no shortage of yawning during the first few songs, and just when you were bracing for a dull rest of the set, the guys served up a few livelier tunes. Good thing, too – otherwise we might’ve fallen asleep on our feet. But let’s not be so gloomy – among the crowd of lazy figures, a few were “going wild” to the kitties’ music. The guys didn’t surprise anyone with their show. At times it even seemed like they were playing on their last atoms of strength. No drive, no life. The only encouraging thing about their gig was the colorful choice of instruments – guitars, violin, “kazoo”, trumpet, tambourine …

ONCE TASTED LIFE: 20.55 – 21.35
The danger of the crowd sinking into deep sleep to the rhythms of Goodbye Kitty was over the moment Once Tasted Life took the stage, as they brought it back to life with their power pop just like From Dawn To Fall did at the start. The local media talk and write about Once Tasted Life in nothing but superlatives, and the guys proved the press right with their show. To kick things off, they fired up “A Few More Words” and “His Dedication”, both from their debut album “A Thousand Moments We Let Pass”, released in 2006. The party-hungry crowd showed there was still some life left in them. “Service Station” and “No Guarantee” drew a few dozen more bodies up to the stage. The guys then served us two brand-new, still unreleased songs called “Untold Stories” and “Primetime”. Looks like another energetic, refreshing record is on the way. Then came “Expectations”, “My Blackest Song” and “Social Sculpture In Progress”. The latter, in its own superior way, comes slightly close to the socially and above all politically tinged lyrics of American hardcore bands like Rise Against, Anti-flag and Bad Religion, who criticize the politics of US president George W. Bush without mincing words. Slamzine magazine apparently had good reason to call Once Tasted Life a promise for the future. The guys closed their set with “Spectator`s View” and “A New Morning (I`m Still Walking)”.
In a solid half hour, Once Tasted Life woke the crowd up and got it moving, but for more demanding spectators that wasn’t enough. The music they play is more than excellent, and the only letdown was how static they were on stage. A bit more life next time, please.

Once Tasted Life setlist:
1. A Few More Words
2. His Dedication
3. Service Station
4. No Guarantee
5. Untold Stories
6. Primetime
7. Expectations
8. My Blackest Song
9. Social Sculpture In Progress
10. Spectator`s View
11. A New Morning (I`m Still Walking)

JAYA THE CAT: 21.55 – 22.40
Jaya The Cat swept us back into uncompromising punk-rock-ska-reggae rhythms – these Bostonians currently live and work in the Netherlands, land of pleasure and forbidden substances. Last November the guys put out their third studio album, “More Late Night Transmissions With Jaya The Cat”, which brought them even more club and festival gigs, Summer Breeze among them. In just under forty-five minutes, Jaya The Cat took us through all the more talked-about tracks from that album – “Closing Time”, “Voice Of The Poor”, “Nightbus”, “Pass The Ammunition”, “Blur”, plus the latest single “Goodmorning”. There was no shortage of older hits either, like “Twist The Cap”, “Forward”, “Final Solution”, “Just The Way It Goes” and others. Sadly, the guys mostly play in neighboring countries, because it would be great to see them here too. Maybe at Soča Riversplash festival?

VANILLA SKY: 22.55 – 23.50
The cherry on top, the night was closed out by Italy’s Vanilla Sky, who played Summer Breeze as part of their tour called “Changes”. The young pop-punkers came charging onto the stage around eleven o’clock, and the moment they grabbed their instruments, a horde of boys and girls surged up to the front, and the security barrier suffered once again, the guardians of law and order barely managing to keep it upright. Like every show so far, this time too the Vanilla boys kicked off with “Nightmare”. The gathered crowd, some six hundred heads strong, sang along. And even though there were already plenty of people at the front, it wasn’t until “Your Words” that the crowd actually caught on that the guys were already on stage. The madness grew from song to song. After “Cut Away” the guys served us the English version of “Goodbye”, also known as “Se Vuoi Andare”. It doesn’t matter which version Vanilla Sky play, the party is the same in English and Italian. Then “Distance” and “On And On”. You just have to love these guys. With their music they get under your skin without you noticing. They started the next song with the well-known “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by American grunge heroes Nirvana, but only the first few riffs, which then morphed into “Thousand Miles”. At the end of the first part the guys swapped instruments. Luca took over the bass, Brian sat behind the drums, and Francesco “Cisco” grabbed the guitar. Tomaž from Maribor joined them on stage, having already sung “All The Small Things” by Blink 182 with them at Štuk. Total madness, since it’s one of those songs every teenager knows. At the end they spiced the song up with NOFX’s “Linoleum”. They wrapped up the medley of all three songs with the last riffs of “Thousand Miles”. Then came “Letargo”, followed by one of the livelier tracks – “Break It Out”. Of course they couldn’t skip Rihanna’s oh-so-great “Umbrella”, everyone’s favorite. Sorry, but that song really does make you want to puke. Vanilla Sky closed the night with “Ghost Track”. One last bout of madness before the lights went out.

Vanilla Sky setlist:
1. Nightmare
2. Your Words
3. Cut Away
4. Goodbye
5. Distance
6. On And On
7. Thousand Miles
8. Letargo
9. Break It Out
10. Umbrella
11. Ghost Track

And that was the end of the festival’s first day. Tooza were supposed to play too, but their set was canceled. I don’t know the real reason, though I’m guessing it was the late hour, since the previous bands’ sets ran over by forty-five minutes. Unfortunately, because of work obligations in Ljubljana, we didn’t make it to the second day of the festival.

Words: Lea Lesar
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik