Venue: Radio Slovenija (Studio 14), Ljubljana, Slovenia
Concert date: 13.11.2008
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: 0,00€
Countless people glued to their radios and a good hundred and fifty “lucky ones” who managed to snag one of the seats in Studio 14 at Radio Slovenija witnessed an unforgettable event on Friday, November 14. On the airwaves of Val 202, Jure Longyka, the father of “Izštekani”, hosted what were surely the biggest comeback kings of the year, the legendary punks Niet. After their triumphant return with the concert at Križanke on May 27 this year, they put the cherry on top with a guest spot on that cult radio show. But it wasn’t their first time getting “unplugged”. Niet already got a taste of the cozy “Izštekani” atmosphere over fourteen years ago, on March 24, 1994, on Radio Študent, where the show ran between 1993 and 1998, on the occasion of the first release of their songs on CD. The show is no stranger to new singer Borut Marolt either, who appeared there with his former band Prisluhnimo tišini, nor to Robert Likar, who answered the invitation as a guest of the punks D.D.V.. The warmth of Studio 14 was also tasted, in his thirty-five-year career, by Borut Činč of the legendary Buldožer. True, he had recorded in that studio plenty of times in the past, but this was his first appearance on “Izštekani”, for which he rearranged fifteen songs specially for the occasion. He adapted them for acoustic and electric guitar, bass, drums, a big concert grand piano and the “Vijolice” string quartet, made up of first violinist Polona Češarek, second violinist Andreja Jamšek, violist Irena Uršič and cellist Marjetka Skoberne, whom Niet had already worked with at Križanke. Despite all that, Niet didn’t lose their trademark rebellious sound. What’s more, it breathed along with the band and everyone gathered in the studio, and let’s not forget those listening at their radios, either.
After a short opening address by Jure Longyka and an introduction of the guest lineup, things got going for real. Plenty of people were probably wondering before the show how the hard, raw, uncompromising Niet you know and love would sound in an almost entirely acoustic outfit, spiced up with strings and piano. “Lep dan za smrt” laid all those doubts bare. The skeptics in the studio, and the ones at home too, who figured this look just doesn’t suit Niet and would sound fake and forced, were more or less let down by their own predictions, because that track was a pleasant surprise. Niet couldn’t have sounded more authentic or put more heart into it than they did that night.
The other fourteen songs also proved why Niet deserve a place in the history of the Slovenian punk (and alternative in general) scene in letters of gold, from the slightly rougher ones of the first, so-called two-and-a-half-minute era (“Ritem človeštva”, “Melanholija”, “Perspektive”, “Molk”) to those written after 1985, when most of the members had to do their compulsory military service. The latter include the newer pair, “Vsak dan se kaj lepega začne” and “Strah in krik”, which are rather uncharacteristic for Niet in terms of melody. But that doesn’t mean Niet lost the plot. The spirit of a true rebel still breathes with them, and it comes alive most of all during “Bil je maj”, dedicated to the cult frontman Primož Habič, who sadly left us far too soon.
During the show, which went out live at twenty-five past ten and ran without a break until midnight, you could find out things about Niet that you might not have known yet. How the band got its name, how many singers, male and female, showed up at rehearsals to prove their chops before they finally found Borut Marolt, what the guys got up to during the years when Niet weren’t active, how Borut Činč approached reworking the songs, how the collaboration with “Vijolice” came about … All of this and a lot more is reportedly on its way in audio and video form, according to unofficial sources. The sooner, the better. Until then, you can catch the guys at one of their upcoming club gigs.
Text and photos: Lea Lesar
Setlist
1. Lep dan za smrt 2. Ritem človeštva 3. Melanholija 4. Perspektive 5. Molk 6. Vsak dan se kaj lepega začne 7. Depresija 8. Tvoje Oči 9. Strah in krik 10. Ruski vohun 11. Izobčeni 12. Sam 13. Februar 14. Bil je maj —– bis —– 15. Vijolice —– bis —– 16. Lep dan za smrt
Photo Gallery
