Venue: Dom sportova / Zagreb / Croatia
Concert date: 20.02.2009
Attendance: 9000
Ticket price: 100,00HRK / 120,00HRK (on the day of the show)
Can The Beet Fleet fill Dom sportova?
That exact question kept coming up over the last few weeks. It kept coming up stubbornly, right up until the start of the show, when it became totally clear that the rapper trio from Split could fill not just one, but two halls like Dom sportova. By the way, so far only Hladno Pivo and Edo Maajka have managed to sell out Dom sportova completely among Croatian acts.
Around 9000 people were waiting impatiently for one of the strongest bands in Croatia right now to kick off their gig. But before them, the crowd was warmed up by Stillness, a crew from Split that’s still breaking onto the music scene and, judging by the energy, the looseness and the quality they brought to their set, have a real shot at becoming the headliners of such big halls themselves someday. Stillness have seven members, and their music is a mix of rap, reggae and rock, with bits of metal and even SKA thrown in. This is a band you simply can’t stuff into one genre basket, because they sound different from song to song, at least enough that you might feel like in one moment you’re looking at Rage Against The Machine on stage, in the next Asian Dub Foundation, and then just a happily unhinged reggae band. Stillness can boast a wide repertoire of songs: politically and socially engaged ones, love songs, and among them even some praising love for one’s mother. With their energetic performance they proved they’re the perfect band to open big concert events like tonight’s The Beet Fleet show at Dom sportova.
After the energetic Stillness wrapped up their show, the TBF guys jumped onto the stage – Mladen Badovinac, Luka Barbić and Saša Antić. They kicked off the concert with the dark ”Ne znan šta bi reka”, followed by the completely opposite – upbeat, positive – ”Đita”. Over more than two hours of gig, all the band’s most important songs made an appearance, and the guys didn’t forget a single one of their released albums when picking the setlist. They played songs like ”Genije”, ”Bog i zemljani”, ”Esej”, ”Lud za njom”, for which Saša grabbed an accordion, and ”Nostalgične”, which was played in a “bossa nova” version. In ”Fantastičnu” the guys used a sample of Oliver Dragojević’s ”Ča je život vengo fantažija”. During ”U svakom slučaju te volim”, the song’s author himself, Ibrica Jusić, came out on stage, and in his ten minutes of entertaining the crowd he contributed both his songs ”U svakom slučaju te volim” and ”Zbogom malena.”
Even though a surprise guest had been announced long before the show, nobody in the hall expected that this singer-songwriter from Dubrovnik would be the one taking the stage. Those ten minutes with the special guest visibly surprised the crowd, even confused them, but they still welcomed Ibrica with open arms, in the spirit of the whole “Split vibe”. At moments you could hear the crowd chanting, calling out the singer-songwriter’s name.
After Ibrica, TBF came back onto the stage and brought the hall back to a brilliant mood with ”Heroyix” and ”Data”. They also reminded the crowd of their old hits like ”Malo san maka” and ” Yen dva” and of younger songs like ”Odjeb je lansiran” and ”Život je lijep.”
With this colorful selection of their songs, TBF only confirmed how radically they’ve progressed through their career and how hard the guys have worked, on top of all their potential, to reach the success they wanted.
”Šareni artikal”, ”Guzice i sise” and ”Smak svita” were saved for the end, which of course wasn’t really the end yet. After the obligatory encore, the band introduced the members, took a bow and left the stage. Amid the relentless chanting of the thoroughly fired-up crowd, the audience managed to summon the TBF trio of stallions back one last time, and together with Stillness they played ”Splitsko stanje uma”, which finally brought the concert to a close. The stage blackout, which darkened the hall, only underlined that closing feeling even more during the last song.
This The Beet Fleet concert took place to celebrate 25 years of Radio 101, and no doubt also to honor the huge effort the guys have put in to bring their music to the wider masses while keeping the recognizable originality of their sound,
With this exhilarating show, the trio from Split definitely raised the bar for what to expect from other Croatian acts on home stages this year and next. Every moment of the The Beet Fleet concert, from the start, through the surprise guest, all the way to the end, was thought out down to the tiniest detail, with a clever collage of brilliant sound, witty visuals and special lighting effects that fit the concept of each song perfectly! On top of all that, TBF delivered the most important ingredient of any concert spectacle – positive vibes, which the band has successfully cultivated since the very beginning. With this show the band confirmed its reputation as one of the biggest acts on the Croatian music scene, one that knows its own greatness but still stays true to its principles, which is exactly why the crowd embraces and respects them all the more. TBF managed to fill Dom sportova without a special promo campaign, tons of ads or mindlessly handing out tickets to the masses.
With this show the band took us on a fantastic journey through their vocal expression, and along with it left the crowds in the hall a piece of the Split state of mind, which stayed with everyone long after they’d left the venue.
(translated into Slovenian: Aleš Podbrežnik)
“TBF u Domu sportova – pobjeda splitskog stanja uma” (2009)
Can The Beet Fleet fill Dom sportova?
That exact question kept coming up over the past week. It kept coming up until the start of the concert, when it was obvious that the rappers from Split were able to fill two halls, not ”just” one, at Dom sportova. Incidentally, only Hladno Pivo and Edo Maajka have filled that hall before them.
Around 9000 people were impatiently waiting for one of the strongest bands in the region to start playing. But before them, the crowd was nicely warmed up by Stillness, a band from Split that’s still breaking onto the scene and, judging by their energy, looseness and quality, has good chances of one day being the headliner in a big hall too. Stillness has seven members, and their music is a mix of rap, reggae, rock, a bit of metal, and even ska. It’s a band that can’t be put into any one musical basket, because every song sounds a little different, at least to the point where it might seem that in one moment you’re looking at Rage Against the Machine, in another Asian Dub Foundation, or just a cheerful reggae band. Stillness has a wide repertoire of songs, from political and social ones to love songs, all the way to songs about love for one’s mother, and with their performance they proved they’re the ideal band to open such a big concert.
After the energetic Stillness finished, the TBF guys came out on stage: Mladen Badovinac, Luka Barbić and Saša Antić. They started the concert with the dark ”Ne znan šta bi reka”, followed by the upbeat ”Đita.” Over more than two hours of playing, the band’s most important songs were performed, and no album was forgotten. They sang songs like ”Genije”, ”Bog i zemljani”, ”Esej”, ”Lud za njom”, for which Saša picked up an accordion, and ”Nostalgične”, which was played in a bossa nova version. Those aren’t the only songs in new clothes, though. For ”Fantastičnu” they used a sample of Oliver Dragojević’s ”Ča je život vengo fantažija”. They also used Ibrica Jusić’s ”U svakom slučaju te volim”. Then Ibrica himself came out on stage, and in about ten minutes of his presence played his two songs, ”U svakom slučaju te volim” and ”Zbogom malena.”
Although a surprise guest had been announced, hardly anyone expected the singer-songwriter from Dubrovnik to be the one joining this concert. Those ten minutes, which somewhat surprised and confused the crowd, didn’t stop them from receiving Ibrica in any way other than positively, in the spirit of the whole Split vibe. At moments you could hear the crowd chanting, calling out Ibrica’s name. After that, TBF took the stage again and brought back the great mood with ”Heroyix” and ”Data.” They also reminded the crowd of their old hits like ”Malo san maka” and ” Yen dva”, as well as younger songs like ”Odjeb je lansiran” and ”Život je lijep.”
With those songs TBF just showed how far they’ve come in their career, and how, on top of great potential, they worked hard for their success.
”Šareni artikal”, ”Guzice i sise” and ”Smak svita” were left for the end of the concert, which, as expected, wasn’t the end at all. After an encore of about fifteen minutes, the band introduced themselves, took a bow and left. But that wasn’t the end either. Thanks to the crowd’s persistent chanting, the guys came back on stage and, with the help of Stillness, played ”Splitsko stanje uma” for the final close of the concert, whose impression was further strengthened by darker lighting.
The Beet Fleet held this concert to honor twenty-five years of Radio 101, but also undoubtedly to honor all the effort the guys have put in to reach wider masses while keeping their original sound.
The trio from Split has definitely raised the bar of expectations for local acts this year and next. Every moment of the concert, from the start, through the surprise guest, to the end, was well calculated and cleverly put together: a collage of brilliant sound, imaginative visuals, lighting that hit the mood of the songs, and above all the most important thing – the positive vibe TBF has cultivated since the start of their career. That way the band confirmed that it sits near the top of the biggest acts in the region, aware of it, yet still true to its principles, which is why the crowd embraces them even more. They managed to fill Dom sportova without a big company behind them, without numerous ads and without senselessly giving away tickets left and right.
The band took us on a fantastic journey through their vocal expression and left behind a piece of the Split state of mind, which stayed with everyone even after they left the hall.
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