Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Kino Šiška, Ljubljana
Concert date: 18.09.2009
Attendance: 800
Ticket price: 20 Eur in advance, 25 Eur on the day of the show
Well, here it is. The new (or rather, renovated), glitzy, gleaming center of urban culture, Kino Šiška. If Cvetličarna had to get dropped from the name, so be it. Anyone who knows the story a little better won’t be too offended. In its revamped form, Kino Šiška isn’t just a concert venue. It’s also an exhibition space, it’ll host fashion shows, people will be able to kick back and hang out in a nice atmosphere, and who knows what else will turn up. For the official opening, every concertgoer got to take home a copy of the book Re:start by Borut Kranjec, Matej Leskovšek and Miro Majcen, a collection of photos from the Pankrti tour celebrating their 30th anniversary. Pankrti were also the first to test out the main hall, Katedrala, in the renovated Kino Šiška before the official opening.
Friday’s show was sold out, and the media only got a limited number of accreditations, so there were quite a few people outside the hall hoping someone would sell them a ticket at the last minute. Quite a few others got to follow the action on the big screen above the bar on the first floor (picture only, of course). I have to give the organizers credit here: they resisted the temptation to cash in as much as possible and sold just enough tickets that you could still move freely around the whole hall, and everybody could dance their own way. Not to mention the great access to the stage for everyone, especially the photographers and camera crews, who for once didn’t aggressively elbow each other in the front rows but just did their jobs in a civilized way for the entire show.
Almost exactly at 8 p.m., a slightly nervous voice over the speakers told us to head into the concert hall. Laibach gave us just enough time to settle in, then kicked off practically to the minute.
LAIBACH (20.10 – 21.50):
This time they greeted us on stage with a lineup of Milan Fras (vocals), Luka Jamnik (keyboards), Janez Gabrič (drums), Primož Hladnik (keyboards) and Mina Špiler of the band Melodrom as extra vocal firepower. She stayed on stage until the tenth song, when she was replaced by Eva Breznikar and Nataša Regovec, both members of Make up2. They didn’t sing this time, though, but instead each helped out with a drum of her own, plus stern, slightly robotic dance moves. There were no fewer than four projectors on stage, which only really came into their own when you looked at the stage setup from the back of the hall.
At the start of the show, the band hypnotized me all over again with their lyrics, projections, pounding rhythms and electronics, their rock-solid stage presence and Milan’s vocals, this time backed up by Mina, who wins me over every single time and totally deserves her spot on that stage. The thing is, Laibach used to be censored or unwelcome at home, and only after breaking through abroad could the local crowd accept them too. But now plenty of other countries around the world want a Laibach of their own. We don’t need world leaders drunk on power, living from one election to the next or permanently on the take. In the future, the world will have to rest on groups of spiritually rich, enlightened people who can present their vision to a wider circle thoughtfully, undogmatically and unpretentiously, where everyone has to think for themselves and can thus contribute to a world order that’s actually worth keeping and developing, one that allows for a dignified evolution of humankind. Hm, did that slightly political musing come from the series of covers of various world anthems and the projections of assorted national symbols, or does the mere presence of Milan Fras make me wish for a better, less pretentious future? Either way, art is understandable to everyone one way or another, and both Laibach and Juno Reactor see music as part of a broader spectrum of artistic expression that also includes visual and sensory perception and, of course, interaction with the audience, which makes every event unique and unrepeatable.
In the third part, Laibach invited us to dance in their trademark style, and that’s when the crowd really came alive and started sending obvious signs of approval toward the stage. The audience was a mix of all kinds of listeners, from a family with a school-age kid to high schoolers, students, older folks, Slovenes, Italians, Czechs, but none of that mattered. In that moment we all understood Slovenian, German, English and even Russian, if need be. Maybe the good mood also got a boost from the fact that our basketball players were beating the Croats at the same time, and that someone was following the game on one of the computers at the mixing desk.
Then came a half-hour break, which some used for a nicotine fix, a trip to the bar, or simply to chat about what they’d just seen and heard. Once again, kudos to the organizers, who clearly get what their visitors need, anticipate it, and make sure they can get it.
JUNO REACTOR (22.30 – 00.15):
If Laibach were a bit static, Juno Reactor had people on their feet from the first beats of their industrial goa trance tribal fusion sound, with a dash of so-called world music. This time we got the band’s mastermind Ben Watkins (guitar, sampler, laptop), Yusihora Sugiharo, aka Sugizo (guitar, electric violin), also a member of the Japanese supergroup S.K.I.N., Mabi Thobejan (percussion), Greg Ellis (drums), Taz Alexander (vocals), and Stephen Townsend, better known as Ghetto Preacher, as MC and vocalist, who by the way is also a former member of the well-known Asian Dub Foundation.
The whole time, the stage radiated incredibly creative and bombastic energy from the performers, and sooner or later you just got swept up in it. It’s wonderful to watch and listen to people who are virtuosos but still follow their hearts and souls in their work, and somehow want everyone around them to feel included in their love of creating.
Thanks to the costumes, face masks, props and lighting in Katedrala, Juno Reactor’s performance was a real feast for the eyes. The whole thing was almost at the level of musical theater. As the intro to one of the songs, three of the Black members of the band, each blowing his own horn, probably from some African cattle, even came down off the stage into the crowd and strolled around the whole hall, testing the mood among the people and connecting with their listeners (or viewers). In fact, Stephen Townsend addressed the audience several times and shared thoughts like: “All we need is to love and to be loved.” and “Breathe, open your minds.” Adding to the theatrical feel was Sugiza, who might have been a bit less noticeable to some, dressed in a colorful kimono. After the show he unexpectedly pulled out his camera and took photos of the audience, putting the people below the stage in the spotlight.
On Friday they mostly played songs from their latest album Gods and Monsters, but we also heard Angels and Men from the album Labyrinth. As the highlight of the night, I have to mention the song God is God, during which Milan Fras joined them on stage at exactly midnight and added his mighty voice to the track, drawing roaring cheers and whistles from the hall, since after four hours of musical journey nobody expected it. If you’re clutching your head wondering what you missed, let me console you with the news that both bands are getting ready for a joint tour in December, where you might make up for it. And don’t miss the new film Iron Sky, which both bands are also involved in and which we’ll probably see in early 2011.
photos: Anže Osterman
Setlist
Laibach: 1. Boji 2. Mi kujemo bodočnost 3.Smrt za smrt 4. Brat moj 5. Ti, ki izzivaš 6. Francia 7. Yisra’el 8. Rossiya 9. Turkiye 10. Tanz mit Laibach 11. Alle gegen Alle 12. Das spiel ist Aus
Photo gallery
