Venue: Rock Cafe / Postojna
Concert date: 07.05.2010
Attendance: 300
Ticket price: €5
After six thrilling months, a full dozen of memorable gigs and on-stage showcases for 26 bands picked out of the pre-selection, the grand finale of the Epic RockLine contest went down on May 8 at Rock Cafe in Postojna. One last drop in the ocean of great gigs by unsigned bands ended up crowning the fearless heavy metallers Shutdown. By chance, the final event neatly coincided with the 65th anniversary of the victory over Nazi fascism, so, in a fairly fitting twist, the contest win marched briskly off toward the coast.
Of course, not everything went to plan! Quite a bit of unease was caused by the unexpected appearance of an entry fee, which brazenly “sneaked” in under the glass arches of Rock Cafe’s main entrance just three days before the big event. After a heap of grumbling on the forums, the hit came back like a boomerang, with an even more unexpected, in other words excellent, response from the crowd, which thankfully tipped the scales in favor of the much-needed support for the bands. The result was a big hall properly packed with a good-humored mob, and the ones who gained the most were the performers themselves, who got to unleash their own original “wonders” with that much more satisfaction into the embrace of a proper full-fat gig atmosphere.
And what about the musical side of the grand finale? Plenty has already been said on RockLine over the past months about the character and potential of all three bands. I’m sure the reports and interviews (and in two cases even reviews) have given you a clear picture of your favorites and non-favorites, so this time I won’t bore you with detailed profiles of the performers. A simple thought about how excellent Spleen and Divine Illusion are, and, finally, the eventual winners Shutdown too, is enough. The form of all of them kept building steadily as the contest went on (most noticeably with Spleen, probably), and the fever and big expectations of the finale night understandably squeezed out a bit more of that reserve of blood and sweat, which the bands, one after another, poured into their most convincing performances of the entire Rockline marathon. Let’s stop at Spleen first. Mojca’s crew delivered a show polished down to the tiniest detail and, as per tradition, devoted it to tending a genre-diverse musical mishmash, led, over an organically pulsing rhythm section, by a credible female vocal, of course. Spleen once again proved themselves as creators of a unique sonic experience, and a performance loaded with stage energy and good communication confirmed once more their knack for winning over any tougher crowd. The crowd returned the favor rather shyly at first, but later dared to unbutton a few too-tightly fastened shirt buttons. Quite as expected, the first real turn in the crowd’s overall mood came with Shutdown. The “uncles in tights” from the coast spent recent months in the contest busily cementing their reputation as attractive heavy metal archaeologists, with a well-polished and, most importantly, their own sense of how to push the genre forward. Shutdown have practically everything: an excellent, charismatic vocalist, punchy and tight rhythm work, plus a venomous guitar duo that every so often casually and confidently orchestrates a Judas Priest classic in passing. The local heroes Divine Illusion also took quite a classic approach, except that the Postojna lads start out with a bigger dose of melody, wrapped around a heavy metal body that’s easy enough on the ear. It’s also great to see the guys sticking to vocal harmonies, since that kind of execution at such a high level is not exactly plentiful in Slovenia. As deserved as it was expected, the guys kept soaking up the open sympathy of the gathered crowd, who backed their picks in droves. With this selfless show of support, Divine Illusion’s set actually helped materially in staging the atmospheric peak of the finale.
So the contest wrapped up in the best possible way, with quality performances from three excellent bands in a proper gig atmosphere. Expectations before the contest varied. There were quite a few surprises, thankfully mostly positive ones, kindly delivered by the participating bands. But what’s probably the most heartening of all is the realization that the club music scene in Slovenia has plenty of brilliant bands, quite a few of them with a clear vision and a style all their own, and above all with loads of courage and daring. Unfortunately, because of the organizers’ chronic lack of ear for them, it’s hard for these bands to get noticed. That quickly leads to the realization that creativity, however sincere and fertile, has no bright future without the basic conditions to grow and thrive. By giving unsigned bands a chance, RockLine has done what it could to encourage young musical talent and let it show itself to a wider audience.
Photos: Mojca Perdih
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