Location: Griže / Picerija Verdi / Slovenia
Concert date: 06/29/2011
Attendance: 30
Ticket price: €0.00 (free entry!)
I admit both titles sound a bit odd, but the setting where Novi Sad’s Azil 5 played last night was just as odd.
Picerija Verdi in Griže was still full of unsuspecting hungry diners a little after nine in the evening, when the four “asylum inmates” quietly and calmly set sail on a journey all their own.
A journey that’s not worth pigeonholing or comparing to the paths of past stars. A journey you set out on accompanied by an unbelievably dynamic musical mix, in the company of lyrical sparks delivered by a one-of-a-kind voice.
Even though they adapted the arrangements and the dynamics of the show to the venue, their unique melodic sense didn’t suffer in the least, and they masterfully tipped the scales of their rock fusion sound toward the jazz side.
The key role in this transformation was played by bassist Borko Basarić, who also took over the melodic duties of the missing guitar, which is normally in the hands of Mladen Trkulja.
With light drumming, mostly using brushes, drummer Nenad Kojić also pulled off a witty bit as a “human Beatbox”.
Vladimir Vojnović’s keyboards sounded downright masterful, and with such a stripped-down sound there was of course plenty of room for them.
What gives Azil 5’s work its recognizable edge is the strong poetry and the distinctive voice of Sava Nikić.
Even though Sava sat through the whole set on a bar stool, amid the smell of oregano and Tabasco and the clinking of glasses, he confidently told his stories of love, solitude and fear, soaked in the biting juice of social criticism – stories told and sung in his native Serbian, which place Azil 5 among the top musical names of the former Yugoslav republics.
Unfortunately, the weak café-grade sound system got in the way of understanding the lyrics better.
I’d be glad to give a deeper review of the Novi Sad masters’ playing some other time, after a gig in a more suitable venue, because this is an exceptionally talented band with a approach all their own, and they’re planning to release their second album, titled Nema čoveka danima, this fall.
Until then: cheers and bon appétit, Azil 5!
photos: Peter Schmidt
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