Author: Urban Bolta
Location: MC Jedro / Medvode
Concert date: 02/03/2012
Attendance: 120
Ticket price: 5€
Last Saturday, the Medvode club Jedro came alive again. It hosted the third edition of the Lipstikk N Leathür festival, which has moved from Kranj to a spot a stone’s throw closer to Ljubljana. After the second edition took place almost two years ago at Bazen, black clouds gathered over that legendary venue, because the local bigwigs shut it down last year. But that didn’t stop the organizers of the hottest, most ripped, most bedecked and sexiest festival on our turf: “Lipstikk N Leathür” has found its (temporary?) home in Medvode!
The night offered sets from four stylistically similar bands, so things got going early. Despite the early hour, the turnout was pretty decent, and an even bigger crowd was kept away by the brutal winter conditions: Siberian cold was bearing down, and in places it was snowing too.
A little after eight, Street Creeps took the stage, a hard rock outfit from Ljubljana and the Gorenjska region, fronted by Nejc. They’re total newcomers to the scene, since this was their first gig in the true sense of the word. They’d warmed up a crowd once before, at the Metalsteel premiere of their new video, but that wasn’t a full-length show. The five-piece looked confident onstage, the guitarists swapped positions spontaneously in old-school style and flung around their surplus energy, and the convincing stage mimicry was pulled off very smoothly for a band with no mileage. Sadly, I can hardly say the same about the actual playing. The band’s inexperience was loud and clear in how loosely they locked together, especially between the rhythm section and the guitars. The crowd didn’t seem too bothered, though, and everyone sang along in one voice when Street Creeps sawed through classics by Mötley Crüe, Hardcore Superstar and Quiet Riot.
Second up were old friends of Rockline, Tomcat. Even though the band has only been around for a year and a half, the crew gathered around the masterminds Rok (guitar) and Šujo (bass) has already swapped out every other position. This time Tomcat did the lineup shuffle live. Midway through the set, Damjan handed the drumsticks to Žiga, and second guitarist Luka left the stage along with him. Tomcat already proved at the Lizzy Borden gig that missing one guitar doesn’t give them much trouble. What’s more, Rok’s talent on one side and the hunger to prove themselves on the other are behind a compromise solution of a single guitar that’s totally enough for the Tomcat sound. Then there’s Denis, more confident from gig to gig, diligently developing his vocal chops and marching ever more steadily toward a distinctive, recognizable voice of his own. Tomcat once again served up a proper hard n heavy party, so.. see you next time!
After a short break came Broken Arrow, a hard rock band from Brežice that has recently vanished from the active scene because they’ve been in the studio putting the final touches on their debut album. Their relatively long absence from concert stages raised the question of which direction the Brežice “arrows” are flying in. And boy, did they turn out to be poisonous! The band clings ever tighter to an extremely melodic sound and builds on demanding vocal harmonies, helped on the left side of the stage by a backing vocalist. The initially slightly muddy sound, which needs perfect balance to do melodic polish justice, was fixed by the crew during the set. Vocalist Matjaž (now short-haired) has established himself as one of the best frontmen around. Used to club stages, he knew how to steer the nearly hour-long trip through old and new Broken Arrow hits safely home. Broken Arrow ripen with every gig, and as the only band that night, they knew to give up the booze for the sake of their long-term ambitions and delivered a thoroughly professional set. Their (rising) star on the Slovenian hard rock/AOR map has been shining even brighter since Saturday.
In the role of festival headliners, we got Shutdown, standard-bearers of the old-school heavy rock craft, blown into Medvode by the Primorska bora itself! This time the single-guitar hurricane from Nova Gorica and surroundings wasn’t having its day, as the late hour took its toll.. I’m talking, of course, about all the beer the boys downed while watching the openers. Still, you can’t blame Egzi and company for one weaker gig, especially since, with their debut about to drop, they’ve earned some serious fun. Let me take this opportunity to pass on the band’s message to readers: they’re still looking for a rhythm guitarist.
In a cheerful, friendly atmosphere, the night rolled toward its end. All the performers stormed the stage at once and, in a rowdy mood amid a jumble of sounds, jammed together on Young’s monumental Rockin In The Free World. The event was a success in every respect, and the gathered rocker crowd agreed that hard/glam rock get-togethers like this are essential to our very being. Long live “Lipstikk N Leathür”!
Photos: Martin Prezelj
Setlist
BROKEN ARROW: 1. Our Last … 2. We Ride 3. V tvojih očeh 4. Polet v nebo 5. Hold Me Tight 6. V8 Serenade 7. Fight Fire With Fire 8. Zdaj ko si sama 9. Crying In Shadows 10. Have A Little Love 11. Glam till The End 12. Hit The Streets
Photo Gallery
