(Extra)ordinarily Killing the (Un)listening Devil, Werefox at Ortofest! (2013)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Location: Ljubljana / Orto bar / Slovenia
Show date: 10.04.2013
Ticket price: 7,00€

This year’s Ortofest also gave us a chance to catch the indie-rock quartet Werefox. The psycho-pathic half is Bekko (guitar) and Melée (vocals), while David (drums) and Manuel (bass) are their diametrical opposite (ex-Sphericube, ex-Lollobrigida), but they’re still far from “normal”.

If the first two are, in musical terms, subtle or deceptive, seemingly racing, instinct-halting, warning, scorching or smolder(melt)ing, threatening and sleeping, then the were-fox’s sharpened senses work precisely because of the beast’s solid torso, built from strong rhythmic bones and a flawlessly functioning muscular system, with the bass strapped to the drums like a string. Working together, the two halves create a mythical hybrid of monster and cunning beast, in the music, mind you.

The solid frame of bass and drums hits you the moment the band switches on. In true “plug in and play” style, the Prekmurje quartet introduces itself with the opener The Redneck Genius Story from the debut I AM MEMORY (God Bless This Mess Rec./2013), and the sound is solid from the get-go. The house sound engineer adjusts the volume only for the lead vocals of Melée, while the backing vocals of Bekko and Manuel, who complement her chorus style nicely, and above all he reins in the guitarist’s all-sound excursions, which (perhaps thanks to the rhythm section) at times work like keyboards, widening the musical picture, erasing the boundaries of classic quartet rock playing, and adding artistic value, on a scale from zero to infinity.

That the indie way of doing things is almost the only one possible in “rock’n’roll”, whatever that even is today, is also proven by one of the bosses of ex-Ministrstvo za R’n’R, who takes hold of the lighting desk – the lights “work” much better than usual, surprisingly and above all commendably!

Werefox is of course a rock band and not an entertainment act, so in the quick, necessary stops between songs (tuning instruments, wetting the throat one way or another, wiping off sweat,..) they don’t resort to that sort of unnecessary quasi-humorous waffle; still, Melée’s thank-yous, almost always in Spanish, are endearing.

After the opening stretch of the show, I’m surprised by the more “danceable” Beyond Mercy, played in their own manner, of course. So the were-fox isn’t gloomy, it carries the darkness inside; polished yet unpolished, hostile in a more elegant, poetic way (call it a coincidence: Poetry hostility, the slogan on the singer’s shirt).

After the first part of the show, they present a song created in collaboration with Scott McCloud (Girls against Boys), The Boy In Me, The Girl In You. The “cowboy” arrangement strikes me as more than fitting given the song’s subject matter, the chorus is almost cheerful, but again in were-fox fashion, never “on the first go”, and it moves things, moves them, if not otherwise then at the singer’s call, at least two steps forward.

The classic coaxing of a sleepy, anemic Ljubljana crowd, with the exception of acquaintances and friends of the band, of course, is already almost a tradition at the capital’s gig venues; after two steps forward, a decent concert atmosphere even emerges. Hats off, Werefox, stage experience does its thing; more on listening etiquette in general later. Also worth mentioning are the cute hanging were-fox-themed ornaments above the drummer – a stamp of originality, no question.

After the classic shouts of “Play!” and the not-so-classic “Madam Professor!”, during short breaks (the singer gets recognized, apparently by a student of hers?), we’re nearing the end of the show and it’s time for the “hit”. March of The Finest is the title of the single they shot their first video for, in collaboration with director Veno Jemeršič, whom they know well.

For a soft landing back into reality, if we spent the show flying, rising and sinking in Werefox’s musical atmosphere, the last two songs, Urgency and Did I Kill The Devil In You?, are to thank. The latter elegantly dissolved the solid rhythm of the musical arrangement with (if I counted right?) a 9/8 time signature and an endearing guitar riff, which probably dictated the arrhythmia itself.

From the back, where the show was most comfortable to listen to and watch, I got to witness something simultaneous at one point – during that very song, right in front of me, at the bar to be exact, a proper “KMŠ-meets-student” party was going on, uncouth yelling all over the place, with total ignorance toward the performers, on the principle: uff, it’s so quiet here (during a break), I’ll yell a bit more, I passed my midterm, what a party here at Orto, let’s have one more – sadly, not really one more song. That evidently belongs to the former temple of R’n’R these days too. But as long as music this good gets played in the temple, from now on we’ll be (extra)ordinarily killing the devil with an ignorant reaction. Thanks, Werefox!