Author: Urban Bolta
Photos: Urban Bolta
Venue: Cvetličarna / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 21.06.2013
Attendance: 450
Ticket price: free admission
Bežigradfest is moving at the speed of light. It has brought a month of livelier evenings to the everyday lives of Ljubljana’s rock youth and other music lovers, since pretty much every night we can head out to a free show by one of the many acts rolling through Cvetličarna on what feels like a conveyor belt this month. I even heard word that Bežigradfest might happen again next year, which proves this year’s free festival wasn’t born out of a sheer urge to promote the renovated club.
On the third Friday of June, Bežigradfest hosted Res Nullius, the rock’n’roll champs from Velenje, but before them the crowd was warmed up by a Croatian alternative rock band whose name slipped my mind because I arrived late to the “scene of the crime”. The band, in the classic rock lineup (guitar, bass, drums) with an endearing frontwoman in the middle, put on a good show of punchy riffs and layered vocal refrains, where the guitarist on the left side of the stage usually joined the girl on vocals. Sadly, instead of listening to the Croatian crew, the crowd preferred to sip beer in the outdoor part of the club, so the band played to a half-empty Cvetličarna auditorium, which they probably hadn’t expected. The structures of the songs were varied, and you could tell right away that this was the work of seasoned musicians who’ve been making music together for a while. Croatia’s Skunk Anansie, if I may make that comparison, satisfied the appetite of those present and proved once again that they know how to play some damn good rock’n’roll south of the Kolpa!
Around half past ten in the evening, the main act of the night took the stage. After a series of smaller club shows in recent years, this was the first time since Grand Rock Sevnica 2008 that I saw Res Nullius on a somewhat bigger stage, where they could open the valves and treat themselves to a more dynamic show. That was mostly down to frontman Zoran Benčič, who goofed around with comical break-dance moves in the breaks between songs. His seemingly laid-back Velenje street-school attitude has, over nearly a quarter of a century of the band’s existence, become their recognizable trademark, and of course Zoran brought it to the stage of the Ljubljana club this time too.
By the time they kicked off their set with the song Blues, Cvetličarna had filled up nicely. While The Drinkers played the smaller outdoor stage last Friday, the organizers rightly predicted a good turnout last night and moved the band to the indoor stage. In their usual style, they quickly rattled off song after song and cranked the show higher and higher, spicing up the middle of the set with V vagonu raztrganih duš and Đoni, which carried the spirit of the latest album »Prekletih bazar« (2011). The other three on stage put complete trust in frontman Benčič. Despite a minimalist approach to reaching out to the crowd, he rides his enormous charisma to put the audience in shackles that nobody can escape until the very end of the show. The second half of the gig brought the band’s best-known songs: Kamčatka, Revolver ljubezni, Rojen leta 72 and Velenje, with the crowd singing along intensely. It was great to watch almost the entire Cvetličarna join in with a band that rarely makes it onto the airwaves and therefore doesn’t belong to the innermost circle of our most popular rock acts (the likes of Big Foot Mama, Dan D, Mi2..), yet still has a sizable fanbase that once again gave the guys from Velenje a fantastic welcome in the Slovenian capital.
Guitarist Boštjan Senegačnik seems like he’s not of this world! I remember an interview with the Styrian punk’n’roll matadors Muškat Hamburg, who called Boštjan the best Slovenian rock’n’roll guitarist. And they weren’t far off. In his own league, with his distinctive style, his immersive performance at a dynamic tempo and his meaty filling-out of the sonic picture, Boštjan is definitely a matador of his own kind, giving Res Nullius a recognizable style that they haven’t budged from by a single millimeter since the release of their debut »No One Can Like The Drummer Man« (1993) to this day! The band, completed by bassist Boštjan Časl and drummer Janez Marin, diligently cashed in on their many years of experience on stage, and despite a medium-intensity (read: Friday-style) approach, they held Cvetličarna in check with ease the whole time.
After a run of more upbeat songs, they opened the encore with Grbavi klovn, a blues-inspired number, then hit the gas again and served us R’N’R’ Party as a farewell. Res Nullius’ one-of-a-kind rock’n’roll came alive in Cvetličarna in its rawest form, and thanks to their no-frills approach and seemingly laid-back attitude, they proved why, among their fans, they’re one of those bands that deserve a heritage listing on the Sunny Side of the Alps.
The cover photo is taken from the band’s Facebook profile.
Setlist
1. Blues
2. Na dva
3. Ženske nikol’ ne čakajo
4. Zadovoljstvo
5. Dvoboj treh
6. Pasji dan
7. Mama
8. V vagonu raztrganih duš
9. Đoni
10. Country
11. V slogi je moč
12. To si ti
13. Kamčatka
14. George
15. Revolver ljubezni
16. Rojen leta 72
17. Velenje
18. Đemo
19. Bruce
20. Balkan
21. Rock ‘N’ Roll
———
22. Grbavi klovn
23. Pistoljero
24. Iggy
25. R’N’R Party
