Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / Slovenia
Concert date: 19.10.2013
Attendance: 800
Ticket price: 17.00€
A special celebration went down at CUK Kino Šiška last weekend: a glamorous show by the folk art rock outfit Katalena, backed by all of its musical factions and offshoots. Katalena never run out of fertility, and you can’t argue with that. They’re driven by the creative genius of six strong, musically distinct entities. Six musical worlds that have been shaping one singular musical world for twelve years running. The unmistakable world of Katalena.
A proper four-hour musical spectacle, a show of big light games and contagious theatricality. Patty Diphusa, the famous alter ego of Bošjan Gombač, was “sacrificed” as the evening’s master of ceremonies, backed by a top-notch rhythm section in the form of Žiga Golob and Sergej Ranđelovič “Runjoe”. Right from the start, Gombač did what was expected and had the packed hall in stitches. Not just with his chosen lisp, but with his vocal clowning, which flips between his natural voice and the one he uses to become Patty Diphusa. The sheer contrast of Boštjan Gombač “bending” his vocal character like that is immensely fun. While the Patty Diphusa trio held the spotlight on the left stage, everything needed for The Puzzled’s set was being prepared on the right.
The quartet of Tibor Mihelič Syed (bass, vocals), Marko Brdnik (accordion), Mario Babojelić (guitar) and Marko Lasič (drums) used half an hour to present their excellent debut studio album “Bad Times for Bedtime Stories”, out this year on Celinka Records. The complexity of the figures in their genre-hopping compositions, with Syed’s manly vocals weighed down by a Cave-like gloom, lit up through Time Without Her is Wasted, In the Name of G(o)ods and World Of Nothing. The brilliant harmony of this unusual co-existence of instruments makes it an obligation for true music gourmets to check the band out live at the first opportunity. Especially because a big part of their musical message is built on coloring the soundscape with plenty of effects pedals, which serve up the homegrown density of the wide sonic palette of this excellent quartet, sworn to shock therapy through the shrewd use of experimentation.
Patty Diphusa does not surrender! Next she treated us to a hedonistic piglets show, joined by a female vocal choir of three Hail Marys: Ana Duša, Vesna Zornik and Polona Janežič. Even these seasoned stage veterans couldn’t quite escape Patty Diphusa’s mocking jabs from the right flank. Well, at least their facial expressions gave it away: all three girls of the choir were barely holding back their laughter.
The right side of the stage comes alive again as Katalena’s boss Boštjan Narat steps out with his backing band: Matevž Kolenc (bass), Polona Janežič (keyboards), Blaž Celarec (drums, percussion) and Jelena Ždrale (viola). A fresh, completely one-of-a-kind musical experience, and above all a philosophical one. As a singer-songwriter, Narat is a master at landing a tangible message through the refined and inventive use of metaphorical “hinges”. A master of wordplay. Sparks fly in his head. Narat and his comrades presented the band’s current studio album “Konec sveta vedno pride nenapovedano” (2012) through vivid album tracks like Dvajset let, Egon, Režem ovinke, Zdi se and the closing Kako končati to pesem?, which, as expected, delivered the high point of his set.
After the last face-off of the evening with the “shapely and charming” Patty Diphusa, the stage goes to Vesna Zornik and her backing band TangoApasionada. Keeping Vesna company are Metod Banko, Rok Koritnik, Nikola Matošić, Ernest Miklič and Ana Duša. With vehemence, incredible confidence and, most importantly, with passion! Once again we’re witnessing the creation of a completely different vibe, a different experience, a different kind of artistic seduction. The album “TangoApasionada” is the trump card that throws the stage doors wide open for Vesna Zornik. The sinful, almost “cabaret-cut” tango carousel in the renditions of Volver, Tango De Lengue, Muchacha del Circo, Yo soy Maria and La Cumparsita is hypnotic to the point of rapture! Vesna Zornik has found herself in tango, and the repertoire itself confirmed it, offering a batch of songs that aren’t on the “TangoApassionada” album, which means her exploratory expedition into the world of tango is far from over.
Next, Patty Diphusa, deeply offended, announces a “resignation”, and an interesting combination of four musicians takes the stage. Boštjan Gombač on hurdy-gurdy, Boštjan Narat on acoustic guitar, bassist Žiga Golob (double bass) and, don’t even ask who? The Slovenian pop-song diva of the seventies and eighties! Neca Falk. Across four numbers, she got the crowd on its feet especially with the evergreen hit Vsi ljudje hitijo from 1979, written by Andrej Šifrer. And Neca Falk? Her voice ripens like wine! It’s just a shame she appears on stages so rarely.
The big party was rounded off, of course, by Katalena’s own set, with the thoroughly (over the years) battle-tested lineup of Vesna Zornik (vocals), Boštjan Narat (guitar), Boštjan Gombač (woodwinds, percussion and other “miracle toys”), Polona Janežič (keyboards), Tibor Mihelič Syed (bass) and Robert Rebolj (drums, percussion). The main high point of the night. With all the required and expectedly over-the-top theatrics, created by the wit of the front line, that is both Boštjans and Vesna Zornik. The repertoire centered on songs from the current album “Noč čarovnic” (2011), including Noč čarovnic, Zvezda, Zeleni Jurij and Komur se dremlje, plus favorites like first and foremost Lisica and (Rad imel bi) jabuko rdeče, where the crowd instantly melted with the band into a single body. There was also the experimental opener Ta solbaška, as well as the rock-heavy Le pijmo ga in the closing stretch. The excellent re-interpretation of the folk song Zre(j)lo je žito was of course there too. As a special guest, the one and only Neca Falk jumps on stage once more for a duet with Vesna.
The “sin” Narat committed in 2001, inviting selected players to Črmošnjice to have a bit of fun on instruments, hasn’t died down, then. It shines with undiminished intensity. It shines brighter than ever, and the band’s performance confirmed it. A big celebration with exceptional tightness, coordination and chemistry among the building blocks of the “Katalena story”, and plenty of respect for the audience. A witty reconstruction of folk standards, reshaped across genres into a one-of-a-kind look that always draws you in so effectively with the sharpness of its arrangements. Katalena!
The unforgettable night was rounded off by the superbly used acoustics of the Katedrala hall at Kino Šiška and by the stage itself, which got above-standard lighting, a cunning mix of shifting colors, play of light, shadows and haze. The packed house was full of ecstatic fans who greeted everything the band did with thunderous, wildly enthusiastic ovations. The energy never dropped, and Katalena came back on stage for two obligatory encores. The four-hour marathon flew by. It delivered the exceptional charm of five daring musical figures, led by “mama” Katalena.
The event called “(Z)godbe ob Kataleni” came off in the best possible way. The experience of being “swept away” was there again this time. The band’s one-of-a-kind world is so strong and shines so convincingly that it grabs you and carries you off into a parallel world of fantasy, where the rational mind is switched off.
Once again I can only wrap up my confession about the deeds of superlatives, and wish Katalena and her daughters and sons The Puzled, TangoApasionada, Patty Diphusa and the singer-songwriter presence of Boštjan Narat many more years of invigorating creative inspiration, which, let’s hope, will find its realization in plenty more adventures of witty authorial flexibility, the kind with which the character and work of the Katalena collective have been spoiling us for twelve years running.
Photo gallery
