Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Gostilna Pečarič / Slovenia
Concert date: 03.07.2014
Attendance: 40
Ticket price: €0.00 (free entry)
Tilen Pusar is without a doubt a phenomenon on the Slovenian music scene. An unpolished gem! A total self-made man. He even stores his entire backing band in a laptop. His own master, both as a songwriter and as a performer. A man in complete control of any situation. His pub tour, which has been winding along since January this year, hit its peak in the middle of the year with a stop in Ljubljana’s Vrhovci, more precisely at the site of a once-notorious billiards hangout, the Gostilna Pečarič inn. It was still daylight, the clock had barely struck a little past eight, when Tilen climbed onto a charming makeshift stage set up in the middle of a diligently mowed lawn monoculture, among the kids’ playground equipment that decorates the inn’s garden, where about 30 guests, comfortably sprawled at their tables, welcomed the man.
Cradling his cream-colored Squier Fender Stratocaster replica once again, Tilen instantly swept us into his magical musical world, embodied by his studio debut »Inner Strength«, as well as his new material. Instrumental music, where the crisply carved language of the guitar takes over the role of the vocals, finely balanced by the guiding thread of Tilen’s sharpened musical sense and improvisational freedom, sounds distinctive and tremendously appealing. You don’t need Einstein to untangle the influence of “Big Mark” (Knopfler) and Dire Straits on his guitar style, but that’s exactly where the key lies to understanding why gigs with Tilen Pusar are so interesting!
The biggest thrill is watching the master, without any use of a pick whatsoever, control the “accenting” of the notes with great perfection, translating his emotions and passions into a unique musical matter of artistic authenticity. Tilen has the touch. Magic fingers. There’s no doubt about that. This concert evening, too, that trait filled his stage presence to the brim. The man closes his eyes and surrenders completely to the feelings he pours through his instrument into the space and shares with the audience. So we enjoyed the »Inner Strength« (RockLine review HERE) tracks Hope, Snowgirl, I Love Her, Memories, Inner Strength, Happiness, Dancing Hearts, Freeman, Waiting, Coffee Break, Calling Her, as well as the brand-new I’m Survivor, New Life, Her Way,
This time, too, the performance was split into two parts. In the second one, a mishap with a snapped string struck, followed by a lengthy string-changing procedure that actually turned into “patching up” the snapped string, you won’t believe it. In this case we can pin the blame squarely on the string maker, Fender, who put strings that were too short into the pack. No, it didn’t say “ukulele strings” on it, don’t worry. It’s obviously a manufacturing defect. It reads as extremely unusual, though. But it happens. Even to the best, of course!
A thoroughly forgivable incident, of course, was overshadowed by the realization that we’d seen an exceptionally fine performance by a musician who enchanted the handful of people present with a charming organic sound, a created musical landscape, proving that the artist possesses an attentive ear and a filigree dossier of fine mechanics, a constantly alluring temptation of riding between melodic appeal and the freedom of solo escapades. A few not-quite-perfectly-hit notes do sneak in, which is a sign that Tilen doesn’t exactly practice guitar at least eight hours a day, but in spite of everything, the unique confession of the harmony in his playing chased away any attention to such remarks. The impressions of Tilen’s unique blending of cues from blues, country, and rock, seasoned with a pinch of melodic catchiness, shone in full that evening. If you’re receptive to the Dire Straits music made in the era of the album »Love Over Gold«, you’ll instantly crack the musical dossier of Tilen Pusar and gladly recognize it as your own!
Photo gallery
