Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / HD Club / Slovenia
Concert date: June 18, 2015
Attendance: 60
Ticket price: €0.00 (free entry!)
HD Club in the industrial zone of Šiška, Ljubljana’s Stegne, is now serving up yet another haven for everyone who loves gritty rock sounds, and also a home for fans of single-track iron horses, corner carving, and frying motor oil and rubber. In that sense, it’s honestly hard to find a name that fits playing the club better than Lene kosti.
Friday night served up a colorful lineup of gigs in Ljubljana and elsewhere around Slovenia, and despite the free entry, the venue didn’t get the turnout it was hoping for. Even with the free goulash greeting people outside the HD Club entrance and the cheap beer, the place just refused to fill up. So the band stalled as long as it could before stepping on stage a little after ten p.m.
As expected, the band split the show into two parts with a half-hour break in between, and in the time available they played almost the whole album »Do or Die« (surprisingly, the great Sunrise dropped off the setlist), led by the excellent standards Time to Love, Nightmare, Iron Dragon, Russian Girl, Uninvited Guest, I Got the…, while from the album »Penetrator« we got Spread Your Legs, Penetrator and Refuse to Die ringing out. The reworked version of Lady Evil from »Park Bar« (1989) sounded great once again. Right before the end of the set, the band also played a brand-new song, currently going by the working title Electric Eel. A great riff that grabs you instantly nearly demanded a name change from electric eel to »Electric (Over)Kill«. Boogie metal to the bone, then! Relentlessly defiant, and still going. Onstage, Lene kosti are always convincing.
Despite the great show, this time it fell just a hair short of perfection. The first factor behind a feeling of mild restraint was the dismal turnout. Sure, a few heads were seriously working their neck vertebrae, but there were still too few of them. The second factor was the room itself. It has a really high ceiling, where you could fit another loft space, and on top of that the floors and walls are covered in tiles. Sound diffusion in the room. The worst off was Marco Kavaš’s guitar, which was barely audible and got knocked out of the desired balance with Giovanni’s. The drumming now feels much more rational, deliberate, and subordinated to timing precision. Even though Vlado is a great and respected drummer with a wealth of experience and know-how, you’d occasionally wish for a pinch of madness in his playing, like that of the band’s former member Rok Večerna “W.UK.O.” Singer Jan Tehovnik once again delivered a ferocious performance with his vocals. Extremely high vocals, confident and convincing in every register in terms of vocal power, plus the singer’s cheerful mood, were the factors that kept the energy high and the band constantly connected with the admittedly small crowd. The other guy pouring oil on the fire alongside Jan’s banter was bassist Dago, with some brilliant humorous interjections. His bass guitar of course tore and clanged mercilessly as he dug into it, and this time Dago got more involved with backing vocals, which is something new.
The stage pose of »sharply dressed desperadoes«, the sheer movement (kinetics), the communication between band members, standing shoulder to shoulder, and above it all huge charisma, led by the unmistakable silhouettes of both Kavaš brothers! All of this remains a constant and a factor of uniqueness on the scene. Lene kosti get under your skin in no time thanks to the extraordinary realness of everything they take on once they’re onstage. From their stage presence to the sheer impact of the material they play, which has always been hugely appealing. Every move and every struck note keeps an unbelievable conviction, thanks to the heart in the performance and the originality of the songwriting itself.
The band heads into the studio in July to record a new single, and we can expect the album early next year. So the story goes on, and 2016 will undoubtedly be the year of Lene kosti! Until then, the boogie metal beast should keep sharpening its teeth.
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