Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / SiTi Teater / Slovenia
Concert date: 12.05.2016
Attendance: 200
Katalena, probably the go-to band here when the talk turns to playing Slovenian folk music (a thousand and one tunes’ worth), is marking 15 years of existence this year. After the tour on which Katalena presented their still-current studio album »Enci Benci Katalenci«, the »fifteen-year« mark came at just the right time for the band to look back (at least for a moment) at their roots, their beginnings and the road travelled. They’ve got six studio albums under their belt, which is no small feat, so a jubilee is well in order.
The band’s premiere show with an aired-out live repertoire went down at SiTi Teater, and, as Narat told the crowd (Gombač promoted him mid-show to »Katalena’s conceptual moderator«), it was fifteen »unheard« numbers! That is, songs the band had played in its career up to that day either once, not at all, or »at the very least« rarely. The sextet, which alongside the two Boštjans has over the years been faithfully rounded out by Vesna Zornik (vocals), Polona Janežič (keys), Tibor Mihelič »Syaed« (bass guitar) and Robert Rebolj (drums), took on the revision of the classics in sweeping fashion. The result was a flinty live set that clocked in at a solid two hours. The crew looked back over all their studio releases, serving up, across three quarters of the show, honest-to-goodness bonbons from their career. In that spirit, the legendary Buldožer’s phrase »Izlog jeftinih slatkiša« would have suited the title of this report too. A revision of a shop window of cheap sweets.
At half past seven in the evening, Boštjan Gombač, Boštjan Narat and Tibor Mihelič Syaed stepped onto the stage through pastel, flickering light and sang the »premiere« Štrbenk na štrbunk. As a trio. With the instrumental Po cesti mi gresta študenta dva, the crew was then joined by Polona and Robert. We had to wait a bit longer for the real Katalena lineup, until Vesna stepped on stage (Da gora ta škarbinina). The band really put together a repertoire for its fans, especially those who missed the live rarities. Along the way Narat, as the band’s leader, kept dropping in the stories behind the songs during the breaks, in his usual way, with witty banter. Gombač, as is only fitting for Katalena, rounded these out as always with his »instant sparks«. So laughs and good vibes were in no short supply. The band also surprised with Inferno 25, which Narat jokingly introduced as a song written by Julijus Kugy. When you call up that line with the views of white Kanin, you could almost fall for Narat’s gag. In the sound, with the revision of old material, Narat’s guitar was once again a bit more noticeably »souped up«, let’s say occasionally set up in a more rock way. That does a band a world of good in terms of sonic balance, especially one where multi-wind-instrumentalist Gombač’s soloistic acrobatics, wrangling all those winds, grab the attention.
The Katalena crew had a blast! Full-blooded. No holding back. The way only they can. The experience is simply exceptional. The audience enjoyed it too. Vesna once again cast her spell with her proud, deeply felt vocal interpretation, and the seasoned sextet delivered performance excellence, even though it’s clear they had to lean on reading the lyrics. Some songs haven’t been in the repertoire all that long, and there’s too little time to learn them by heart again. But Katalena will polish that up too in the upcoming shows. The Ljubljana one was, after all, the premiere. Alongside the »candy« by Gregor Strniša Delerium Tremens, where Jani Kovačič wasn’t on stage this time, Katalena also spiced up the live repertoire with their version of Ireland’s 1970 Eurovision winner, Dana’s All Kinds of Everything. Katalena recorded their version in 2005 for the 50th anniversary of Eurovision.
The band built up its set. When at some point Vesna finally pushed the lyrics stand decisively away from herself, it became clear that the finale would play out in the glow of Katalena’s standards and current songs from the album »Enci Benci Katalenci«. So (Rad imel bi) Jabuko, extended into an instrumental jam (Pleši pleši črni voz), and, in the encore, Noč čarovnic, the must-have Lisica, then the new songs Enci benci and, after it, the closing Cipcipilipcipilonika! The sextet fired up thoroughly and finally woke up even the reserved audience, which had been applauding politely up until the last part of the show, so that it caught a bit of the adrenaline rush coming off the stage.
Katalena remain a sexy lineup, and their gigs a guarantee of top-notch performance.
Setlist
1. Štrbenk na štrbunk
2. Po cesti mi gresta študenta dva
3. Da gora ta škarbinina
4. Prstan
5. Široko more i Dunaj
6. Ptujska grajska
7. Po mesečni travi
8. All Kinds of Everything
9. Delirium Tremens
10. Vsi so venci vejli
11. Za isti svit
12. Inferno 25
13. (Rad imel bi) Jabuko / Pleši, pleši črni voz
14. Katalena
—encore I.—
15. Enci benci
16. Noč čarovnic
17. Lisica
—encore II.—
18. Nede mi več rasla
19. Cipcipilipcipilonika
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