Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: Kino Šiška, Ljubljana
Concert date: 21.06.2018
Festival summer is right around the corner, and in some places already in full swing. Very soon the most festival-packed valley in the world, Soča Festivalley, will join the party, led by the big four: Overjam Reaggae, Metaldays, Motörcity and Punk Rock Holiday. That last one, under the baton of Fat Mike and the Punk Rock Holiday organizing crew, has now spawned a one-day city edition, the Punk in Drublic festival. It grew out of the brainchild of NOFX frontman Fat Mike, who wanted to combine his two loves, punk and craft beer, and the result is a charming little festival that we had the honor of hosting in Ljubljana too.
Already in the early afternoon we could pamper our taste buds with hoppy brews from the local breweries Tektonik, Bevog (who debuted this year’s official Punk Rock Holiday beer), 22Brewing, Pivovarna Ressel, Barut Brewing & Blending, Reservoir Dogs and Maister Brewery, who poured them completely free for two hours in little 0.2-liter festival cups. The fenced-off, nicely arranged space in front of Kino Šiška slowly but surely filled up, and you could already feel in the air that the vibe was going to be great.
First up at six was the only Slovenian act, Kranj’s The Mor(R)ons, by far the most thematically fitting band of the whole festival. Not only do they play punk (duh), they love beer too (duh). So much so that they named their brand-new album, which came out just a few days before Punk in Drublic, Lager. And just like that style of beer, the Gorenjska lads came across fresh, light, uncomplicated yet effective and refreshing, and above all with a heaping dose of infectious skatepunk energy that landed like the foam on a good lager to kick things off.
The moment the guys from Kranj left the stage for the bar, the label protégés of Fat Mike’s Fat Wreck Chords, Bad Cop/Bad Cop from Los Angeles, took over. Bassist Linh Le marched onstage in a Municipal Waste shirt, which at first made you think the girls would be sharper on guitar, but they were more tailored to ears unused to metallized hardcore. True to their hometown, the all-female four-piece was totally laid-back and musically easygoing, basically almost Blink 182-style pop-punk. Which is of course nothing wrong in itself, but at times the girls were almost overly sugary, and the slightly whiny voice of lead singer Stacey Dee was a bit grating too. The girls were certainly energetic enough to win over the slowly growing crowd, but, at least as far as their sound goes, they were quickly forgettable.
What came next was quite different, as the bunch of naughty cops made way for the guys with the grim looks, The Bronx. Hawaiian shirts and summer colors were swapped for black, and the L.A. crew’s look really did confirm they were the most »brutal« band of the day musically. Led by energetic vocalist Matt Caughtran, the guys delivered a much rawer, more primal-sounding mix of punk and hardcore, angry and socially critical in its themes too. Probably thanks to that, The Bronx got a fantastic response from the crowd, who kept a nonstop mosh pit going in front of the stage from the first to the last angry riff, and Matt soon joined them from the stage and sang a song or two right in the middle of it. One of the most convincing sets of Thursday.
British veterans Snuff, who celebrated thirty years of existence a little under two years ago, steered the by-now properly packed venue into somewhat different musical waters. Along with The Mor(R)ons the only non-American acts at the festival, The Snuff spiced their set, totally typically for them, with a hefty dose of fine, dark, FOAD English humor, while serving up hugely energetic punk rock that crawls into your ears fast and is dead catchy. Trombonist Oliver and keyboardist Lee livened it up in places and brought a few ska elements into Snuff, and the guys won everyone over and set the place on fire above all with the bangers Nick Northern, No One’s Home and the closing Arsehole.
Even deeper into ska waters sailed the California elder statesmen of the genre, Mad Caddies, the most danceable band of the day, who with their positivity and easygoing vibe turned the crowd into one big wave that loyally and loudly cheered on its favorites. With generous use of trumpet and trombone, Mad Caddies brought a proper Caribbean reggae atmosphere to Šiška, and they also delighted with a cover of the Green Day evergreen She and the Propagandhi classic And We Thought That Nation-States Were a Bad Idea.
And to close, the long-awaited festival dads NOFX, even though they’re regulars on our stages. For his evening wear this time, Fat Mike picked a blue-striped negligee, and together with his buddies he served up a punk feast lasting more than an hour. As usual Fat Mike also talked a lot, but luckily played even more, and NOFX offered both the obligatory hits like Bob, Leave It Alone, Fuck the Kids and Linoleum, and obscure gems like Hobophobic (Scared of Bums). The band was visibly, more than obviously, in great spirits, especially guitarists El Hefe and Melvin besides Mike, who kept jabbing at each other with all kinds of politically incorrect, uncensored comments. With tremendous energy NOFX won over the nearly full venue, which sang, moshed and danced along with them right to the end. With Punk In Drublic, Fat Mike and Punk Rock Holiday put together a top-notch overture to festival summer, and we can hope there’ll be another chance to visit such a pleasant mini festival in the middle of Ljubljana.
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