Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Ana Pupedan
Label: Self-released
Released: 2013
Running time: 176:13
Rating: 4.5/5
Even though it thundered and roared in the middle of the Pivka municipality a good six years ago – in that sense, almost the entire genesis of planet Earth played out right there, since for their 15th anniversary Ana Pupedan threw a marathon concert that ran a full three hours, no kidding – this concert has come out on an official release very, very quietly, almost invisibly, as a CD/DVD sandwich. The date was November 24, 2007, and the Skala hall in Pivka was packed to the rafters. The packaging (sleeve) doesn’t give the exact year of release, so let’s say it came out last year. That’s when I got my review copy. Such a typical slip-up for our Slovenian circumstances. A marathon night of 37 numbers, with a whole battalion of guests and a theater of witty banter between songs, spiced up by the famous cynicism of Drago Mislej Mef (Anuša Gaši, with her “Ljubljana-style eloquence,” sadly wasn’t even half as successful at it). The three incarnations of the famous Pivka quartet are all laid out on the table: Ante Upedanten Banda, Anademski popevski pulpet and (for the most part) the best-known variation of the same thing, the beloved foursome with the “basic designation” Ana Pupedan.
Three cameras! Left, right and center! Action! No cuts! Only “authentic framing” allowed. An “endless gallery” of guests took part in individual numbers. Musical guests who, with their activity and their work, have left a mark on the Slovenian music scene in one way or another over the years. Big to medium-big musical guests who, once invited, came to bow before the character and work of Ana Pupedan! And of course they play their parts completely unadulterated and the way we’re used to them. Each one breathes their own authorial stamp into the chosen number. Whether that’s the ever “charmingly piercing” Jani Kovačič, or the elegant Vlado Kreslin, who spent half of his number putting a microphone back together (it had unluckily “exploded” right in the middle of his set), or the briefly “lost” Pero Lovšin, who jumped on stage at the last moment to “belt out” the brutally demanding lyrics of Up Against The Wall. But above all, the stars of this colorful palette of spiced-up stage numbers are the fun collaborations of Ana Pupedan with Robert Vatovec and his Big Band orchestra and with the “tango čoček” orchestra Dej šen litro. And amid all the heavenly wisdom on display, our good old Meff happily discovers that he isn’t the only one in the hall that night who doesn’t know the lyrics by heart, as he “soaks” in front of the crowd right before the performance of Moja domovina, by Ivan Volarič Feo. Then there’s the story of the “ridden-out Katrca” (a Renault 4) in the song Rdeča kočija with the ever-lovely Tinkara Kovač, who, as expected, took on a bit of Jethro Tull-style sentiment. If I may pause on Tinkara Kovač for a moment, 2007 was an especially thrilling year for her. In early July 2007 she took the stage at Graz’s Orpheum Teatru as a special guest at a Jethro Tull concert, a good two weeks later she performed Robert Plant’s 29 Palms in an a cappella arrangement in Koper, and in mid-October of the same year she opened with her band for Roxy Music’s first throat, Bryan Ferry, at Hala Tivoli in Ljubljana. An exceptional streak for Tinkara, but let’s get back to the Skala hall. Here, Šen lejp tih večer is dressed up in an operetta rendition (the brotherly Forgotten Eden team-up of the two Počkaj brothers didn’t go unnoticed). And if someone has to be picked as “president” (in the fiction of some honest country somewhere in another galaxy), it would undoubtedly be Aleš Hadalin for his excellent vocal pairing with Avsec in the song Wat kan aj du! That song remains one of Ana Pupedan’s most attractive live numbers.
No point wasting words on the marathon performance. Top quality and then some. Ana Pupedan keep the extraordinary charm of their one-of-a-kind punk rock hooliganism, wisely wreathed throughout in the famous “Pivka verses” of Avsec’s celebrated “black” preaching, while the man often backs up his theater with somersaults and other silhouettes of stage “tumbling.” All for a good show. “Solo from the left corner!” Avsec yells, pointing at Boštjan Požar – a Slovenian musician and guitarist who is always up to an extremely broad musical vision, with which he masterfully bridges and fuses many genre frameworks. And yet Boštjan remains a very well-guarded Slovenian musical secret to this day. He never runs short of explosive stage character or of wildly sparkling solutions in his brilliant guitar playing! He masterfully and tastefully backs up his rock starting point with bold inserts of country music, SKA (in this, Ana Pupedan can still serve as a proper little lesson for Elvis Jackson), jazz and blues, and the melodies of the Balkans love to sneak into all of it with a goofy grin.
So, 37 numbers. The back of the packaging lists only 22. Why? Simple. There isn’t enough room on the packaging. And that list of 22 songs covers the content of the CD! So 15 were cut. Sadly there was no money to include a double CD with the DVD, so a bit of improvisation was needed. The DVD has everything! First and foremost, those are the numbers from the album »Na domači brjači« (2010) – RockLine review HERE, namely: Ti moraš, Cigodrom, Nase in vase, Čista misel, Zločin in kazen, Taka si. All performed in the pure Ana Pupedan quartet format (no guests). On top of those, the DVD also has Jebela cesta with Dani Kavaš, Resnični svet with Vlado Poredoš and Jure Tori (both of Orlek), Lublan SKA (with Robert Vatovec and his band), Kolo (with the “brass stormtroopers” Dej še’n Litro), Blišč & Beda ( fully handled by the Amadeus women’s choir), Sexy zgodbice (with Zablujenci), and of course Pod rožnato planino (Anademski pupevski pulpet). And of course we can’t skip the big finale, when absolutely all the guests join the quartet as one body (for the “home crowd” ladder, united under the title »Tistega lepega dne III«). Nej u tvajmi stili with Veseli srakoperji is there too, where for a good while it’s not clear whether the number will mostly be talking or whether anything will actually get played. Your mouth will automatically stretch from ear to ear. You really won’t run out of fun watching the DVD. Hand on heart, the CD is completely misleading in this respect. The DVD is what counts. There are few rock bands in Slovenia as sparklingly mischievous as Ana Pupedan. The words, picture and sound of this DVD are a bright mirror of this band’s documented excellence, which really shines in full when Ana Pupedan find themselves on stage.
A charity concert? Yes. The proceeds from ticket sales went to those affected by the floods in Železniki. We can certainly trust Ana Pupedan that the money collected really went where it was meant to. Fifteen years is a nice number. And that’s the spirit in which this far-from-negligible jubilee was celebrated. This is a recording that is 100% authentic. You’ll find absolutely everything on it, including the “flubs,” though the deliberately played flub at the end of the song Smnj plastike in skaja doesn’t count. A document, then, on which the band reveals itself in 100% authenticity. No hide-and-seek, no cosmetic fixes. A raw recording that works at full force in every last bit of its content. One of a kind. Forged under the free Pivka sun and nowhere else! I’m raising a glass again to Ana Pupedan’s first 15 years, even though this piece shows up with a seven-year delay!
Lineup
ANA PUPEDAN, ANTE UPEDANTEN, ANADEMSKI PUPEVSKI PULPET:
Simon Avsec – vocals, violin, tamburica, backing vocals
Boštjan Požar – guitar, backing vocals, clarinet
Peter Žnidaršič – bass guitar, backing vocals
Marko Doles – drums, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS & PERFORMERS:
Jure Tori & Vlado Poredoš (Orlek)
Gorazd Sedmak “Goga” (Zmelkoow)
Zoran Predin
Anika Horvat
Jani Kovačič
Dani Kavaš (Radikalni D.r.k.a.rkolizem)
Sergej Ranđeović “RunJoe” (Elevators)
Ivan Volarič “Feo”
Aleš Hadalin
Rober Vatovec Big Band
Dej še’n litro
Slavko Ivančič (Danilo Kocjančič Friends)
Jure Počkaj & Forgotten Eden
Amadeus (vocal group)
Vlado Kreslin
Tinkara Kovač
Zablujena generacija
David Kovšca “Buda” (Elvis Jackson)
Pero Lovšin
Veseli srakoperji (Bejš če vejdš)
Track list
DVD:
1. Šen lejp tih večjr (Ante Upedanten Banda)
2. Pwštr (Ante Upedanten Banda)
3. Formula za pogum (Ante Upedanten Banda & Jure Tori)
4. Smnj plastike in skaja (Ana Pupedan & Jure Tori)
5. Ti moraš (Ana Pupedan)
6. Cigodrom (Ana Pupedan)
7. Luna (Ana Pupedan & Drago Mislej “Mef”
8. Ruf An (Ana Pupedan & Goga (Zmelkoow))
9. Erotični song (Ana Pupedan & Zoran Predin)
10. Jebela cesta (Ana Pupedan & Dani Kavaš)
11. Do neba (Ana Pupedan & Anika Horvat)
12. Kaskader (Ana Pupedan & Jani Kovačič)
13. Pupivški rep (Ana Pupedan & Sergej Ranđelović “RunJoe”(Elevators))
14. Moja domovina (Ana Pupedan & Ivan Volarič “Feo”)
15. Wat kan aj du (Ana Pupedan & Aleš Hadalin)
16. Resničen svet (Ana Pupedan, Vlado Poredoš & Jure Tori)
17. Zločin in kazen (Ana Pupedan)
18. Čista misel (Ana Pupedan)
19. Lublan SKA (Ana Pupedan & Robert Vatovec Big Band)
20. Luknjasta barka (Ana Pupedan & Robert Vatovec Big Band)
21. Is dis lou? (Ana Pupedan & Robert Vatovec Big Band)
22. Časopis (Ana Pupedan & Robert Vatovec Big Band)
23. Taka si ku si (Ana Pupedan)
24. Nase in vase (Ana Pupedan)
25. Nemoj da me pljuneš (Ana Pupedan & Dej še’n litro)
26. Kolo (Ana Pupedan & Dej še’n litro)
27. Ne sladoleda ne mesa (Ana Pupedan & Slavko Ivančič)
28. Šen lejp tih večjr (Jure Počkaj & Band)
29. Blišč in beda (Amadeus)
30. Dočakal sem nov dan (Ana Pupedan & Vlado Kreslin)
31. Rdeča kočija (Ana Pupedan & Tinkara Kovač)
32. Afrika (Ana Pupedan & Buda (Elvis Jackson))
33. Sexy zgodbice (Ana Pupedan & Zablujena generacija)
34. Up Against The Wall (Ana Pupedan & Pero Lovšin)
35. Nej u tuajmi stili (Ante Upedanten Banda & Veseli srakoperji)
36. Tistega lepega dne III. (Ante Upedanten Banda & vsi gostje)
37. Pod rožnato planino (Anademski pupevski pulpet)
CD:
1. Šen lejp tih večjr (Ante Upedanten Banda)
2. Pwštr (Ante Upedanten Banda)
3. Formula za pogum (Ante Upedanten Banda & Jure Tori)
4. Smnj plastike in skaja (Ana Pupedan & Jure Tori)
5. Luna (Ana Pupedan & Drago Mislej “Mef”
6. Ruf An (Ana Pupedan & Goga (Zmelkoow))
7. Erotični song (Ana Pupedan & Zoran Predin)
8. Do neba (Ana Pupedan & Anika Horvat)
9. Kaskader (Ana Pupedan & Jani Kovačič)
10. Pupivški rep (Ana Pupedan & Sergej Ranđelović “RunJoe”(Elevators))
11. Moja domovina (Ana Pupedan & Ivan Volarič “Feo”)
12. Wat kan aj du (Ana Pupedan & Aleš Hadalin)
13. Luknjasta barka (Ana Pupedan & Robert Vatovec Big Band)
14. Is dis lou? (Ana Pupedan & Robert Vatovec Big Band)
15. Časopis (Ana Pupedan & Robert Vatovec Big Band)
16. Nemoj da me pljuneš (Ana Pupedan & Dej še’n litro)
17. Ne sladoleda ne mesa (Ana Pupedan & Slavko Ivančič)
18. Šen lejp tih večjr (Jure Počkaj & Band)
19. Dočakal sem nov dan (Ana Pupedan & Vlado Kreslin)
20. Rdeča kočija (Ana Pupedan & Tinkara Kovač)
21. Afrika (Ana Pupedan & Buda (Elvis Jackson))
22. Up Against The Wall (Ana Pupedan & Pero Lovšin)
