Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Jazzy music club / Postojna / Slovenia
Concert date: April 30, 2008
Attendance: 70
Ticket price: €0.00 (free entry)
Over its fifty years of existence, Rock’N’Roll has evolved, wriggled free and been reborn as one of the biggest businesses on the planet. These days it’s far from being just about the music. Alongside it, the basic requirements for success in this business are outer beauty, looks, financial backing and a willingness to bow to trends. And in all of that, the very thing that gave birth to our beloved music gets lost! That’s the love of loud music. And yet, in the muddy puddles of the musical underground, there are still apparitions wandering around who play rock for rock’s sake, for the love of shredding eardrums, a nearly extinct breed of rock’n’roll hedonists. Guitar legend Adam Bomb falls squarely into that category.
Postojna, the last day of April 2008! Surprise number 1: no admission fee! In a country where even tickets for “tribute to” bands cost €17.00 (and up), and bands with just one or two albums out demand €500.00 (plus travel expenses covered for the gig), this was a real shock and one more proof of the totally DIY, down-to-earth attitude of this American guitarist, who has an enviable list of musical ventures behind him and a discography in the double digits, with beginnings dating back to the distant year 1984. The completely negative surprise, though, was the turnout. Locals (Postojna considers itself the Slovenian capital of true-believer hard rock) showed up only as a sample, and most of the crowd had also been at the far better attended show at Orto Bar in Ljubljana. So much for supporting rock ‘n’ roll…
Enough griping! Shortly after ten in the evening the show kicked off (no support acts this time), and the first part was a repeat of the Ljubljana story. Volume at 110%, punk’n’roll with a dash of 1970s-style glam rock, and pure gas. Pills, Dangereus When Lit and It’s Only Rock’N’Roll, plus the Motorhead-esque Je Taime Bebe, raced past the listeners in all their filth. A lack of tenderness is really something we can’t accuse Adam of, because despite the precision with which the guitar cuts, the tunes sound authentic, dirty and greasy.
The first part was followed by a shorter 20-minute break, during which the solidarity of the glam rockers really showed. Since the budget situation of Adam Bomb’s lineup isn’t exactly rosy (the band spends 300 days a year on the road and basically plays only for travel costs and food), Adam decided to patch up the finances a bit and ran a raffle at Jazzy. He managed to sell a ticket for €2.00 to pretty much everyone in the place, and the winner took home a T-shirt and 2 of the band’s records. After an hour and a half of the first part and a good half hour of break came the second part, which was more tailor-made for the crowd, as the band played covers of rock’n’roll evergreens like Whole Lotta Rosie, You Really Got Me and New York New York. For that last one, the brunette and the blonde from the previous day in Ljubljana were joined by a raven-haired girl, making for a really nice bunch of girls cheering Adam on below the stage, heh, heh,…
Just as the crowd hit the peak of ecstasy, Adam decided to call it a night. After loud encouragement we managed to talk him into one more classic. This time it was the The Who cover Won’t Get Fooled Again, after which a visibly exhausted Adam really did want to say goodbye. But the crowd still wouldn’t let him leave the stage, since many people at the Orto show had been disappointed that I Want My Heavy Metal from Adam’s debut was left out, and that simply couldn’t happen twice. So up next was I Want My Heavy Metal, followed by the ritual burning of a pink Gibson guitar and the end of yet another good show.
What’s left to add to the end of this story? Marc Bolan can surely rest easier knowing there are still heirs to the throne on our dear little Earth, keeping the true raw tradition of glam rock alive. And for everyone who missed this two-day show, here’s some consolation: according to some whispers, Adam Bomb is supposed to come back to play in Slovenia again this November.
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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