Author: Sandi Sadar Šoba
Location: Ljubljana, Slovenia, Klub K-4
Concert date: 22.11.2006
Attendance: 100
Ticket price: 1500 SIT (7€)
Thursday’s rainy afternoon slid into an equally depressing, rainy evening, but the rain couldn’t wash away the positive vibe that gripped a hundred or two hundred curious souls who started gathering at ten p.m. in front of K-4, the legendary hangout of the eighties punk scene. Times have changed quite a bit. Instead of old-school analog sweat and salvos of guitars and drums, electronic beats now thunder out of Štirka. Then again, there’s no point going on about the old days. Progress marched on. The reason for our visit was a bunch of sharp young guns, up-and-coming experts in hard rhythms and beautiful vocals, the band Father. Before them, something homegrown was promised – a Zasavje quartet of full-blooded HC: young, fairly unknown, but all the more sincere and explosive, Ragespect.
Once inside the club, we had to put out every last trace of thirst. The speakers were blasting a carefully picked batch of metal classics. Slayer, Iron Maiden, a little Dimmu Borgir for the masses in between, plus Black Sabath and others. The stage was still empty. In the hall, some twenty devotees were guarding their starting positions with the best sound and the best view. A bit more waiting to do. But at eleven, something starts to happen. Time for the pact of respect toward rage. Zasavje HC outfit Ragespect went down! (you can read about their gig in a separate article)
Time for beer and shopping. Father shirts were on display in the lobby. Quite advanced in design and aesthetically polished. In fact, it’s not hard to believe that by setting the goal of breaking through abroad too, the guys have charted a course that will get them to where they want to go. But it’s not just about a band looking good. What matters is quality and substance. It was around midnight. Maybe a minute or so earlier. A gentle caress of the guitar to open, then a building rhythm. Father are here again! The instrumental climax kicks in as Mihael Prosen joins the rest of the band on stage in a low crouch, a charismatic vocalist whose obsessed stare and energetic, crystal-clear and at times just-raspy-enough voice completes the band’s chemistry. ‘Inspirita’. We are all one spirit. We are all one. After the last chord, a roaring salute from the crowd. The magnetism you could feel from the very first song is almost unbelievable. On stage, Father radiate everything that sets a good band apart from an excellent one – great musicianship that manages to rise above stylistic frames, above narrow-minded indoctrination and the self-imposed burden of how alter-metal-whatever is supposed to sound; if it suits them, they throw in jazz, funk, tam-tams, saxophone or even an accordion. With just the right feel for rhythmic and melodic manipulation of our ears and heads. On top of that, despite having only one album under their belt so far, they know how to – market it, confidently and with vision. The crowd of some two hundred was in their hands. Mosh pit, jumping and dancing on command. And nobody minded following along. First covers. They decided to weave a pinch of Incubus into their string of gems. ‘New Skin’ blends effortlessly with the Father concept, sounds clean, surgically precise, and as if it had been written by their own pen. Next up is ‘Cynosure’, a song that even got censored. Not the song, actually, but the video. Because of a little blood at the start, which is there for a reason. The song is about that one emotion that is so toxically attractive, so soft and painful at the same time, that gives birth and kills, and from whose ashes only it can bring a better tomorrow – love. After that, I think, we got some older tracks, maybe even a cover, in any case the emotionally pretty intense ‘Hiroshima’, followed by an intermezzo in the form of a percussion intro to a ritual of catharsis. ‘Chop Suey’! I doubt System Of a Down play it this pedantically and precisely. It sounded like listening to Toxicity… Still, it didn’t disturb the rhythm of what followed. After ‘Emon’, I think that’s what they played, come the instructions for the Father dance. Hold your arms out in front of you like robots and kick your legs forward in jumps! Time for leading and manipulation! ‘Machina’… And we became puppets that can be manipulated… Last song! ‘Seashore’. The cycle of the planned concert was supposed to be complete with that. But a melodious salute and a heartfelt thank-you for coming and for the support were by no means enough. Shouts of “Father! Father!” coaxed an extension out of the visibly tired and wrung-out, but no less satisfied and happy youngsters. And the finish was royal! ‘Wherever I May Roam’ was played as if they hadn’t already been playing for an hour and a half. And what a performance! Uncompromising and full-on the whole time. Despite their youth, Father are really a textbook example of what the cohesion of chemistry, talent, energy, vision, honesty and being unspoiled sounds and looks like – in other words: in my opinion, Father are a band for whom the borders of the Balkans are too small. They could confidently go toe to toe with every demand of the global market… And we, drained of all things beautiful, at half past two in the morning, made peace with our gods, found inner peace, felt filled up and wandered home – and despite the short sleep, Friday was a lot nicer and sun-drenched, wasn’t it? Thursday’s concert fairy tale was finally over. Until next time.
Setlist
1. Inspirita 2. Intro 3. Never Come Back 4. Chigla Pegla 5. Sun 6. New Skin 7. Cynosure 8. Hiroshima 9. Lost In Words 10. Chop Suey 11. Emon 12. Machina 13. Seashore Encore: 14. Vasaii 15. Wherever I May Roam
