Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Popi's Pub / Slovenia
Concert date: 07.11.2013
Attendance: 70
Ticket price: €0.00 (free entry)
Without the name Aleš Klinar, or the famous nickname »Klinči«, Slovenian rock history would be half as exciting, and the Slovenian mainstream of the eighties and nineties even more so. The guy has been through a lot in his career, but he’s best known for that genial provocation that bloomed in the dying gasps of the late, lamented Yugoslavia – Agropop! Klinči is also inseparable from the name Martin Krpan, and in the new era he came up with yet another hugely successful nostalgic »provocation«, which even carries a whiff of succession to the former Agropop – Rock Partyzani. In short, the man has left an indelible mark on the Slovenian rock scene, no doubt about it. And when Abraham comes calling (as the Slovenian saying goes for turning fifty), it’s only right that »the mountains shake«. But when Abraham comes, the very same man also realizes that with the years he’s only getting more and more childish. So the idea for the song Stari Klovn pops up, in which he describes himself, other ideas follow, and the album »63 Special« slowly takes shape. Time to celebrate, then.
The new album is cut in a strictly rock sound. Klinar invited a whole series of musical aces into the studio, from vocalists to instrumentalists, people he’s been connected with one way or another throughout his career. And those very people were there at Popi’s Pub that night. But not only them. A whole guard of other musical aces – friends, acquaintances, kindred spirits who’ve been tied to Klinar forever – and it was also hard to miss the walking music encyclopedias and friendly velvet voices of Val 202, from the venerable »Viktorijanec« Dragan Bulič to the byword for »first mindfulness« in Slovenian music journalism, Jernej Vene. The event, of course, took place under the watchful mentorship of the Slovenian branch of the Croatian label Dallas.
Eight people were crammed onto the small stage. In the first part, Klinar and the musicians presented his studio album »63 Special«. The permanent posts on stage were taken by Aleš Klinar on vocals and keyboards, plus Miha Gorše (keyboards), Franci Zabukovec (guitar), Cveto Polak (bass), Boštjan Vajs (drums), and, up front, backing vocalists Andreja Sonc and Anja Baš. That left room for just one more spot: the lead vocal. Here they took turns: probably the best Slovenian hard rock vocalist right now, Sergej Škofljanec (Sence, Rock ‘n’ Roll, Ne morem brez nje), Vojo Djuran (Zate dal bi vse), Samuel Lucas (Kralj sveta, Sanja), and toward the end the famous hip-hopper Trkaj (Ogenj). The whole thing was spiced up by the arrival on stage of Klinar’s inseparable longtime partner Anja Rupel and Matjaž Jelen (Jelen Band, ex-Šank Rock). That’s how we also got a performance of the Šank Rock standard Rockerji.
And the vibe? Plenty of fun served up according to Klinar’s trademark recipe, salted with his pleasantly caressing vocal tone, whose frequency rebound could be used to bust rock walls in quarries, top-notch playing from top-notch musicians, loads of cheerful, positive energy, tasty silliness and general goofiness, all of which belong in the rock ‘n’ roll repertoire, and above all a feeling of exceptional harmony and togetherness among everyone at Popi’s Pub that night. We can safely say Aleš Klinar more than earned such an event for his first fifty. And tailored it to fit, too.
The album »63. Special« sounds hard rock, laced with the fine mechanics of first-class AOR mimicry, resulting in a hypnotically infectious effect when it comes to the payoff of the lead melody, drenched in the typical eighties synthesizer curtain and the obligatory coloring of the lead vocal with vocal harmonies. Klinar is a master of balancing rock ‘n’ roll fun and craft (the »entrepreneurial packaging« of an idea), and he keeps to that middle line with the new album too. You could say that over all these years this approach has become Klinči’s constant travel companion, or even his signature trademark!
The second part offered fun mainly to those who live forever under the spell of the curse of too-short nights. In fact, the band Rock Partyzani actually took the stage, with Janez Nared on drums and Robert Sršen on bass – with Sergej Škofljanec of course included, who blew the crowd away once again with his vocals as a few of the more demanding rock standards went by. All in all – an unforgettable evening marking the first 50 for Aleš Klinar, with the launch of the album 63. Special, dedicated first and foremost to everyone born in 1963!
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