Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana (Oder pod zvezdami) / Slovenia
Concert date: February 15, 2013
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: €15.00 (advance) / €20.00 (at the door)
The day after Valentine’s Day, Lutkovno gledališče Ljubljana hosted a one-of-a-kind concert event, with almost all the former and current members of two legendary, inseparably intertwined Slovenian bands, Predmestje and Panda, gathering on stage together with guests for a single night. It promised to be an unforgettable show for all fans of brilliantly arranged jazz rock fusion and heart-tugging pop rock ballads. The evening was tied together nicely and wittily with speeches and asides by the cult keyboardist and occasional vocalist, the boss of both bands, Andrej Pompe, the only member of every incarnation there ever was, who recently celebrated his 60th birthday too. For this special occasion he managed to gather around him a host of old musical friends and collaborators, as well as nearly all the female singers he has worked with in Panda so far.
This once-in-a-lifetime concert was billed as the ‘Valentine’s Concert’, which meant it was meant first and foremost for all the lovestruck ‘lovebirds’. They did dominate the crowd below the stage, but there were also a few of us ‘grumps’ in attendance who don’t give much for this artificially imported holiday, celebrated here only since the end of the 20th century. We came mainly to enjoy good music, top-notch performances and the distinctly positive atmosphere that Predmestje and Panda, as it turned out in every possible lineup, still create at their shows as if it were nothing, and that earned them a roaring response from the thrilled crowd that night. Plenty of people in it even knew all the Panda lyrics by heart.
To the delight of many in the audience, the running order was chronological, so first up was a trip down memory lane with Andrej’s first band, the unforgettable jazz rock fusionists Predmestje, who took us back to 1977. For that, Mr. Pompe invited onstage original drummer Janez Hvale, guitarist and vocalist Peter Grudn and saxophonist Saša Malahovski, with whom he founded this cult band in the second half of the seventies, one that was quite popular in its day and won people over with its melodic, mostly instrumental take on jazz rock fusion, where you could pick out individual influences from such legends of jazz rock and progressive rock as Santana, Return To Forever, Brand X, Camel, Caravan and even early Chicago. Predmestje played in two different lineups (over the band’s career there were actually four), neither of them ‘complete’ since some former members were missing that night, and ran through four classics from the late seventies and early eighties, the years when they recorded four studio albums. In the “Predmestje 1” lineup, the gap left by absent original bassist Gabrijel Lah was filled onstage by Panda bassist Vlado Pirc.
A fitting approximation of the original Predmestje incarnation played »Ritem življenja« and »Oaza«, two of their oldest creations, which still sound excellent today. Then the approximation of the band’s second version, dubbed “Predmestje 2” for the occasion, tore into the evergreens “Karikatura” and “Kamasutra” with exceptional fire. For these two, Andrej Petković took the drum seat, having traveled from Split specifically for this event, Marko Bitenc took over percussion, while the guitar and bass spots went to the one-of-a-kind twin brothers Slavko and Marjan Lebar, whom Andrej Pompe, as they came onstage, introduced, given their astonishing resemblance, like this: “… you’ll notice they’re more than ‘just’ brothers!” When you watch the Lebar brothers’ mastery, Slavko’s sonic and technical perfectionism on guitar and the soft, sensual flexibility and warmth of Marjan’s organic bass lines, it’s a real shame that Predmestje in the lineup Pompe-S. Lebar-M. Lebar-Bitenc-“available drummer” (J. Hvale etc…) with Jernej Podboj helping out on winds can’t play together more often. It’s a real pleasure, and a rarity, to see band members, most of whom have already hit sixty, still playing onstage with the energy of twenty-year-olds. Predmestje can brag about that any time.
That wrapped up the revival of Predmestje’s jazz rock greatness, and it was time for the far lighter, pop rock but always exceptionally sophisticated melodies of Panda, which still thrill listeners young and old with open minds and healthy listening tastes. That’s when the ceremonial moment arrived and Andrej invited the first of the special guest singers onstage. In the early eighties the members of Predmestje were the backing band of singer Neca Falk, who rose to fame with numerous hits, including many songs for kids. For this song, Pompe was joined onstage by Petkovič and both Lebar brothers. Mrs. Falk still has remarkable stage charisma and a well-preserved voice, as we saw clearly in her deeply sensual rendition of the love ballad »Ljubimec moj« (the song earned flattering recognition when it took third prize from the expert jury and third prize from the audience at Slovenska popevka 1979). Sadly she left the stage far too soon after this joint number, but the unforgettable concert evening was still young. Predmestje may have written themselves into the history of Yugoslav and Slovenian progressive rock in golden letters, but Panda were no slouches either whenever they happened to opt for an instrumental breather, as they proved with a superb performance of »Taxi«.
That was followed by the arrival of original singer Suzana Jeklic, with whom they played the outstanding »Kako ga čutim« and »Nepremagljivi«. These two, the most recognizable anthems of the band’s early period, instantly show off the exceptional arranging and songwriting talent of Andrej Pompe, and with them Panda cemented their position as one of the finest mainstream pop acts of the second half of the eighties in Slovenia (and in the late, lamented Yugo). Before the stormy crowd response had fully died down, the first Suzana was followed by the second Suzana. With Suzana Werbole, Panda played the love ballads »Le sebe še imam« and »Za vedno moj«. The Valentine’s concert of love ballads went on successfully with the arrival of the third singer, Katja Obleščak, with whom they performed »Danes me boš« and »Ker jaz te ljubim« and drew a tremendous response from the crowd. Then current Panda singer Sara Petrovčič came onstage and sang two songs that her predecessor Saša Danilov (today in Zebra Dots) was supposed to sing, but who sadly fell ill before the show.
On this special evening Panda also presented their new single »Premakni se k meni«. A very interesting and neat experiment was the performance of »Pogledala ga je v oči«, where Hamo Šalehar joined the band, which has a tradition of female singers only, as a male vocalist for a change, and thanks to his interesting, raspy, bluesy voice he nailed the job. When, before this number, Andrej put a rhetorical question to the audience, asking whether they were curious how Panda sounds with a male vocal, I’d ‘loosely’ answer that the song came off in the style of Vasco Rossi’s early hit at the 1985 Sanremo Festival. In the encore Panda played the three most beloved Panda hits. These came in the form of the evergreen »Da bo jutri še en dan«, which sadly didn’t make it into the Eurovision selection of the time, »Sive ceste«, with which they won the MMS 99 festival, and finally »Daleč stran«, sung by all four singers, who created a truly unforgettable atmosphere that swept through the entire hall. The concert with which Andrej celebrated his sixtieth birthday was a real balm for body and soul. The audience’s enthusiasm lingered long after the show ended, and the positive vibe spilled out of the hall too, where a reception had been set up in the hallway, with pleasant mingling, in honor of Andrej’s milestone.
Setlist
1. Ritem življenja (Predmestje 1)
2. Oaza (Predmestje 1)
3. Karikatura (Predmestje 2)
4. Kamasutra (Predmestje 2)
5. Ljubimec moj (vocals: Neca Falk)
6. Taxi (instrumental)
7. Kako ga čutim (vocals: Suzana Jeklic)
8. Nepremagljivi (vocals: Suzana Jeklic)
9. Le sebe še imam (vocals: Suzana Werbole)
10. Za vedno moj (vocals: Suzana Werbole)
11. Danes me boš (vocals: Katja Obleščak)
12. Ker jaz te ljubim (vocals: Katja Obleščak)
13. Ljubimec brez imena (vocals: Sara Petrovčič)
14. Kakšno sonce, kakšen dan (vocals: Sara Petrovčič)
15. Premakni se k meni (vocals: Sara Petrovčič)
16. Ti in jaz (vocals: Sara Petrovčič)
17. Vzemi me (vocals: Sara Petrovčič)
18. Pogledala ga je v oči (vocals: Hamo Šalehar)
—encore—
19. Da bo jutri še en dan (vocals: Sara Petrovčič)
20. Sive ceste (vocals: Suzana Werbole)
21. Daleč stran (all four singers)
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