Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Orto bar / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 10.04.2009
Attendance: 100
Ticket price: 10.00€
Avtomobili playing this year’s Ortofest was one of those pretty much mandatory visits. Their body of work holds a special place in Slovenian rock and popular music. The Avtomobili lineup today consists of Mirko Vuksanovič (keyboards, backing vocals), Marko Vuksanovič (vocals), Boštjan Andrejc – Buši (guitar, backing vocals), David Šuligoj (bass) and Marko Lasič (drums).
A decent number of curious souls showed up, roughly 100 by my eye, and the band greeted them right off the bat with a track from the debut “Mjesec je opet pun” (1984), Ona nosi uniformu. That was followed by a triad of songs from the latest studio album “Mesta železniških postaj” (April, Gorica, Prihaja moj dan), and the crowd really came alive for the evergreen, “adopted-by-the-people” Drugačno nebo, which Skozi leta only built on. The band has definitely written some truly excellent songs over the years, with an effortless rock appeal, and with a concert repertoire like that Avtomobili simply can’t deny who they are. They carved out their own musical niche, made themselves recognizable, and stamped their work with a special mark. And we can’t skip the most important part of it. That’s Marko Vuksanovič’s warm, velvety, mid-to-low register vocal, which, even today, successfully refutes the saying that people from Primorska are always cheerful and smiling. Marko brings in a genuine touch of anxiety and sadness, the heart is almost always at least a little bruised… And that feeling spreads over the whole band. Rather atypical for guys from forever sun-drenched Nova Gorica, or isn’t it (enlighten me)?
The guys come across as very routine on stage, they’ve got enormous mileage behind them, and it’s hard to knock them off course or surprise them with anything. The reverse is true too: it’s hard for them to knock you off course or surprise you. Marko’s static presence at the mic has somehow come to symbolize Avtomobili, even if you’d gladly spot him a drop of something energizing to wake him up and kick him into a higher gear of kinetic responsiveness behind the mic. The sound during the show was solid, with the individual instruments coexisting in exemplary balance. I expected a bit more liveliness and dynamics in the guitar tone, which at times felt “too thin” and subordinate in the mix. And that very “floppy” guitar sound was somehow the main culprit that a song like Ljubezen ne stanuje tu didn’t unfold in all the splendor it so confidently commands as a composition. In the chorus, for instance, you missed that jump of atmosphere to a higher level, which the interplay between keyboard and guitar riff just couldn’t conjure up. A similar problem popped up in, say, Drugačno nebo or Enkrat v življenju. It’s also one of the clearest signs of how hard it is to replace the character of Alan Jakin’s guitar playing.
Still, there’s really nothing to complain about. These legends of Slovenian rock, who you could easily call one of the finest rock bands Slovenia produced in the eighties, conjured up that unique moment when they step on stage, the one that sets them apart from any other band. Simply put, they were Avtomobili, and they gave everyone present a decent dose of Saturday-night enjoyment and switching off for an hour and a half. Nostalgia and the scent of the carefree eighties once again filled Orto Bar together!
Let’s just hope the guys haven’t dozed off or drifted too deep into everyday routine, which, given their ages, would be logical and forgivable, but still. Waiting another 6 years for a new album would be a bit too long.
Setlist
1. Ona nosi uniformu
2. April
3. Prihaja moj dan
4. Gorica
5. Drugačno nebo
6. Skozi leta
7. Pot domov
8. Enkrat v življenju
9. Proti luni
10. Gospodar
11. Navaden dan
12. Odpri oči
13. Sama
14. Nekaj let
15. Ljubezen ne stanuje tu
16. Argentina
17. Enakonočje
18. V mrzlih dvoranah
—encore—
19. Legla je noč
20. Prljavi jezik
21. Hvala za pisma
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