Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Križanke
Concert date: September 16, 2016
Attendance: 1500
Prismojeni profesorji Bluesa at Ljubljana’s Križanke. A top-shelf lineup of Slovenian musicians plus a great setting: the posters around Ljubljana promised a hefty dose of quality blues. This time the Prismojenci really put on some big shoes, figuratively speaking, because filling Križanke is no small feat. Sadly, we can’t say the venue was packed to the last corner, probably thanks to the awful weather, but the Profesorji still filled the “lecture hall” to an enviable ¾ of capacity.
Prismojeni profesorji bluesa are a fairly young Slovenian outfit that, in no time at all, got plenty of listeners asking themselves:”Where have you been, and how can you be this good?”. The Prismojenci, as is well known, grab every chance to play a gig, and it shows in their confident performance.
So on September 16 they played Križanke at a kind of farewell concert. Don’t worry, though. The Prismojenci aren’t calling it a career. Julijan Erič, Miha Erič, Zlatko Đogić and Miha Ribarič decided to show off their ambition and quality across the pond too, and a few days after the gig they headed off to America. The “lecture” opened in acoustic form with the tried-and-true duo Aritmija, Dino Džopa and Tilen Stepišnik , rounded out on cajón by Žiga Šercer. A very listenable overture that promised an excellent concert. After a few tunes the trio was joined by the first “Prismojenec”, Miha Erič, on harmonica, growing into a quartet and building the rhythms up into a proper blues atmosphere. After two songs as a quartet, the stage started filling up family-style. Not right away with Miha’s brother Julijan on guitar, though. Instead, the Erič brothers’ mother, Draga Davitkova, stepped up on vocals with a traditional Macedonian song. After that song, titled Eleno Kerko, Draga left the stage together with the duo / trio Aritmija, before Miha even managed to properly praise her. Before the quartet’s real set, the evening rolled on with manager and Miha’s girlfriend Natalija Šepul on zither, who played the legendary tune “The third man” beautifully together with Miha.
After that quality, varied overture, the stars of the evening took over: Miha, Julijan, Zlatko and Miha. Even the look of the band promised a charming mix of a gig. Julijan, as usual, went full Hendrix style with the outfits, the showmanship and the upside-down Fender Stratocaster. There’s practically not the slightest doubt about Julijan’s playing anymore. His performance is meant purely for one thing: letting the listener give themselves over to the music completely. Stand, watch, listen and enjoy. There’s no doubt about the quality of the rest either, with the flawless Zlatko Đogić on drums, Miha on harmonica and Miha Ribarič on bass. The guys are simply tight to perfection. It’s a blend of quality where you can pick out whiffs of old tomcats like Hendrix, Albert King, BB King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy… In short: the guys have clearly picked up even the tiniest secrets from all of them and packed them into the Prismojenci quartet. For the sake of vocal variety and a more colorful repertoire, this time bassist Miha Ribarič joined in on the rapping for a change, with “Fuck the police”. Miha… you can repeat that at future gigs with a clear conscience. Meanwhile, Julijan stepped in on bass.
The Prismojenci invited a whole range of guests onto the Križanke stage. Partly psychedelic guitar sounds came from the fingers of Mario Babojelič. Andrej Tomazin hit the conga, and at moments his instrument conjured up the feel of Carlos Santana’s backing band. For a few songs the Prismojenci also brought out backing vocalists Vesna Godler, Anja Trobec and Urška Mihevc, whose charming interplay really spiced up an already quality show. Before the end, trumpeter Domen Gracej and saxophonist Jasna Kmetec joined the stage, and the cherry on top was seasoned perfectionist Igor Leonardi. Right at the close, Matevž Šalehar Hamo stepped up to the “exam” in front of the Profesorji and gave the foursome a nice send-off for their American trip.
There’s not much to fault about the technical side of the concert. More or less everything worked as it should, from the visuals to the sound.
A good three-hour-long “lecture” in blues could leave the listeners with only one thought: when it comes to quality, Slovenia clearly has nothing to worry about. Maybe we should quietly worry about something else. With this kind of quality, they needn’t even fear America. The guys definitely have the “know how” and we can only wish them the very best on their way. They come across as confident, high-quality and tuned to perfection, which points to a clear goal. They’ve gone about their journey the “hard” way: squeezing every last gap for a gig and so steadily raising their perfection. So Prismojeni profesorji bluesa gave the audience exactly what they came for. Three hours of strict quality at a reasonable price. We’ll gladly catch them when they come back to our soil and serve us fresh experiences. Prismojenci… Hats off!
(text and photos: Klemen Udovč)
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