Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik, Jernej Vene
Location: Kranj / Layerjeva hiša / Slovenia
Concert date: 26.08.2014
Attendance: 60
Ticket price: 0,00€ (free entry!)
It was early, but Marko Brecelj had already been playing for half an hour by the time our crew got to the venue. This famous artistic-intellectual mind, who has never rusted or let up in the sparkle of his top-shelf metaphorical flashes of wit over decades of work, remains a phenomenon. A cynic without equal, he has honed that element over his years of artistic maturing to such perfection that the caustic side of his sermon is perfectly balanced by the lucid one, which, in the same breath and through a brilliant play of metaphor, shockingly dispels the shine of the feeble-mindedness of opportunists and of those who have handed themselves a legal decree to steal and lie.
In the mess we citizens of the Republic of Slovenia have landed in along the strangely chosen paths of »gaining independence« (read: joining the European Union, NATO occupation and the enthroned theft of Slovenian assets), our most reverend sage with the lightning-fast mind and rock-solid singer-songwriter finds an enormous amount of inspiration.
The squat, shaggy fellow, deep in the diversion of »soft terror,« wears »kneepads.« Just in case. In case »Alenka Vnikamor« steps in front of him, or that famous man who once survived Marko’s »vatentat« in Koper. In a pinch like that, the kneepads come in very handy, because when a big shot is around, it’s only proper to kneel obligingly. Basking in the glow of his heroically delivered truthfulness, Brecelj paid everyone back in full that night in Kranj.
The »Kublai Khan-pointed« headgear and two sturdy bottles planted on the stage, »red« and »white,« remain part of the mandatory logistical gear of Marko’s show.
His performance, a jigsaw of storytelling, songs played and sung to guitar accompaniment, songs sung a cappella, and recitals, delivered a full dose of fun over a solid two hours. A meeting with Marko? A must. This man opens eyes with a theater of lucid shock. The brave old-timer keeps fighting his fight and doesn’t stop in it. The bite of the utterly hilarious bits, which at their core deliver a painful realization of the truth, burns full-on and is tangible in everything, in performances of songs like Črni Peter, Sexy disco hit, Parada, Radojka, Stonesi spoznajo moje stare starše,… There was no sign of Alojzov valček in the evening’s repertoire. Then again, maybe it was played right in the opening part of the concert, which we, sadly, missed.
This likeable man, who kept giving the exact time and calling out the temperature in degrees Celsius the whole way through, won over the cream of Kranj’s intellectual elite with a penetrating show that kept boring into the bosom of spontaneity without losing a speck of the target value of its message. With a relived performance that has no equal. Emotions, passion! Brecelj thundered a few times, only to go back to murmuring his tale in the very next moment, like a tame walrus with extraordinary singer-songwriter heart. The stage remains his first home, and Brecelj uses it brilliantly for shock therapy! There’s nobody like him, hardly anyone can match him, and it’s clear that nobody on the planet is capable of following in his visionary footsteps. A visit to his theater remains a must for everyone. It should be part of the mandatory program of high school subscription series. Especially if you follow the concert »Brecelj-ing« with another »Brecelj overdose« in the form of watching his retrospective film »Priletni parazit.«
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