Author: Primož Novak
Location: Kranj / Down Town / Slovenia
Concert date: 07.07.2016
Ticket price: 10€/13€
Croatia has been serving up interesting bands for quite a while when it comes to punk. One of the most recognizable names is of course Hladno pivo. Debeli Precjednik are also among the well-known ones, and there’d be plenty more to name. In recent years, though, one of the most talked-about bands has become Brkovi, who have put out 5 albums in their career and have played in Slovenia quite a few times along the way.
This year the band released the album Torzo Dade Topića, which they’re promoting extensively across the countries of the former Yugoslavia. The release show in Zagreb ran a full two and a half hours, which is definitely unusual for a punk band.
Brkovi have visited Kranj a few times already, and this time they stopped by as part of the eighth edition of the SubArt festival. The band’s set took place on a small stage in front of the well-known rock bar Down Town. At first it seemed like the little stage wouldn’t exactly inspire the band to play a longer show. But luckily Brkovi don’t just go through the motions and pocket the cash. Around nine, the drummer was the first to step onto the stage, followed by the two guitarists in leggings, the bassist in short jean shorts and a very short sailor shirt, and finally vocalist Shamso, who looked like an escapee from The Village People. So even before the first note, Brkovi showed with their getups that their silliness knows no bounds.
In the first half the band played almost the entire new album Torzo Dade Topića, which was also a good way to check how well this year’s record has caught on so far. During the fast songs, which were packed with fun, catchy, simple melodies and some metal touches too, the front rows backed the band up with a moshpit. Brkovi won’t stick to just one style. The bouncy parts, where Shamso shows off those vocal chops, stand out especially. With vocals in the style of Balkan folk songs, Brkovi become one of a kind. That’s also where the band’s humor peaks, but singing »folk songs« takes quite a bit of skill, so Brkovi can’t be written off as just another »goofing around« band. Meanwhile, Shamso also shushed a few people in the front row who were filming the whole show on their phones, telling them the show isn’t meant just for their phone.
In the second part Brkovi went through a selection of their best-known songs. They had played the new album almost in full and saw that it had caught on solidly, but the response to the older songs was way better. Brkovi dished out crazy punk songs such as Nisam ja za tebe, Pizda materina, Balkan star, Samo pijan mogu, Tolerancija, Bolje da sam s frendovima pio rujno vino, Cvjetalo je meni cviječe, Nevjernica, Nije život cvjetno polje and many more. For quite a few songs Shamso also gave a short description, which is where the criticism of certain topics really came through. It could touch on love, or on bosses who hire every family member for their company except the cat. And above all, there was no shortage of swearing. The band confirmed that they know no limits by drinking on stage too. Shamso stood out here, reaching for the whiskey on stage quite a few times. After more than an hour and a half the band said goodbye for a short while, then came back for three more songs to wrap things up. They closed with probably their best-known song, Kurvo prokleta.
With their longer-than-average set, Brkovi showed they enjoy playing smaller stages too. And they’re definitely a pretty original band, considering that you can hardly invent anything all that new in punk.
photos: Klemen Udovč
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