Live Reports

"Helstar said goodnight after an hour and a half with the legendary classic Run With the Pack, and even though this gig never came close to the unforgettable madness of Helstar's first visit to Bazen in Kranj, you know you can count on…

In a two-and-a-half-hour set, Yes fascinated with near-flawless performances of three key albums from their vast career and superb sound, which means we got a proper fill of music 'fit for the gods', the kind only the giants of progressive…

Two hours of hypnosis in Laibach's one-of-a-kind world left peace and tranquility settled in the nooks of the souls of satisfied attendees. So we found ourselves in a country that was, at least for a moment, relaxed again. Until the next…

If you had nowhere to be last Thursday, maybe it really is time to think about retiring from gigs. Sarcasm were thrashing in Kranj, Dickless Tracy were brutalizing Gala hala, and over at Orto bar the legendary Texan heavy/power/speed…

The Danes' reserved start melted into a proper rock party with a one-of-a-kind flavor as the night went on, since watching them from a meter or two away was without a doubt an exclusive experience.

Sadly, Channel Zero saw yet another poorly attended show, one that, given the quality on offer from the bands, deserved a much bigger crowd.

"Aynsley Lister is the right address for a first-rate formula that fuses blues and rock into a solid, tangible musical conglomerate, sensually charged throughout with just the right dose of infectious melody."

"Unlike the other bands, Night Ranger also didn't use any canned backing vocal tracks. They're bursting with energy! And that's a really good sign, because the new studio album »High Road« is about to hit the scene, and let's hope a…

"Stryper lived up to their headliner billing, despite the stellar Pretty Maids and Eclipse ahead of them, who for many were the highlight of the second day's festival sets."

"If I may add a personal note: after years of waiting, seeing Tesla again finally made it happen, even though I'd have loved to hear at least a few more songs than the "modest" thirteen. Tesla, Rockline is already looking forward to your…

Aynsley Lister is yet another blues rock wunderkind from the younger crop the British Isles have produced over the past two decades. He's a guy with a much less "hyped" name, but no less magical a voice and guitar touch than, say, Joe…

Despite Taake's short set, Gala Hala got the real deal: authentic, filthy and uncompromising, just the way black metal should be.

The day the battle of the Norse gods rages over Slovenia has come around again

With Night Ranger's set, Frontiers Rock festival delivered the closing crescendo to a colorful three-day party devoted to AOR and melodic rock, in the Italian town of Trezzo sull'Adda near Milan!

Stryper, Pretty Maids, Eclipse, Red Dragon Cartel: one set sweeter than the next on day two of Frontiers Rock festival!

The bill for this trip is hefty, but every worry and hassle is paid off, every single time, by the rediscovered fact that musical romance is still alive. Right here, right now. Frontiers Rock festival was packed!

Riblja čorba remain masters of their trade: despite endless mileage, Bora and company make it look easy to hide the routine that carries them from gig to gig.

The years keep rolling by. Quietly and quickly. That's how anniversaries pile up. We lived to see one on April 21, 2014, when the Val 202 show called Štos hit its "fat" first 35 years. The special event at Studio 1 of Televizija Slovenija…

After five years, the legendary Dutch innovators Pestilence came back to Ljubljana. We were hoping for a repeat of the brilliant 2009 show, but they turned out to be a dehydrated, pale shadow of a legendary name, one that's clearly…

The live birth of »Recidiv« showed the Drinkers as the real deal: authentic, wildly convincing rock'n'roll hell-raisers.

Zaklonišče prepeva remain eternal idealists in this respect! Hardcore positivists! "Samo da prođe demokratija (i da zaživimo kao ljudi)" is the band's new album. Their first in five years. Presented as part of this year's Ortofest, too!

A crew of excellent backing musicians, working on a mini-orchestra principle, gave the singer an incredible backdrop, and the guy milked it for all it was worth with full-blooded, lived-through vocal interpretations. From the first moment…

For one night, Električni orgazam managed to conjure up the spirit of the Belgrade new wave scene at Metelkova, a sound that has remained the band's trademark despite a few genre detours over the course of their career.

"Foreigner, Europe and FM are bands that each have their own path and identity, and every one of them managed to add its own little piece to the mosaic of yet another unforgettable concert experience tonight."

What goes down well after one round of Šinobusi? Another round of Šinobusi, of course. The quintet had left a stellar impression the night before at Ljubljana's Zlati zob club, so next up was catching the band in Koper!

The event lived up to every expectation. There was plenty to get excited about from some of the more extreme metal acts in Slovenia, there was even free food (a hot dog, to be precise), and the booze flowed like water.

Šinobusi, rockers from Novi Sad deeply inspired by the blues tradition and above all the retro sound of the seventies, have lined up a handful of gigs across Slovenia to present their new studio album »Nebo od skaja«!

Orto fest, the new (old) hangout for Nova Gorica's rock veterans, hit another of this year's highlights with the Avtomobili show.

As part of Ortofest, the Styrian weasels gave the wooden floor a proper shake on Wednesday

"If anyone understands what 'mojo' is, what rock 'n' roll is and what the blues is, Janez Zmazek Žan remains one of the first places to go for the answer."

This Sunday, Ljubljana got its first-ever visit from one of the leading acts in Japan's current visual kei scene: Heidi.

The old music cats led by Foreigner took a sold-out Hammersmith Apollo in London straight back to the eighties, when the charts belonged to the rock tradition of melodic brilliance.

The tour's final show in Dublin closed one more chapter of a rock saga, and Saturday night's stars had a big hand in writing it. So thanks for all the music, and farewell!

Don Mentnny Band remain one of the most one-of-a-kind and special music stories ever to emerge in Slovenia, with their essential figure, the irreplaceable Janez Zmazek Žan, front and center. It's great to see them on stage more often again.

Despite some initial doubts, a full-blown hardcore spectacle went down in Kino Šiška's small hall. Picking the favorites is honestly tough. Either way, plenty of people would love to see more shows like this.

"Next time Wilson comes around, though, Vienna will have to move the show to a bigger, classier hall, because judging by the crowds he pulls, Steven has clearly outgrown venues on the level of Ottakringer Brauerei, no matter how much the…

As personae non gratae, Watain didn't play Orto this time, but they brought their black metal to Kranj's Trainstation Squat, which had never hosted an international name this big.

When two bands like Metalsteel and Sarcasm join forces for a joint show, it's instantly clear that this is a gig promising a metal feast not to be missed. Both bands have fresh studio albums in their pockets.

For the third time, Slovenian fans in Katedrala got a healthy dose of post-rock antibiotics.

"The chemistry between the backing trio of Bell, McCarville and Zampa is outstanding, and House Of Lords suck you in with the hypnotic magnetism of a thoroughly convincing set. As long as James Christian's health holds up, there's nothing…

House Of Lords have a new record out, "Precious Metal" (2014), and of course they have to bring it to European audiences too! Trieste is one of the stops!After a long drought, the day of melodic rock's resurrection has finally come! And a…

After two years away, Kamnik heavy metallers Use Less are back on stage with fresh blood in the lineup!

On Friday, The Stroj set the pulse for everyone at Kranj's alternative hangout

" Gamma Ray remain a fortress of German metal at its finest live, and it was well worth catching the band at a proper full-length show after that short encounter at CUK Kino Šiška in Ljubljana last year! "

Location: Bluesiana Rock Cafe / Velden Am Wörthersee (Velden) / AustriaDate: Wednesday, 19.03.2014 With so-called all-star lineups, the first question is usually: what can musicians coming from such different genres even play…

Gamma Ray remain a bastion of German metal at its finest live, and it was well worth catching the band at a proper full-length show after that short encounter at CUK Kino Šiška in Ljubljana last year!

On the first day of spring, Faroese doomers Hamferð and the excellent Finnish melancholic dark metallers Amorphis took over Zagreb's Tvornica

In just over two hours, The Aristocrats showed up as a trio of dazzling perfectionists and musical extremists. All in one and the same musical body. No brakes. Loose, relaxed playing, an outrageous blend of three brilliant musical talents,…

The Channel Zero show can safely be filed as proof that there's a band on Slovenian soil operating under the banner of "alternative."

Blaze Bayley isn't just a familiar face to us, we can pretty much call him an old friend. This time he held his "classic metal requiem mass" a stone's throw from the Slovenian-Italian border, in the little town of Gradisca d'Isonzo!

Airey's band wowed us with Rainbow classics that are nowadays damn hard to catch live even from their original creators, along with solo material, some of it suspiciously close to the Deep Purple sound, and the whole night unfolded in a…

Hrastnik, in the Zasavje region, turned into a real front line yesterday (March 15), with the still fairly unknown but excellent band Divje Rože playing for all the »soldiers of the rock nation.« San Di Ego took care of the big finale.

Even though the turnout was thin, the band showed right away that they'd play at full throttle and that no other option was on the table. Kojot took charge with his dynamic performance, the tightness of the rhythm section took charge, and…

Even though the Pelhans only get together every now and then, these are seasoned cats with a wealth of musical experience, so despite the low mileage they've racked up as a unit, pulling themselves together on stage into a well-oiled…

Location: Munich / Muffathalle / GermanyDate: Friday, 07.03.2014 The Muffathalle, located pretty much in the heart of Munich, played host this time to the international supergroup Transatlantic. Prog rock fans really don't need a…

International Women's Day at Orto wasn't all roses and chocolate boxes. The metalcore bands brought a few tender moments, but the night was mostly rough and raw, and in the end it's safe to say the gig hit hard enough and was well worth…

Transatlantic came, played, and conquered. Their show at Muffathalle was a real treat for every symphonic prog rock gourmand. These unstoppable prog fanatics don't run out of energy for 20-to-30-minute epic suites any time soon, which, for…

Metalsteel, the veterans from Medvode, are one of the few Slovenian metal bands who can brag about 1) countless gigs, 2) almost fifteen years of non-stop activity, and 3) a fifth studio album already.

Venue: Zagreb / Mala dvorana Doma sportova / CroatiaDate: March 4, 2014 Simple Minds, the elder statesmen of that eighties new wave sound, are out on a new European tour with a "Greatest hits + 2014" set, a sensible "extension" of the…

This time around, Kadilnica smrti was marked by more aggressive rhythms, as the upstairs of Orto bar hosted the Dol–Ljubljana alliance Panikk and scene newcomers Big Bad Wolf.

" Steel Panther get a fast-track entry visa to what regular mortals of the male persuasion usually aren't meant to get. Well, at least not every day. They could've had every single woman in the hall that night for free. On Michael's…

The eighties were back in full color! For two and a half hours. And Simple Minds? Like wine. The older they get, the better they are. They play fantastically. A concert night of huge peaks and superlatives. No less, no more!

If you're into the full-on circus of reviving the golden days of the Sunset Strip, and you also know that this kind of parody only works when it's performed by musicians who don't just have the talent to pose for the cameras but can…

Americans Starkill and Finland's Turisas properly heated up a crowd decked out in red-and-black face paint on Carnival Saturday

Another unforgettable concert night of the singular musical adventure and magic that only Moonlight Sky Trio can conjure up! Carnival Saturday at Prulček bar, bathed in the "moonlight" of a one-of-a-kind musical foldout of mastery from a…

Jack White meets St. Vincent in a sinfully good performance.

The billing promised a proper hardcore and grindcore spectacle, but with a routine Hatebreed and a weakened Napalm Death, it turned out to be just another average gig.

John Mayall is a master of his craft, and even at eighty he's still having the time of his life doing what he's devoted his whole life to: playing the blues!

Immolation are a death metal band whose live reputation is rivaled, probably, only by their fellow New Yorkers Suffocation, so catching their show is a no-brainer!

On Saturday, Italian cover band Animalhouse and Slovenia's Iron Maiden, sorry, Median really turned up the heat at Kranj's Bazen

Sarcasm showed in Kamnik's Kotlovnica that they have no intention of letting go of the torches of their sinfully good concert machine anytime soon!

Valentine's Day without the sugary sweetness and commercialized trappings. Except for love, of course. Alen Brentini has plenty of that. Above all, a genuine love of music, of playing and of performing live. The kind of Valentine's Day…

»Total Metal Attack« with fresh heavy metal forces Enforcer, Skull Fist and Vanderbuyst delivered on every front!

If Warbringer and Havok are first-rate new-school thrash metal, then going by this show, Suicidal Angels belong in the second-rate or even third-rate bracket.

In a week when Slovenia was wrapped in an icy embrace like none we can remember, Medvode's Lipstikk N' Leathür festival went ahead with its fifth edition in a row.

" The prog giants keep marching on, come what may, and we're left with one more fond memory and the wait for the next tour. "

"Primal Fear, with Tom Naumann in the current touring lineup, the proven Beyrodt/Naumann guitar tandem that reads each other like a book, and a great new studio album, »Delivering the Black«, prove they're still a majestic fortress of…

At this gig Burns proved that through his years working with Vasco Rossi and Huey Lewis & The News he has matured into a seasoned artist, armed with a sharp feel for delivering sensual musical aesthetics in polished melodies, which he…

"Whenever Dream Theater play, it's a blast to see so many slack-jawed faces on the faces of the music doctors, who just can't get over the boundless technical know-how of four champions of their instruments"

Dream Theater lived up to their name at Tuesday's gig in Hala Tivoli, flooding our ears and eyes with a flawless show.

With Tom Naumann in the current live lineup, a proven Beyrodt/Naumann guitar tandem that clicks, and an excellent new studio album, »Delivering the Black«, Primal Fear prove they're still a magnificent musical fortress of…

Dream Theater once again proved they're a first-class live attraction for every music gourmet who prizes top-tier technical chops, a refusal to chase current sonic trends and the richest arrangement variety possible, so during their 'walk…

Red Fang, The Shrine and Lord Dying sold out Channel Zero on a rainy, icy Sunday and proved that the stoner and sludge metal scene in Slovenia isn't so overlooked after all.

With a promo show in the center of Ljubljana, Divlje Jagode proved they're still around!

Gala Hala hasn't seen a turnout like this for death metal in a long time. Sure, these are commercially well-known bands, but it still proves that death metal is alive and well today.

King Foo is a quartet of four exceptionally talented musicians who stand out on the Slovenian music scene, both for what they've done in the past and for what they're doing now. The names: Urška Majdič (vocals), Peter Hudnik (guitar), Matej…

Two thirds of our plague-ridden Balkan tour were behind us by around midnight on Saturday, January 25, 2013, and the Zagreb show hadn't even cooled down yet, but the anticipation for the final third was already thick in the air - Sarajevo!

If Iced Earth come to Ljubljana, why not (slightly stalker-style) follow them, first a good hundred kilometers, then another almost six hundred, deep into the Balkan peninsula?

A crew of savvy social critics from Upper Carniola, with a gallant flow of rhymes and energy, conquers Ljubljana for the first time.

We finally got a good dose of frost and snow on the very last weekend of January. And this time, both were welcome, because they brought frozen earth along with them. American frozen earth. Iced Earth!

Quiet, kakor da se nič ni zgodilo; but something did happen all the same.

Seriously. Close your eyes and you'd swear it was 1983 and the great Mark Knofpler himself had "wandered" into Dravlje's K300 club to show off his "instrumental Dire Straits ego."

A great show from a seasoned band that left not a shred of indifference in the club by the end of the night, just full-on satisfaction amid the dust and ashes!

Nektar blew us away in Greifenburg on every level, with their improvisational daring, spontaneous stage presence and superb instrumental chemistry between band members, something you rarely see these days from much younger acts. It's not…

The Croatian invasion of massive sound was more than a success. Three bands gave up verbal communication entirely in favor of the music, and Zagreb's Stonebride proved just how out-of-this-world good they are.

The "I Guess" tour of the quartet Balladero around Slovenia, with a stop at Ljubljana's world-music club "Zlati zob".

Former Niet member Aleš Češnovar launched his very own music project called Bard last year and pulled together enough material for a debut studio album, also titled "Bard". Here's a snapshot from the press conference and the gig at CUK Kino…

As part of SNG Drama's Acoustic Sundays program, one of the available slots went to none other than Nana Milčinski! In a practically sold-out, festively decked-out venue. The occasion: presenting her newest record »Od tod do vesolja« in…

Tribute bands are always a welcome guest, since they bring the organizer a solid crowd, and that goes for the bar too. Kula, a Croatian band from Čakovec in Međimurje, devoted to the persona and work of the mighty Led Zeppelin, found their…

Kavarna Slamič, on the corner of Kersnikova, got an extraordinary musical treat when Italian blues veteran Mike Sponza played there with his backing crew, joined on stage by the fantastic Primož Grašič and young "enfant terrible" Vid…