Live Reports

A fresh, healing dose of boogie metal "shrapnel" straight between the eyes! The charm and magic of their homegrown originality remains this band's workhorse. Nobody else sounds like them. And that feeling once again soaked the walls of Roll…

Here comes San Di Ego rock 'n' roll! An instantly combustible, invasive old acquaintance! A sinful mass of rock-fueled scandal! A proper dose of hard steel straight to the forehead!

As always, a pleasantly capitalized hour and a half of the ever-green Orleki, this time in the glow of the New Year-decorated old town of the Gorenjska capital. Could you possibly ask for more?

Ljubljana's heavyweight garage provocateurs Dandelion Children and the indie-flavored hipsters from Upper Carniola, John Doe, brought some pre-New Year spirit to Ljubljana's Orto.

Trio z dioptrijo is only a trio if you need glasses! The laws of math say otherwise. There are actually five guys. The famous "Sausages par" Goran Breščanski and Marko Čulajević »Čule«, multi-instrumental virtuoso, composer and producer…

Location: Vrba na Korošem (Velden Am Wörthersee) / Bluesiana Rock Cafe / AustriaConcert date: Sunday, December 22, 2013 Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal had to step into giant shoes in 2006. That's when he joined the lineup of rock 'n' roll…

Space Unicorn on Fire - a solid hour of good vibes and fun that won't turn even the metal Santa's hair gray anytime soon!

After last night's show in Velenje, Res Nullius have vanished from the stage for good. No soaking up ovations, no looking back over their shoulder, no pomp. In their own style, then.

The big name from Guns N' Roses rolled into the legendary blues shrine in the middle of Velden, Carinthia, Austria, and this time he brought crowds of Guns N' Roses fans along, plus fans of his solo studio work too!

This year's December Kreslin ritual was all about a stellar Martin Krpan reunion, Mali bogovi, and an atmosphere that cast its spell on Cankarjev dom three nights running.

The revamped lineup of Lene kosti, Slovenia's legendary boogie metal motherfuckers, is riding again. This time they tested their ammo in the middle of the Slovenian capital and made it crystal clear they're stepping into a new era of their…

The sense of uniqueness around Avtomobili remains unbeatable, and for this year's grand finale it triumphantly won over Ljubljana's SiTi Teater at long last!

"Out with the old, in with the new," as the Americans say, and that's pretty much how Almost Rage, who are now leaving the stage for good, passed the baton of Coastal metal to their younger colleagues Incarnated.

Brežice giants Demolition Group's pre-New Year live ritual fulfilled the Ljubljana crowd's wishes and then some.

Another spectacular show went down at Gala Hala in Metelkova as part of Marduk's tour. On the »Panzer Division Marduk 2013« tour, Marduk are joined by fellow Swedish death metallers Grave, their countrymen Death-Wolf and Valkyrja, and…

The flow of energy that sucks you in on the spot and, almost without you noticing, whisks you off into a one-of-a-kind musical world, the world of the Elevators sound, is extraordinary. Hard to put into words. Unlike anything else. Deeply…

The mission dubbed "Škofja Loka Beer Orgy" for all of us "weekend warriors" who dragged ourselves to Škofja Loka that night was a total success! Directed by the one and only! Slovenian kings of alk 'n' roll. The Drinkers! A guarantee of a…

Hardcore fans finally got what they'd been demanding. At Mostovna, Madball, Deez Nuts, Your Demise and Nasty threw a proper hardcore party that's not easy to forget.

" Thrash metal has either said everything there is to say, or the scene just doesn't have enough capable bands to make the genre interesting again. If nothing else, you have to admit the bands on this bill are at least eco-conscious. You…

Noctiferia created an atmosphere so screamingly gloomy, with such a doom-laden grip, that it sucked every sinful soul that found itself in or near Transtation Squat that night into the bottomless maw of the abyss of evil. All to cleanse…

The Tide's shows are definitely something special. The band has a distinctive sonic character all on its own, but seeing them live adds an especially intense expressive stamp to it. Singer Tomaž's delivery brims with both energy and…

If nothing else, you have to admit the bands on stage are at least eco-minded. You don't just stumble on this many recycled ideas in one place.

The nineties herald art noise, with Lunch's ever-constant paranoia and psychedelia woven in; a sighing vocal with a long echo, punctuated by Walter's dadaist interjections, left behind an extremely saturated emotional charge. A feeling of…

The godfathers of Slovenian thrash spent last Saturday at Ostriga in Škofja Loka celebrating the birth of their new studio beast, simply titled Thrash!

In the cold days when the bears are already deep in their winter sleep, musicians still don't get to rest. No matter how long they've been on the scene or how much rest they might need. Parni Valjak are surely one of the most tireless…

All good things end too soon, but after more than twenty years, Res Nullius' road wrapped up at Orto in exactly the style you'd hope for from the veterans of Velenje garage rock, in the best possible scenario.

The Bohemians, the Queen tribute band, proved to Slovenian audiences once again that they're the closest thing to a Queen concert we can still get

Winter is black metal season, and Norwegian black metal veterans Satyricon know it well. They've fired up their touring machine again with a run promoting their new studio album Satyricon.

Location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / SloveniaDate: Tuesday, 03.12.2013 How good is a musician once you strip away the makeup of effects, swap the screaming distortion for nothing but the resonant body of an acoustic guitar, sit…

The Orpheum hall hosted a great lineup, with every band standing out in its own way, but in the end, despite some people's objections, the night belonged to Heaven Shall Burn.

The big anniversary episode of Izštekani served up plenty of the sweets everyone expected, a few small slip-ups, and some hidden treasures.

Performing: Skid Row, Dead City Ruins, The MorningLocation: Udine / Pala Cus / ItalyConcert date: Sunday, 1 December 2013 The last show of the current Skid Row tour brought the legendary American glam metallers to Udine, Italy. The…

The last show of the current Skid Row tour brought the legendary American glam metallers to Udine, Italy. They still have that proper bad-boy stage look, and their shows remain a true energy bomb, where cheek and the arrogantly mocking…

Just in time for the end of the year, the first of December's big men rolled into Ljubljana. And no, not one of those three chubby fatsos, but the one in the shape of American thrash veterans Death Angel, bringing us one of the best gigs of…

After a little over a year, Brit Floyd came back to Ljubljana and completely blew away a packed small hall at Hala Tivoli, both musically and visually.

Macedonian surf-punkers Molokai, homegrown rap ace N'Toko and Serbian garage nonconformists Repetitor opened Kino Šiška's alternative December season with a first-ever trip back to the days of Vardar-Triglav harmony.

Who would ever have thought that Jennifer Batten, the queen of rally driving on guitar, would play a solo show this close to Slovenia, even though she ran her own guitar workshop here years ago.

It's only fitting to bow to the cosmic forces of winter with a sonic ritual, so, as "Unaussprechlichen Kulten", we flocked to Kranj's Trainstation Squat for an unholy trinity: Ljubljana doom metallers Mist, Tolmin obscurities Mothermound…

The guitars sang, wept and laughed once again at the third Zagreb Guitar Show!

The launch of the solo studio album from Matjaž Jelen, lead voice of the late Slovenian hard rock band Šank Rock, at Ljubljana's Sputnik café! A "Nov dan" has well and truly dawned!

Hands, the grotesque and melancholy in eclectic post-Cave gospel.

Gothenburg melodic death metal pioneers Dark Tranquillity paid a visit to Zagreb's Močvara and gave a packed hall a proper workout.

"If the use of backing tracks hadn't spoiled the impression, you'd say this was an unforgettable heavy metal party, where all those sworn to the solid sounds of metal distortion wouldn't ask for anything more to feed their souls. But a…

John Corabi - former singer of the »glam metal bad boys« Mötley Crüe, paid Bluesiana another visit this November. His second time there! And once again he threw an unforgettable party for a dozen-and-a-half-times-five... make that seventy…

The band hit the stage around half past ten and, as expected, played their studio debut »Divja pot« in full. This gig was more proof that the girls are turning into an ever more confident, impenetrable heavy rock fortress that's hard to…

Location: Graz / Stadthalle / AustriaDate: 18.11.2013 When I first heard about the Volbeat tour with Iced Earth as the support act, I figured it had to be a mistake. Iced Earth are veterans, after all, with roots going back to the…

A magnificent celebration of symphonic power metal! A proper detonation right in the middle of Trieste! Too beautiful to be true. And that's exactly where the truth hides, in the "too beautiful." Kamelot and ReVamp with Floor Jansen in…

The gig was over in a flash! Far from it being short. Simply. It was that good. And all good things go by damn fast. Feedback are artistically tantalizing, and in everything they do they keep challenging the listener not to let their focus…

What Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica and related metal dinosaurs were for our generation, Korpiklaani, Amon Amarth, Eluveitie, Sabaton and yes, Children of Bodom are for today's youth.

In Graz, Austria, Volbeat used a nearly two-hour set to prove they're a band that's hard to stop.

All told, a handful of people got to see a great, high-energy gig that deserved a bigger room, and the beer should have been flowing like rivers.

Nope. For the RockLine crew, catching Simon Phillips and Protocol II at Ljubljana's Cvetličarna a good two weeks ago wasn't enough! We hopped over to Gleisdorf near Graz, Austria, for another dreamy ear-anointing!

Once you realize how servilely Powerwolf bow to perfection in their stage execution, which in the same breath delivers a nagging feeling of artificiality, sterility and being robbed of real passion, even that realization is beaten by the…

This time around, Kadilnica smrti's genre rotation brought three local bands wading in the waters of folk and pagan tradition.

Paradise Lost stopped off in Vienna on their 25th-anniversary tour, with Katatonia and Lacuna Coil along for the ride.

'Mahavishnu' John McLaughlin deserves one more bow and a big thank-you for this special concert occasion, which flew by far too quickly. Together with four Indian masters, he delivered a world-class international jazz fusion event, the kind…

The night itself was definitely a good dose of brutality, though everyone would have wished for a bigger turnout and more support for this genre. Sadly, current music trends point to the rise of fast-rising instant bands copying the…

The fall concert season is already in full swing and has served up an incredibly varied mix of genres — we've had black, death and thrash metal shows — and this time Ljubljana got a tour that doesn't exactly stop in our neck of the woods…

Black Diamond have successfully carried their unique formula onto the concert stages of southeastern Slovenia, and their increasingly polished stage presence is slowly but surely cementing them as a live attraction, too.

Golliwog don't repeat their March revelation this time, but G.U.B. and Project One bring a bit of old-school filth and fun to the stage.

Canadian guitar master Pat Travers and his excellent backing crew, out on their current European tour promoting the new studio album "Can Do" (2013), once again completely bewitched the handful of people who showed up at the Bluesiana Rock…

The first 50 years for Aleš Klinar, at Popi's Pub. The Slovenian mid-wave's best-known "oddball," especially in the eighties and nineties, arrives with a new album in his pocket, meaningfully titled and wrapped up as "63. Special"!

This time the booze-up with a cause came with great stage energy, a youth turnout that shrinks year after year, and the kind of underfed sound you'd expect from Gospodarc.

"You could write a truly exhaustive analysis of this show and still miss the point. The point is that a Steven Wilson concert, just like Porcupine Tree, is something you simply have to experience."

On stage, The Quireboys are a one-of-a-kind adrenaline carousel of real rock 'n' roll bitterness, stuffed with first-rate imagination, boogie style and bluesy eroticism, dosed out with a punchy "macho swagger". When it comes to the craft of…

Post-gig conversations reveal two things: the Rated R-Era Vulgaris period remains far in the past, but there are still unreworked gems to be found in the rich ...Like Clockwork. The whole event offered listeners of the broader genre a…

"With their Trieste show, Harem Scarem showed off the magic of live AOR perfection, built on top-notch technical chops and real chemistry on stage."

The question is when we'll next get to hear a Shark Island tune live anywhere near us, so the trip to Zagreb was absolutely worth it, even for those coming from farther afield, even though this time it was, more or less, just a solo Richard…

Steven Wilson didn't disappoint. He showed up in the most professional light possible, backed by outstanding musicians you don't get to see every day.

After Templeton Pek's British post-HC melodics, it became clear that all-star bands don't always click in the tightest, punchiest way ...

Magnifico pulled off a real coup. Convincingly and in the grand style of his famous audacity, he has finally conquered Slovenia's temple of culture too!

On the first day of November, Medvode's Jedro youth center invited rockers in for a bill of three young Slovenian hard rock and heavy metal bands: Top Stripper, Motorfire and Mist.

The legendary English drummer and his three American sidekicks, all virtuosos to be envied, wowed us first and foremost with incredible energy, stunning eclecticism and tight onstage chemistry, but above all with a big-heartedness that,…

With their Trieste show, Harem Scarem showed off the magic of live AOR perfection, built on top-notch technical chops and real chemistry on stage.

Broken Arrow chased the witches out of downtown Ljubljana with some honest-to-goodness glam rock

Channel Zero served up a proper treat for a black metal crowd sick of life.

On the last Saturday of October, Styria's Fuck Off Commercial festival celebrated 25 years since its premiere edition with sets by Noctiferia, Anesthesia, Rapidforce, Cordura and Inmate.

"From a good hour and a half of hanging out, we got exactly what we expected: an outstanding performance of old-school material that Queensrÿche fans, let's be honest, have been craving something fierce in recent years. "

If you're after a slice of that authentic seventies Uriah Heep sound, weighed down with Hensley's newer repertoire, which proves that the musical logic behind this venerable pioneer and artist's songwriting hasn't changed much since his…

Retro Kult have an album in their pocket that they can be seriously proud of, and after a successful launch show, the tough job ahead is getting its sound out to as wide a crowd of music gourmets as possible.

Poland's phenomenal Blindead laced Orto with the tones of a modern apocalyptic saga, while Leprous wove a gorgeously dark progressive genius through the whole night.

"I've heard plenty of stories about what Ozric Tentacles' music does to the heads of people at their gigs. Given how battered the crowd was by the end of the show, when Močvara turned into a hatchery of staggering zombies (or let's say…

The Canadian veterans are feasting on Europe on the wings of their new record Feast, and their show closest to us, in Vienna, was a two-hour treat we're still licking our fingers over.

Out of a good hour and a half together, we got exactly what we came for: a stellar run through the old-school material that Queensrÿche fans, let's be honest, have been starving for in recent years.

Location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / SloveniaDate: Friday, October 19, 2013 CUK Kino Šiška hosted a very special celebration last weekend: a glamorous show from the folk art rock outfit Katalena, backed by all of its musical…

The British veterans of avant-psychedelic space rock Ozric Tentacles are celebrating 30 years together on their new autumn tour, and their Zagreb show was a sweet obligation! A great experience, with a nice turnout from Slovenia.

The Doors Alive took us through the doors of perception, as if in a time machine, straight back to the late sixties.

The event called "(Z)godbe ob Kataleni" came off in the best possible way. The experience of being "swept away" was there again this time. The band's one-of-a-kind world is so strong and shines so convincingly that it grabs you and carries…

Last Friday, Orto bar hosted a gig in a series of public-drunkenness events, put together by the concert organizers Umazana Dihurja.

"Fates Warning have once again delivered an extraordinary trip through the depths of their unique formula, which, teamed up with the sonic perfection of Orto Bar, turned into a mecca for prog metal fans near and far for a good hour and a…

Impericon's market-and-music caravan was back in Slovenia over the past weekend.

Fates Warning once again delivered an extraordinary trip into the depths of their unique formula, which, paired with the sonic perfection of Orto bar, turned into a mecca for prog metal fans near and far for just under an hour and a half.

Even with some key members showing their age, Fleetwood Mac are still well worth seeing in the autumn of their career, especially if you've never caught them live before.

"Not after what we saw in Munich. Y&T's untamed, wild-kid heart is dragging them into their 40th year. And all those years haven't made these wise old music wizards any easier to catch."

An exotic double bill of noisy torchbearers of avant-garde-tinged garage soldiery brought a pinch of offbeat surreal release to Ljubljana.

Location: Munich / Backstage (Halle) / Germany Date: 07.10.2013 Denmark's Pretty Maids are one of the few "survivors" of the hard-hitting, finely tuned school of melodic hard rock, stubbornly holding their ground on the scene since…

A Y&T show remains a must-have experience for any true hard rocker, even in this new era! Y&T are still a perfect energy torpedo on stage, one that never stops dazzling with its one-of-a-kind magic and heart!

Part two of our Motherland tour coverage, as Pretty Maids keep German hard rock veterans Bonfire company in the Bavarian capital! Another priceless live encounter with the cornerstones of European hard rock heritage!

The international music and conference festival Waves Vienna 2013 wrapped up on Sunday, October 6, 2013. Nine Slovenian acts played the festival: Werefox, N’Toko, Kill Kenny, The Toronto Drug Bust, It’s Everyone Else, Ian Green, Coma…

"Joe Bonamassa delivers the best, but he charges a little more for it than everyone else. That's how it goes. He can afford it. Because he's got the real mojo that sets the masses on fire. "