Performers: Chateau
Date: 17 Nov 2023
Venue: Ljubljana / Orto bar / Slovenia
It doesn’t happen every day that Chateau release a new studio album. And more than that — after 2011, when the band put out the album “Do konca” and then, not long after, floored everyone with the decision to go on hiatus, many of us had given up hope of ever seeing Chateau on a stage again.
But things took a dramatic turn. In mid-December 2020, Chateau reunited. In spring 2021 they first released two compelling singles, Pesmi nove, pesmi stare and Zvezde vedo, and the year was rounded off with the vinyl release of the greatest hits compilation “The Best Of”. When the single S solzami v raj followed in 2022, Chateau were no longer ‘hiding’ the fact that they were working on a new studio album too. But another year had to pass before the official release on 17 November 2023. Chateau decided to mark the occasion with a special concert at Ljubljana’s Orto bar. The new album, titled “Chateau 2023”, was recorded by a refreshed quintet lineup featuring, naturally, the ever-vital vocalist Matjaž Ograjenšek and the no-less-ever-vital guitarist Zvone Hranjec. This new chapter has been reinforced by former Res Nulius bassist (and returning member) Boštjan Časl, Jesenice-based keyboardist Robert Humar — known among other things for his work with Rok’n’band — and young up-and-coming drummer Grega Plamberger. The opening segment was also marked by the arrival of the grand old man of rock ‘n’ roll in the Slovenian press: the man whose name has been inseparably linked to the band since the early nineties, none other than the esteemed Dragan Bulič, who provided a lavish introduction for the band’s entrance on stage.
The event was proof that the Slovenian hard rock audience hasn’t forgotten about Chateau by a long shot. The band put together a marathon set split into two parts with an interval in between. A good 300 attendees got their money’s worth — first and foremost for the simple fact that the new material has maintained a brilliant connection to the band’s back catalogue, which is now considered cult on Slovenian soil, and beyond that especially for Matjaž Ograjenšek’s impressively well-preserved vocals, which dazzled throughout the performance in all their full glory and radiated an outstanding mood from start to finish. The charismatic and likeable vocalist had the crowd in the palm of his hand in seconds; the front rows in particular responded ferociously to his addresses and encouragements. The new tracks really grab you — direct proof of just how important the creative partnership between Hranjec and Ograjenšek is. That musicality — the excellent sense of building pomp that culminates in infectiously catchy chorus hooks — has always been the hallmark of this creative duo. And that chemistry is still fully intact. It feels like being back in the years when glam metal was at its peak (that is, if you close your eyes and conjure up one of the band’s nineties classics). The core creative essence that defines Chateau has been preserved and carried into the present. Into the band’s new life. In the first set, the band also unveiled a ‘refreshed’ version of their biggest hit, Mlinar na Muri — which also features on the new record — now repackaged in considerably wilder rock territory: a faster tempo and more prominent guitar phrasing. The album “Chateau 2023” was essentially played in its entirety. With one exception.
The second set was stacked with the best-known tracks from the band’s classic days. And this is where the crowd truly caught fire. That was to be expected. Gremo v nebo, Nocoj najlepša si, the obligatory Lola (with a mischievous stand-up comedy interlude from Matjaž riffing on Salome), then Tanja, Odpelji me v raj, Avantura. Classic after classic — tracks that (alongside Šank rock’s output) kept Slovenian hard rock flying high through the nineties. The performances of these songs sustained an extraordinary nostalgic charge and conjured that feeling where you tell yourself: “Let this night last forever.” And then, of course, there’s Objemi me. A track that stands as a classic of Slovenian rock, one you know is always there. Always. ‘Somewhere out there.’ And yet it’s also a track you haven’t actually listened to in years — for all sorts of reasons you kept putting it off — until finally, after many, many years, Chateau play it for you live on stage. Insane. What a powerful track. That’s when it hits you — when it grabs you so much harder in the flesh. This particular rendition of the magnificent ballad was also special for being delivered as a duet with special guest Omar Naber. Naturally, Mlinar na Muri in its classic version (from the album of the same name — 1994) wasn’t missing either, with most of the set drawn (as expected) from the albums “Objemi me” (1992) and “Avantura” (1993). In the closing stretch, the band also threw in two “Do konca” classics — we can call them that now — Vse kar ljubim and the title track, and with that the celebration of the new Chateau album’s release came to a close.
The band came back for an encore. Die-hard fans might have hoped for something from the debut studio album “Tvoje oči” (1990), and the band also skipped over “Brez tebe” (1996). Instead, Chateau played the ‘new Mlinar na Muri’ once more, the excellent new Pesmi nove, pesmi stare, and one of the most powerful ballads from the classical era of Slovenian rock — Objemi me. The goal was to deliver maximum release to the crowd. And they pulled it off.
One more important observation. The crowd contained a notable share of young women, and the band hadn’t been forgotten by the women who were devoted fans back in the nineties — as teenagers. From that it’s not hard to conclude — and the Orto bar concert confirmed it — that Chateau had been sorely missed all these years, while at the same time not a trace of rust has touched them. And if girls and women still come to see you after all these years, you’re clearly keeping your youth. Sure, there were a few slip-ups to be heard at Orto bar, but that’s perfectly normal when you’re being reborn into a new life and catching fresh wind in your sails again! The band will iron all that out and build on it through the series of upcoming gigs — but one thing is already clear. Not only on the strength of the powerful tracks, hits, and evergreens from the golden nineties era that keep the band standing tall, but also thanks to the strong moments on the freshly released “Chateau 2023”: it’s clear that Chateau are radiating new drive and a fresh desire to prove themselves and create new music. As if all 43 of those years that have passed since their debut studio album had simply never happened.
Author: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. Pesmi nove, pesmi stare
2. Daleč od srca
3. Zvezde vedo
4. S solzami v raj
5. Varala si me
6. Mlinar na Muri 2023
7. Mogoče nekoč
8. Ljubi in sovraži
9. Ko se šampanjec hladi
—second set—
10. Gremo v nebo
11. Nocoj najlepša si
12. Lola
13. Tanja
14. Odpelji me v raj
15. Avantura
16. Zaradi tebe
17. Objemi me (ft. Omar Naber)
19. Mlinar na Muri (classic version 1994)
20. Zapleši z mano
21. Vse kar ljubim
22. Do konca
—encore—
23. Mlinar na Muri 2023
24. Pesmi nove, pesmi stare
25. Objemi me
