Author: Jernej Vene
Location: Orto bar / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 11.11.2006
Attendance: 21
Ever heard of someone who followed their dreams years ago and headed to California to achieve what just wasn’t possible back home? You know the story, maybe in its closer-to-home “guest worker” variant (Germany, Austria?). Damir Šimić – Šime became Shime and, through hard work, made a name for himself in the US as a respected master of the six strings.
After the Postojna show, he stopped by a Sunday-emptied Orto bar in Ljubljana. As usual, I was at the venue way too early. Soon two acquaintances of mine showed up, who had a first-class surprise lined up for Šime. Gigs at Orto normally kick off at 10:00 PM, but this Sunday one didn’t start until 11:00 PM. A little of that was down to the poor turnout, a little to the late promo, and a little to it being Sunday. When Šime walked into the downstairs part of Orto, he spotted the two gentlemen at the bar and couldn’t hide his surprise. The first was Aleksander Tonij, known as Tonirom (check out his album Rdeča!), who had been Šime’s “roommate” at guitar school in Los Angeles for almost a year. The second was Simon, who used to play guitar in Pepelka and with Deja Mušič. And what does he have in common with Šime? Ha, Simon and Šime served together in the JLA in Zadar back in 1988! Unbelievable! Of course they had plenty to catch up on, but Šime still said it was time to get started.
We moved into the main hall of Orto, where all twenty-one of us present enjoyed a brilliant performance. Šime didn’t hold back or play like it was some rehearsal, and together with Jeff Bowders and Ricky Riccardo he gave it everything he had. Even better were the remarks between songs, like: “Tonight we’re having a private party” or “We’re having a party with a little ditty!”, after which they unleashed a hellish metal bomb. Perfect sound and incredible tightness put the small crowd in a great mood. Around twenty minutes in, Šime announced that bassist Ricky had to go take a leak, and in the meantime we were entertained by the phenomenal Jeff Bowders, who showcased the art of drumming from kindergarten to the academy. Of course, after four songs Jeff had to step aside too, and that’s when bassist Ricky won us over with a lovely show. This incredibly electrifying performance by pros ended far too soon when midnight came. We fans wanted more, even though Orto rules say they have to wrap up by then. And with the last song we got one more punch straight to the head! As the friendly Šime told me later, he’s slowly moving back to his native Zagreb, so we’ll get to hear him live nearby plenty more times in the future!
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