Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Hostel Celica / Slovenia
Concert date: May 30, 2017
Attendance: 70
Ticket price: $0.00 (free admission!!!)
What can you say after catching yet another Divje jezero show? Believe it or not, this was the first time RockLine caught Divje jezero in Ljubljana, even though they play here quite often. It’s worth stressing right off the bat that this was one of the most important gigs of the band’s career. The excellent all-instrumental quintet from Idrija, still going strong under the Celinka label, used it to open this year’s GodiBodi festival, and also gave the live premiere of their freshly released new studio album »Pobeg iz blodnjaka«. In full.
The album »Pobeg iz blodnjaka« is a superb follow-up to the brilliant studio debut »Mestni vrvež« (2015), with which the guys, and with them the band’s whole musical identity, grew artistically by another notch and sharpened their sound and style even further. At this year’s GodiBodi program cycle, too, the evening kicked off with the head of the Celinka label, the top-class musician Janez Dovč, stepping up to the mic. In another warm-hearted welcome, he said out loud, among other things, that Divje jezero are one of his favorite bands. More than justified. We were treated to yet another phenomenal live performance. (Immodestly) said and written. Which pretty much sums up this whole report right from the start.
When you watch Divje jezero, it takes no time at all to see how much the quintet enjoys itself, boundlessly and unrestrained, playing and interpreting their anything-but-easy pieces. They embody a very particular brand of jazz-rock fusion that the band has developed over the years, inspired by the distant days of the seventies, when pioneering outfits like Weather Report and Return to Forever ruled the scene and supplied the music world with their now-cult releases, along with the likes of Jeff Beck, Billy Cobham and Herbie Hancock. When it comes to chops and creative inspiration in the moment, Divje jezero have no shortage of dynamite and never run out.
In the intimate atmosphere of the Celica hostel, you could follow the quintet’s communication on stage much more closely, and catch all the little finesses of their constant exchange. Through it, on the principle of nonstop internal stage control and filigree self-correcting moves, Divje jezero keep a great deal of confidence in their delivery, so that they never stagger toward the edge of chaos and the collapse of their otherwise complexly built compositions. These naturally rest on a worked-out compositional format, with a leading motif at the core, musically tangible, and around it the band always masterfully weaves a free-spirited, wide-ranging playground of sparkling, joyful, wildly inventive and consistently crowd-pleasing improvisation. Sudden changes of rhythmic keys, shifts in dynamics and mood, lead soloists trading off among all five building blocks. Extraordinary, nonstop communication from an incredibly tight crew. Music you just sit down to, close your eyes and enjoy without limits. Divje jezero effortlessly keep even the ears of the most demanding music gourmets busy. The brave and fearless folks from Idrija proved with this show just what a strong musical team they are. And also that they keep growing and upgrading their live show. From gig to gig.
The band is simply that good, and I’m saying this immodestly, that they’d thrill, no holds barred, even the far more spoiled and demanding clientele of some club scene, say in New York, even though there are more than fifty officially listed concerts there every single day and the competition is fierce! Divje jezero could hold their own with the elite of today’s jazz-rock fusion on the international stage, no problem.
As mentioned, in this new and outstanding live experience, in the bosom of the Celica hostel, the band presented the new studio album »Pobeg iz blodanjaka« in full, and then went on to play a few tracks from its predecessor »Metni vrvež« (Nomad, Kapljica, Mestni vrvež, Policijska patrulja), followed by a rearranged and freshened-up tune that you can find in a rudimentary trio version on the demo “Divje jezero” from 2009, namely the track 2D. As for the very finale, the guys seasoned it with a hugely hilarious medley in which Mancini’s Pink Panter and the traditional Macedonian Jovano Jovanke found common ground through the charming and endlessly entertaining language of fusion. In short. Divje jezero is a band that anyone with even a passing interest in quality music has to see live. That’s why we’re already looking forward to catching them live again, announced for Thursday, June 22, 2017, nowhere else but at the Gabrijel bar in Cerkno.
Setlist
1. Pobeg iz blodnjaka
2. Milano
3. Jutranji ples
4. Noč in dan
5. Mornarska zmeda
6. Žirafe
7. Vzemi si trenutek
8. Marakeška tržnica
9. Ob pravem času
10. 2D
11. Nomad
12. Kapljica
13. Policijska patrulja
14. Mestni vrvež
15. Medley: Pink Panter / Jovano Jovanke
Photo gallery
