Author: Urban Bolta
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Križanke / Slovenia
Concert date: 18.05.2011
Attendance: 3000
Ticket price: 22€
It was a beautiful, sun-soaked Thursday afternoon, and the sound of a soundcheck was echoing from behind the high walls of Ljubljana’s Križanke. Passersby didn’t need much more of a hint: the cozy ambience of Križanke was about to shelter the faithful of Ajdovščina’s hottest band of the moment. The afternoon slowly slid into evening and the first bigger clusters of people started to gather at the venue, though there was no real euphoria in the air yet. Just as Aleš and I were wondering whether Elvis Jackson had maybe picked too big a venue this time, the stream of new arrivals swelled so much that we had to bite our tongues over what we’d just said – Križanke filled up to the last corner!
Since 2009, when they released the album “Against the Gravity”, Elvis Jackson have taken a huge step forward. Riding the wings of a great record and positive reviews, they shot across the border and became a fixture on stages abroad, where they now play more than at home. Belief in their success, constant presence and plain hard graft got them there, and they’ve dug into young ears so deeply that in popularity they’ve caught up with what once seemed like untouchable bands of our scene, like Big Foot Mama, Dan D or Šank Rock. A packed Križanke to close out the marathon “Against the Gravity” tour was just one more proof that the “Elvises” have truly become giants!
Getting the night started with a set just under an hour long were S.A.R.S., one of the hottest young names on the Serbian alternative scene. To be honest, given the loud media campaign around the band, I expected a lot more from them. S.A.R.S. build their sound on slow, melancholic rock with a strong touch of Balkan temperament and a very particular kind of humor. The young Belgrade crew presented their current record “Perspektiva”, but the band’s relative obscurity, a sterile tempo and the trap of a big stage meant they couldn’t coax much more than a lukewarm response out of the crowd.
After a short break came the real adrenaline spectacle, just as the concert’s promo slogan had promised. The punk rock anthem Wake Me Up set off an explosion of excitement right from the start among a mostly green crowd that was barely beginning to get acquainted with live shows. A no-compromise approach, heaps of good vibes and mischievous, boyish energy on stage, packed into the bodies of four seasoned musicians, quickly mapped out the road that Elvis Jackson marched down for the entire show. Plenty of somersaults, running around, the familiar stunts with rolls of toilet paper and other confetti were part of the show as always, and the Ajdovščina boys, with frontman Buda at the helm, have it down perfectly. The ever-smiling Buda, with his thick coastal accent, was the comedian of the night, handled his vocal duties like a pro, and proved that with all those concert miles piling up, his skin has only gotten thicker. The instrumental trio of Berto, Slavc and Soki each added their own shot of positive energy, which understandably let them sail through any hiccups, like Berto’s guitar giving out right before the song My Beer. Simple punk rock rhetoric hit the bullseye this night as if it were a joke, though the more experienced concertgoer couldn’t shake the feeling that these technically superb musicians could sink their teeth into a more musically demanding apple or two.
Circus tricks aside, the music was still front and center. Ever since the release of their still-current fourth record, Elvis Jackson have stuck to a tried-and-true setlist and only rarely make any radical cuts into the core of the program, which is spread evenly across all their studio releases. So those of us who regularly attend their gigs were all the happier to hear the guests who spiced up the show and took it into new dimensions. The Academic Choir of the University of Primorska handled the vocal interpretation of the hit Dry Up Your Tears, the members of Ana Pupedan painted Loser in their own colors, and the nicest surprise was the presence of cellist Samo (Aperion), with whom they played This Time, a very rare guest at Elvis Jackson shows. The performance raced toward its end like lightning, wrapped in a punk rock blanket with the songs Not Here To Pray and Against the Gravity.
The days of intimate gatherings in smaller clubs, where Elvis Jackson played for a good decade, are clearly behind them. After a relatively long and thorny road, the Ajdovščina boys reached one of the peaks of their musical journey on Thursday – they played their own headline show in front of a crowd of thousands, who kept roaring their loud ovations long after the show was over. A more than fitting reward for their upcoming fifteenth anniversary, no doubt!
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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