Venue: Rock Cafe / Postojna
Concert date: 03.12.2009
Attendance: 0
Ticket price: free entry
Thanks to a deal between Postojna’s Rock Cafe and the web portal RockLine, this school year sees the first Epic RockLine contest, giving bands without a released album a shot at the spotlight. Even in the pre-selection we had to cut a few very talented acts, but we hope the ones who made it are the real deal. The whole crew was itching for it to start, and on Thursday, December 3rd, the first night finally arrived. Uroš Planinc Group, Flyspoon and Spleen were supposed to kick things off, but Uroš Planinc Group had to cancel because of illness, which is a real shame, since they’re the only band in the contest that plays mostly instrumental music.
FLYSPOON
Flyspoon were first up on stage. They play a kind of take on grunge. You can especially hear the Alice in Chains influence, with plenty of dark motifs (some would say depressing ones), interesting structures and unusual melodies. The singer fits the band well, too, and kind of shows you what it would sound like if Eddie Vedder sang for Alice in Chains. The band has charisma and a solid stage presence, they just go a bit too heavy on the “oomph”. I’d have preferred a few more mellow parts, where the contrast between the individual segments would have come through more.
SPLEEN
After a short break, the second band took the stage. Spleen have been on the music scene since 2001 and are already a pretty recognizable name, so it’s no surprise their stage show is so polished. The singer keeps bouncing around the stage while the rest professionally play their parts. The guitarist helps her out on backing vocals. If we said Flyspoon aren’t the most original, the same could be said for Spleen, who draw heavily on well-known bands like Evanescence (especially in the vocals). Still, that was no obstacle to enjoying their gig, since they delivered a very dynamic and lively performance.
Neither Flyspoon nor Spleen really stood out when it comes to a distinctive sound. Flyspoon clearly lean heavily on grunge: the music is very much like Alice in Chains, and the vocals like Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam). With Spleen, the lack of originality is most noticeable in the vocals, which are pretty generic and quite similar to the vocals in other, better-known bands (Evanescence), though at the same time the vocals are their strongest card. If the two bands want to get more recognition outside Slovenia too, they’ll have to do a bit more on that front, but given their feel for melody and their stage presence, I have no doubt they’ll pull that off as well.
Both bands showed almost too much skill for a contest that’s supposed to be for unestablished acts, playing very professionally with really polished stage shows. The small crowd enjoyed the bands’ own material, and both showed a lot of maturity and enthusiasm. The sound was very good (hats off to the sound guy), maybe just a touch too loud, and both bands made the most of the conditions.
In the end, there was still the most thankless part of the night left. A winner had to be picked. The jury somehow couldn’t make up its mind, since both bands had their own strengths and trump cards. But once the audience votes were counted, the winner was clear: the people went for Spleen. Flyspoon showed a ton but sadly went home empty-handed. Don’t forget about them though, they’re really good and well worth a listen.
So there you have it. The first night already served up the first winner: Spleen. Musically it was a success, I just hope there’ll be a few more people in the crowd next time. The next chance is December 17th, when a lineup of punk bands is up: Eksodus, Cosa Nostra and Taking over Mars. See you then!
Photos: Mojca Perdih
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