Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Figa Rock Bar / Koper / Slovenia
Concert date: 17.06.2011
Attendance: 120
Ticket price: 0,00€ (free entry!)
The dust hadn’t even settled yet after Uriah Heep’s latest tour, which, as always, “brushed past” Slovenia up north. Barely a month has gone by and I’m already choking on nostalgia! There’s no better cure than consoling yourself with a trip to the Slovenian coast and a gig by Sweet Loraine, the excellent Italian Uriah Heep tribute band.
RockLine’s groundbreaking first visit to Figa Rock Bar in Koper, a welcome addition to the rock scene on our coast. As usual, everything on the coast kicks off late. Especially when it comes to partying. And Sweet Loraine hit the stage very late too.
The lineup is: maestro and band leader Alex Falcone (keyboards, organ, mini moog, backing vocals), Davor “Byron” Žorž (vocals), Maury Blas (guitar, backing vocals), Al “Bert” Zuccato (bass guitar) and Walter Pod (drums). If you skimmed the lineup, you may have noticed that Davorin Žorž, the Slovenske gorice native, is back in it. Last year another singer filled in for him in Sweet Loraine for a while, and the band’s show near Villach last August revealed some gaps left by Davorin’s departure. It’s really great to see Davorin back in the lineup. The man doesn’t carry the nickname Byron for nothing: his voice sits in a range and shade that is a remarkably close match to the late Uriah Heep singer, the one many people to this day (the most hardened worshippers of the band’s seventies records) call the only true Uriah Heep vocalist. The other really interesting name in Sweet Loraine is the excellent all-round keyboardist and maestro Alex Falcone, who released a superb solo studio album called “Aphasia” in 2009 (RockLine review HERE). The guy is a respected name on the world music map, with guests on that album including James Christian (House Of Lords), Kee Marcelo (ex-Europe) and Dougie White (Cornerstone, ex-Y.J. Malmsteen’s Rising Force, ex-Rainbow, ex-Praying Mantis), among others.
You’re probably bored with the factual intro by now, but it may be just what convinces you that Sweet Loraine, whom I’ve now seen for the third time in three years, have taken a big step forward. Their Koper show was without a doubt excellent. Alex Falcone and guitarist Maury Blas in particular managed to build that all-important communicative bond that sustains a great approximation of the Uriah Heep originals. Davorin is the man who shines most on Byron-era Uriah Heep songs. The hugely demanding Tears In My Eyes, for instance, came out phenomenal. Think back to how important the slide work is in that song, and believe me, Maury studied the sound and the use of the slide really well and came worthily close to Mick Box. With Davorin’s voice being so well matched, the warm, bubbling Hammond lines and the added vocal harmonies, Sweet Loraine truly went all in on this one. Bird Of Prey, Stealin’, Something Or Nothing, Wizard Rainbow Demon, Circle Of Hands, Sweet Loraine and Sunrise caught fire too, with the highlights being the aforementioned Tears In My Eyes, Traveller In Time, (extremely demanding but very successfully pulled off) July Morning, and Gypsy with those tight harmonies that Uriah Heep are no longer capable of putting together today (the reasons being a different approach to playing the classics and, of course, a completely changed lineup). In July Morning, Sweet Loraine copied the original studio version and delivered it with great distinction. Big praise goes especially to Alex, who even included Manfred Mann’s solo on the mini moog. Bravo, guys, for nailing the multi-part vocal harmonies, which blasted us straight back to the album “Look At Yourself”.
The band sounded extremely cohesive on the Lawton-era classics too, though of course you have to keep in mind that John Lawton is practically impossible to interpret decently: this master has such a specific vocal style and his own vocal skill, which breathed a unique expressiveness into the Uriah Heep albums “Firefly”, “Innocent Victim” and “Fallen Angel”. Davorin pushed his vocals to their optimal reach here and worthily handled the more demanding vocal parts too. Songs like Sympathy, The Hanging Tree, Free N’ Easy and The Dance fit nicely into the repertoire. The guys even pulled off a real little surprise when they tackled Too Scared To Run from Uriah Heep’s album “Abominog”, from the eighties, when Pete Goalby sang in the band.
The band split its performance into two parts. That system proved very rewarding, since it keeps the audience at the venue longer. Sweet Loraine wrapped up their set with the expected Easy Livin’ and Lady In Black, which they reworked compared to the overplayed original, making the song more interesting to perform. A great rendition of Gypsy wasn’t missing either, and right at the very end came Bird Of Prey, which they played twice. The venue (the inside of the bar) was more or less empty. A bunch of people listened to the concert outside, in front of the place, except for the friendly mixed Italian-Slovenian band Wild Ones, whose members were headbanging together in the front row and cheering Sweet Loraine on.
Sweet Loraine convinced in every way. Instrumentally they’re superbly tight. Even when you listen closely to the covers, they follow the originals confidently and worthily. The demanding repertoire certainly left some marks on Davorin’s vocal cords, and by the end of the show the singer no longer sounded so fresh, but you also have to remember that singing Uriah Heep is fundamentally very hard to begin with.
A successful gig in every respect, then. Worth a visit for every fan of classic Uriah Heep. Just one remark. Nothing new. The audience, that is. They paid more attention to pouring alcoholic brews down their throats the whole time, so the place was full of countless drunk heads, which cast a bad light on the event itself. But that’s how it goes here. First comes the drinking, and only then, maybe, the enjoying of rock music. Regardless of quality. So Sweet Loraine could try as hard as they liked, and neither their effort nor the quality of their performance would get under the skin of such a “lost” crowd. We Slovenians simply aren’t a rock nation. Despite this sad fact about the mental state of the audience that goes to such concerts, Sweet Loraine really have no reason to complain. They’ve reached an excellent level of tightness, so I recommend that all true fans of Uriah Heep music catch this band at the first real opportunity. Sweet Loraine won’t disappoint you.
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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