Venue: Linhartova dvorana Cankarjevega Doma / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: January 18, 2007
Attendance: 0
Ticket price: €16.50 / €13.80 / €8.50
Why does every “serious” Slovenian act want a date in one of the halls at Cankarjev Dom? The sheer splendor the place offers is surely one reason. Another, even more important, is that a single gig at CD gets you more recognition and media buzz than, say, the whole Klubski Maraton. And a third might be that playing there signals you’ll be coming back every year.
The stats on the concerts themselves, or rather the events, are interesting too. Without exception, everyone who already means something crowds in during the winter months. There’s Vlado Kreslin’s Christmas run with guests, Zoran Predin’s Valentine’s run with guests, the same goes for Jan Plestenjak and his guests, and for Tinkara Kovač and hers. And last but not least, Gal & Galeristi with guests.
So why winter, specifically? Apart from the obvious factors tied to the winter mood and the cheer that loosens the wallet a lot more good-naturedly… well, winter is also cold season, which spares not even the most diligent and hard-working, so we witnessed a concert that never quite grew into what it could have been, had a cold not so plainly plagued the main man, the very reason the event happened at all, Gal Gjurin.
At twenty past eight, when the Galeristi, and right behind them Gal, stepped onto the boards of a well-packed Linhartova dvorana, there was no telling yet which way this big event would go. Although Gal & Galeristi had already introduced themselves to the audience, this particular concert counted as the most important one, the premiere.
The opening instrumental, with Gal first on trumpet, then on organ, and at the end playing both at once, hinted that the guys have heard of Miles Davis’s electric period. Played in a much more pop-jazz-fusion style, mind you. Anyway, the band immediately steered into entirely different waters and spent the whole concert deftly gliding between “serious” pop, soul, rock and, of course, lighter, mostly vocal jazz. On top of the cold, which slowly put Gal in a less-than-great mood, the tech didn’t work the way it should that night either. In “Ko ljubim, ne ljubim” the vocals were sent through a megaphone, but came out completely unintelligible and barely audible. There were also problems with the electric guitar sound throughout, which, with some sort of “delay” effect, intentional or not, kept getting the last word, and that wasn’t exactly to the liking of the sniffly Gal. The tech failed completely in the last song of the official set, when the acoustic guitar was truly “unplugged” until the middle of the song, and then the power came on like a bolt from the blue. Despite the loud bang and the shock for everyone in the audience and on stage, though, the song was pulled off superbly. It was Olivija’s song “Kadar sva sama”, sung by Gal’s sister Severa, who took away the sense of something missing that had been there all along. The crowd’s roaring approval made it clear why Olivija was Olivija, and that will probably be one of those unpleasant stamps that follows Gal, without Severa, whatever the lineup or genre he ventures into next. Shadows of the past that overshadow even the most successful present.
Besides Severa Gjurin, the guests included the Spontanica violin quartet, Miha Petric on classical guitar at the end of “H3O+”, and two members of Ulixes, Dejan Lapanja on vocals and acoustic guitar and Luka Vehar on guitar. Those two joined Gal & Galeristi to perform Ulixes’ first hit, “Sexappeal”.
Besides most of the songs from the current album, G&G, Fetiš, we also got a cover of “Here Comes The Rain Again” by Eurythmics, which, rearranged, blended entirely into the original material. Both in the melancholy shape of the song and vocally, since it sits well within Gal’s range. A very fitting choice.
After that highlight of the evening, “Kadar sva sama”, the band unexpectedly leaves the stage. Unexpected because not every member was clearly aware they’d be finishing early, on Gal’s “orders”. The audience didn’t give up, though, and after thunderous applause a few of the Galeristi come back out, evidently confused since there’s no sign of Gal, and for a few minutes all we get is a “drum” solo. After a while Gal does show up, now in somewhat better spirits and a lot more communicative, especially with the two backing singers. Two livelier versions follow, “Poglej ven, dežuje” and “Fužinski blues”, for the real finale of the night.
When the whole crew that put together this thoroughly unexpectedly varied evening took their bow, it turned out there’d really be nothing wrong with making such an event a new annual fixture at Cankarjev Dom. After all, this is “pop and not pop. It’s many other things too,” as Jure Longyka put it when introducing the band at the start of the concert. Yes, it is and isn’t pop, and there’s nothing wrong with that. It might just be the new fetish.
Setlist
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LINEUP:
Gal Gjurin, vocals, piano, Hammond organ, vocoder, guitar, trumpet, musical direction
Andraž Mazi, electric guitar, lap steel guitar
Igor Matkovič, synthesizers, Fender Rhodes, trumpet, electronics
Janez Moder, bass
Rok Koritnik, drums, percussion
Ana Duša, Jasmina Kljajič, backing vocals
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Žiga Brank, violin
Miha Petric, classical guitar
Žiga Šercer, percussion
Jan Kus, saxophones
Spontanica string quintet
