Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Postojna / Slovenia
Concert date: 30.12.2010
Attendance: 400
Ticket price: €7.00
Just when peace and calm settle into the soul, in the days of Christmas and the run-up to the New Year, there’s still one last rock and metal blowout raging! If there’s one nearby, and if it’s on, of course! And if there is, it can almost certainly only be in Postojna. That’s where the beloved hard rockers Requiem and the reborn old-school metalheads Lene kosti joined forces one more time in the old year. The friendship between these old musical acquaintances, who grew up in exactly those years when rock and metal were in full swing on planet Earth, and whose bond got even stronger after their first joint show on 30.07.2010 at Zeleni gaj (Dornberk), is one of the foundations for bands teaming up for gigs like this. We’ve been missing them like crazy lately, and they’re hugely welcome given the stepmotherly attitude of most venue owners across Slovenia, who figure they can “buy” just about any Slovenian band for a bottle of beer. The main initiator of the event was Requiem themselves. As a farewell to the old year, they wanted to give something back to all their fans.
The lineup was rounded out by the brand-new Gringo, the up-and-coming Nova Gorica heavy metallers Shutdown, and for dessert, the eternal booze-soaked rock n’ roll troublemakers The Drinkers, who made sure the good energy stayed in the room long after Requiem had taken over the stage. It’s nine o’clock. In the evening, that is. We unfortunately missed Gringo, who played just 20 minutes. Unbelievable. For once, Postojna actually sticks to the schedule. It’s well known that evenings in this corner of Slovenia only come alive after eleven at night.
Shutdown take the stage. Guitarist Domen was all alone up there, since Murva had to cancel because of a serious illness. Shutdown handled the problem like pros. True, the band is still fighting to break through on the scene, but they’ve got a nice number of gigs behind them, so they already understand real stagecraft, which is hugely likable and convincing. Domen is a big Randy Rhoads fan and doesn’t hide it, from the way he moves on stage during the show to his approach to the solos, and if nothing else, the red target-shaped circles drawn on the body of his white Charvel guitar remind us of it. As always, the main strings were held, very confidently, by singer Egzi, who is really growing into an excellent frontman. Both in his vocal style and in the way he keeps the crowd in front of the stage in his grip. Of course it wasn’t complete without Križarji and the newer Do It Now. Add the expected tribute to Bon Jovi and Pomaranči, and the set of these potent lads was over in the blink of an eye. Shutdown keep up their pedigree as the right pick for warming up the crowd before a bigger band. Let’s hope they grow into a bigger act as soon as possible and cash in on their creative musical talents!
Lene kosti struck a similar tone to what we got in Ljubljana on 03.12.2010! “Dr. Evil” tailored his three-character shock theater so that the band again kicked off the show with Uninvited Guest and moved on through I Got The… to Nightmare. In that same order, “Dr. Evil” also shapeshifted on stage. First he scared us with a scythe, then became a mad surgeon, and to top it off a bloodthirsty butcher. Lene kosti drew a much more substantial crowd of curious music lovers in front of the stage, even though a bigger turnout was generally to be expected. I doubt you could count much more than a measly 400 heads in the tent in the middle of Postojna that night. Dr. Evil once again confirmed his outstanding vocal form. The charismatic singer, who with his magnetism once more effortlessly spellbound the audience and hypnotically led it through every gesture of the performance, proved his excellent shape with the heavy Warrior, which he saved for the closing stretch of the show. “Dr. Evil” sang this demanding song, which usually takes the most vocal power, phenomenally, and the band successfully capped yet another in a series of outstanding stage shows, just as expected (Do Or Die). Of course, Stones Of Death weren’t missing either, nor (always excellent) Sunrise, Play With Fire, Time For Love, the killer Iron Dragon and the “absolutely mandatory” Russian Girl. Lene kosti can be very happy with their work over the past year. The guys released the best classically conceived heavy metal album in Slovenia right now and one of the best of all time, as far as Slovenia and the late Yugoslavia can remember, and in doing so did a huge amount of work to cement their name at home and abroad. They enter the new year with vehemence and big plans to confirm the success of “Do Or Die” with its studio successor!
Requeim are comeback kings too. This night was theirs. They were the headliners, with an hour and a half at their disposal. Revamped and reinforced with the fresh blood of the Miha Nedoh and Matjaž Marin duo, they’re enjoying a new spring. It’s hard for them to go wrong. First vocalist and a sort of distant Slovenian approximation of Jon Bon Jovi, Primož Romšak, “Mr. Everywhere and girl Friday” Sergej Škofljanec, and of course the band’s immortal chieftain who holds all the reins in his hands, Marko Slokar. Lene kosti warmed up the crowd superbly, and by the time Requeim came on, the front rows had filled up completely and the atmosphere got properly hellish. Especially in the first 50 minutes, while the alcohol-boiled heads in front of the stage still had some strength left. Later the participation sagged a bit, but it came back to its initial level before the end and in the encore. Among others, Requiem lined up the classics Pokopališče, 12. Let, Amsterdam, All Night Long, Zvezdno nebo, Heroji, Kaja, Čarovnice, Križarji, Ti in jaz, TV, and right at the end, as expected, spiced up the show with Stare Device. Romšak and Škofljanec took turns on vocals. An interesting observation: when “Sergio” took over the vocals, Requeim “inadvertently” sounded more “metal,” while Romšak (alongside the basic guitar phrases, of course) gives them, with his performance, the full pedigree of a classic melodic hard rock band. But with a touch of dark connotation, which draws heavy metal fans to the band as well. And that’s a good thing! At the end of yet another excellent show, Requiem handed out some prestigious gifts to their most loyal fans and tossed a bundle of old cassettes, a heap of candy and New Year’s decorations into the crowd. No debate, a perfect party, on a perfect day, at a perfectly fitting hour. And soon the band’s new studio album will be out too, and then….
And so that the sale of booze in the sinful Postojna tent wouldn’t accidentally stop that night, the stage was finally occupied, in the name of writing a little night chronicle, by the alcohol-scented tough guys The Drinkers. Their motive? Same as every real band’s. Just with a different approach. To throw the perfect party! By making fun of yourself. First of yourself, then of others. That’s The Drinkers’ approach. Right at the start Maki figured out that Santa Claus is gay, and there were quite a few more observations of such extreme mockery during the evening with The Drinkers. Early on, Koza played a new role during the song Tine Rine, for which he surely gets extra pay, every time Maki starts breathing lustfully down his neck. Plus I Love Alkohol, Deset mejhnih jagrov, Pijemo ga radi, Ko to tamo peva…. Never mind that outside, icicles were merrily growing and sprouting well below zero, there was no end in sight to the boiling and sizzling with The Drinkers. The Drinkers jumped on stage without a soundcheck. Someone in the crowd remarked that The Drinkers don’t need one anyway, otherwise they’d sound too perfect. Having one of the best young drummers in Slovenia, Klemen Markelj, in the band hints in itself that The Drinkers take their business very seriously and that a great band hides behind all that clowning facade. Even though Maki doesn’t lack charisma as a frontman, this time the attention was grabbed above all by the (“knitted from genuine homespun wool (read: Blegoš wool)”) Jaegermeisster cap of The Drinkers’ elder statesman Miro Mutvar.
That’s a wrap. A successfully concluded mini-festival to bid farewell to the old year and herald a hot concert 2011! In the rocker town of Postojna! As it should be. Great energy, great atmosphere, great beer prices and, of course, what matters most, a great choice of bands. Still, with all that, you’d expect another 100 to 150 heads or so under the tent, but whatever. They’ll soon get a resit exam, and everyone who missed the Postojna party can honestly be sorry this time. It had considerably more sensible and logical connections to the word “rock” than the Christmas rock concert named after “rock” five days earlier in the neighboring sports hall of the high school center.
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
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