Venue: Cvetličarna, Ljubljana
Concert date: 10/13/2007
Attendance: 500
Ticket price: 15 EUR
Last weekend, at least as far as Ljubljana goes, was draped in the old-school tricolor of red, white and blue for the first time in ages. After Friday’s three-fingered paratrooper drop on the Gospodarsko Razstavišče, naturally directed by the immortal Bora Djordjević, on Saturday another breed of our Slavic brothers honored us with a visit, going by the name of Hladno Pivo. The famous punk rock outfit put young and old through the wringer (in the best possible sense, of course), with a crowd of a size that plenty of foreign acts wouldn’t be ashamed of either.
Hladno Pivo bounced through the night this time without any “sarma”, but with a heaping helping of crisp, fresh-off-the-grill punk sausages, whose bold vibrating shamelessly popped the oversized bras of legions of Slovenian teenage girls, packed like sardines in front of the “big” stage of Ljubljana’s Cvetličarna. Of course, Hladno Pivo haven’t been just some naive bunch of bored Zagreb guys killing time rubbing guitar strings and testing the bounce of drum skins for a long while now. On Saturday night the guys showed us they’re an exceptionally disciplined and organized unit with clearly divided roles, one that, despite the occasional flirtation with metal and at moments even hip hop moves, never strays from its basic, traditionally simple punk racket. There were accordingly few surprises. And that’s just fine, because apart from the flawlessly executed seven-dwarfs-style shuffling and the even more welcome antics of Deda on harmonica and keyboards, heavily distorted energy works best packed in a provocatively direct form, especially for those old, nostalgia-loaded “evergreen” treasures like Dobri Prijatelji, Nije Sve Tako Sivo, Zimmer Frei and above all the indispensable Biološki Sat and the all-purpose Pjevajte Nešto Ljubavno. Any kind of makeup or attempts at visuals are understandably totally redundant here. All that counts is energy, a certain special kind of charisma, and the little man Mile made sure it flowed freely. The Ljubljana crowd ate out of his hand all night long. The brass section worked with similar confidence too, or, to be honest, its only brass element, courtesy of the indestructible Stipe. Little details like these, say Zoki’s slide, uncontrollably sloppy by the standards of the situation, together with the enthusiastic audience in Cvetličarna, prove that Hladno Pivo are a band who are nowhere near having said their last word. A thoroughly entertaining night, and I have to admit that even though I’m absolutely not in the category of sweaty punk rock enthusiasts, after two and a half hours of Bora’s chetnik-style agitating in the spirit of the long-forgotten “hero” Draža Mihailović, a glass of the “cold one” went down a treat.
Text and photos: Daniel Pavlica
Setlist
1.Carstvo Pasea 2.Kaže Stari 3.Dobro Veče 4.Bačkizagre 5.Birtija 6.Pijan 7.Ne Volim Te 8.Biološki Sat 9.Težko Je Ful 10.Soundtrack 11.Utjema Kose 12.Dobri Prijatelji 13.Nije Sve Tako Sivo 14.Lutka 15.Zimmer Frei 16.Ljetni Hit 17.Šank 18.Konobar 19.Rigoletto 20.Princeza 21.Ranjeni I Ludi 22.Trening 23.Pitala Si Me 24.Šamar 25.Bog —-encore—- 26.Sreća 27.Pjevajte Nešto Ljubavno 28.Superman 29.Samo Za
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