Location: Ljubljana / Channel Zero (Metelkova) / Slovenia
Concert date: 06/14/2012
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: €19.00
On Thursday, June 14th, I had a weird dream. I dreamed I went to a La Dispute* show wearing some strange yellow clothes, totally atypical for me. But when I got to the venue itself, it felt like a high school prom for one of Ljubljana’s gymnasiums had just kicked off. I wanted to wake up, but that was impossible, so I ordered a spritzer and went with the flow.
First, Slovenian band Unblind surprised me. I only know the genre from listening to La Dispute’s discography, which really showed promise on the albums, so I was hoping for an upgrade on that experience. And Unblind stick to the rules of the genre, which isn’t bad for an audience hungry for this kind of music. For the first ten minutes the singer’s yelping voice was still interesting, but later I started wondering what exactly the point of his delivery was. But I’ll come back to that later. Otherwise it’s music without any big swings. They live in post-rock, post-hardcore waters, with enough groovy moments to keep the whole thing listenable, and at times interesting. They had a bit of bad luck with the sound, as the left guitarist was too low in the mix. And he was exactly the one pulling a melody over the rhythmic parts that would have broken the monotony, but you just couldn’t hear him enough. There was a surprising number of teenagers in the hall, and I’m glad that’s the case.
I stepped out for some air and came back twenty minutes later. La Dispute were already playing, and I was astonished to find the hall, if not packed to the rafters, then full enough that you had to shove your way hard to get anywhere you wanted to go. And to my surprise, I realized that the yelping, barking voice is the essence of this music. Unblind’s singer wasn’t goofing around, he was simply staying true to the rules of the genre. On studio recordings that definitely special vocal doesn’t come through as much, so I paid more attention to the instruments. The music is quality and melodic, and I had the feeling I’d heard all of it before. Surely this is yet another band that put a “post” cap on its head and took the whole thing in its own direction. The vocalist is very emotional, just like the music itself. But listening to it, it didn’t come across as too depressing. True, I didn’t dig into the lyrics, but I think what makes music depressing is the mood in it. Or maybe I’m wrong. I mention the depressiveness because I was lucky enough that the singer asked me for a cigarette after the show, and I used the moment to quiz him a bit about his influences and themes. To my surprise, he had no real answer. Oh well, maybe he found it silly to answer the questions of some random Slovak. Anyway, the show went on in an excellent mood. The prom kids threw a proper party, there were even the beginnings of a mosh pit. Most of them knew the lyrics, and it was lovely to hear the moments when the singer handed the vocals over to the crowd. The youngsters proved they really wanted more with a persistent “UI, UA, UO” chant, and the band didn’t let them down. They burst back on and cut two more songs.
As far as mood and atmosphere go, the show was superb, though musically I just don’t quite find myself in these waters. But I’m not going to teach the reader here what’s good and what’s not. If you enjoy the music, you’ll be fine. Even if it’s Ansambel Braneta Miheliča (not that I’m comparing). Judging by the response, Dihurja also managed to catch just the right moment for a La Dispute show, since they were more than obviously in.
I left for home, or maybe I woke up. I don’t know exactly.
*La Dispute are a five-piece of young guys who delighted fans of this kind of music with their debut, Somewhere At the Bottom of the River Between Vega and Altair, released in 2008, and continued their journey into fans’ ears last year with the album Wildlife. More than their scattered drums and merciless, sharp guitars, softened here and there by gentle melodies, their music is marked by lyrics that frontman Jordan Dreyer delivers in such an incredibly emotional way that it’s hard for the listener to walk away untouched.
Setlist
1. A Departure
2. The Most Beautiful Bitter Fruit
3. A Letter
4. Harder Harmonies
5. Why It Scares Me
6. New Storms for Older Lovers
7. Said the King to the River
8. All Our Bruised Bodies and the Whole Heart Shrinks
9. You and I in Unison
—encore—
10. Safer in the Forest/Love Song for Poor Michigan
11. King Park
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