Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Roll Bar / Slovenia
Concert date: 28.12.2013
Attendance: 100
Ticket price: 0,00€ (free entry)
Ahhh…. The year is winding down, the euphoria is building, everybody’s rushing, going nuts,… Nerves tied in knots, snapping, men in uniform lurking, heads flashing and skipping… The weight of habit, or the weight of what others push you into? I’d rather not spoil the lead-up to the new year 2014, so let’s save the “philosophical” part for another time.
So! In these pre-holiday days, bars and clubs across Slovenia try to give visitors the maximum in comfort, which is why the rock scene’s offer is that much richer. Above all, it’s easy on the wallet. Beer usually drops by half a euro, and the band plays for whatever the bar takes in, so there’s usually no cover. There’s just one problem. A whole dozen events land on the same day. In this pre-New Year »frenzy« it can’t be any other way. In less than a week I found myself three times covering two gigs on one and the same night. And that »merry« December 28 was no different.
After San Di Ego finished their set at Biljardna hiša za Bežigradom – RockLine report HERE, Urban and I dashed express to Roll Bar in BTC, where rock ‘n’ roll debauchery had been merrily thrashing away for quite a while. Before Lene kosti, PANFU (Pick a Name For Us) and Dandelion Children had already stretched their limbs. We happily caught the latter a day earlier, at the Orto bar gig on 27.12.2013 (RockLine report HERE). We jump into Roll Bar right in the middle of Play With Fire. Lene kosti’s version, of course.
So why yet another report on Lene kosti, when we already checked out their form in the revamped lineup in the middle of St. Patrick’s Irish Pub on 21.12.2013 – RockLine report HERE? The answer is simple. The special star of the evening, or let’s say special guest (so we don’t inflate his ego too much), was once again Rok Večerin »Wuko« on drums, playing exclusively with Lene kosti and stepping in just for this one gig for the band’s new drummer Vlado Janež, who had to skip it because of urgent obligations. And it showed. Wuko is the guy who brought back a good chunk of the magic that defined Lene kosti on stage in 2010 and 2011, back when Wuko was a regular in the lineup (together with Marco and Giovanni). That truly one-of-a-kind musical »twist« that marks the unique face of Lene kosti’s musical authenticity, known as »boogie metal«, shone through once again. Wuko, a true embodiment of the »human machine«, who pilots the double bass drum beast as if he were cruising along blindfolded on roller skates, didn’t let anyone down. He gave it his all. A passing and less important detail: Wuko doesn’t rehearse the covers with Lene kosti. So a few banal mistakes crept into the covers, like the Divlje jagode standard (Motori).
Let’s be honest. Lene kosti don’t need covers. They’ve got original material in abundance. A new studio album would of course come in handy as soon as possible, but the Kavaš brothers have already made a very wise move at this stage (before any eventual new studio album) by bringing songs from the album »Park Bar« (1990) back into the live repertoire. They work phenomenally in their new shape and fit insanely well, stylistically, with the material from the albums »Do Or Die« and »Penetrator«. It’s precisely the double bass drum pedal Wuko uses (unlike Vlado Janež) that brought the “Park Bar” songs even closer to the material from both albums released in 2010 and 2012.
The course of events in a nicely packed Roll Bar, where quite a few overheated heads thoroughly spun their shoulder-and-neck bearings, went on with fortifying, ultra-robust sonic wrecking balls Warrior and (always perfect) Nightmare, and after a short breather came the (expected) Russian Girl, Sunrise, Iron Dragon and, as mentioned, the »Park Bar« tracks Lady Evil and Fly In The Sky (Highway To Nowhere was also played in the first part). For the finale, Lene kosti sink their teeth into Do Or Die and the closing »Penetrator« songs Spread Your Legs, which the band dedicated to all the girls in the crowd, and the title track, as a closing tornado built on a fresh display of Wuko’s phenomenal rolling and untamed pounding on the double bass drum beast (Kobra rules!!!!)
Lene kosti once again successfully showed off in an outstandingly tight stage format! The overhaul works and the band keeps grinding on with inexhaustible power! New vocalist Jan Tehovnik came across even more assured and even more confident than six days earlier at St. Patrick’s Irish Pub, and at just 22 the kid is truly already a king of vocal heights. Jan’s vocals deserved to be pushed up a little more in the mix during the show. A voice like that has to be front and center. No »hiding« it! One more time, then. Thanks to Lene kosti for a fresh, healing »shrapnel« of boogie metal straight between the eyes! The charm and magic of their homegrown originality remains this band’s workhorse. Nobody else sounds like them. And that feeling once again soaked the walls of Roll Bar with full-on, honest intensity! From now on, Lene kosti will play Roll Bar regularly, every last weekend of merry December!
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