Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Pr' Mariči (Metelkova) / Slovenia
Concert date: 11.09.2015
Attendance: 70
Ticket price: €0.00 (free entry!)
How do you kick off the »jubilee« – thirtieth RockLine concert report on Lene kosti? Laziness might cling to them, but with these guys you can never, ever be bored. Since early September 2015, the veterans of Slovenian metal, or let’s just call them the legendary Jarše boogie metallers, have a new drummer in the ranks. That’s Matijas Severhen, who is otherwise the cellist and bassist of Kontrabant. There was extremely little time to get tight. The band got the invite for the gig just a few days earlier.
Friday night. Metelkova had turned into a landing strip for the young guard, with a colorful buzz of gigs going on. Over at the club Gromka, Philm were thundering away, fronted by former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, so the Lene kosti show had to wait a bit until Philm wrapped up their set. Midnight struck. The stage of the revived »refuge« at Pr' Mariči got a satisfying, if not downright excellent, turnout. What made everyone happy was seeing so many different kinds of young people gathered on the scene that night. From genre diehards to total newbies who hadn’t known the band until this evening. And one more thing. The sound in the small club space was simply excellent. Even two of the band’s former drummers were at the show. W.U.K.O. and Vlado. The band started roaring with Uninvited Guest.
Even though you could feel some nerves from a few of the guys in the band before the show, they delivered another great musical adventure, loaded with stiffly erect energy voltage, top-notch playing and execution. A few minor slip-ups, a bit of chasing after the rhythm changes from Matijas, who nevertheless showed plenty of commitment and drive, and especially in the rhythmically tougher Play With Fire and Nightmare proved that Lene kosti made the right call when they picked him. A bit more practice and a few more gigs, and Matijas will grow into a drumming machine. Jan is developing into an excellent frontman with loads of confidence. From gig to gig he sharpens his sense of healthy humor, and he once again blew everyone’s ears out when he turned into a supersonic siren of extreme vocal heights a few times.
Good energy everywhere, and the band pulled the crowd in just as expected. They introduced a new song with the working title Electric Eel for now. It’s an excellent new tune, driven by a toxic mix of guitar riffs and rhythmic rolling. Dr. Evil is gone, but Lady Evil is back, a great cover of the original from the overlooked »Park Bar« (1988) album. Besides the freshness that Jan and Matijas bring, most of the big charisma this band has naturally comes from Marc, Đofo and Dago, who keep up the band’s well-oiled theatrical appeal at gigs, decked out like sharp-dressed desperados. Đofo had trouble with his guitar strings that night. Two of them snapped, and not just any two, but the thickest two, which is a kind of art too, though on the other hand an achievement Đofo probably won’t be too eager to remember.
Another really, really sweet and excellent gig showed that the band is in good shape, that there’s creative energy and great camaraderie in the camp. Some internal calibration will be needed in the performance for upcoming gigs, but the band pulled off the show remarkably well with a new drummer in the lineup, considering how little they’d rehearsed beforehand. This month Lene kosti are heading into the studio to record the first new song for their upcoming studio album, which, counting »Park Bar«, will be the fourth in the band’s career.
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