Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: Križanke, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Concert date: 13.05.2009
Attendance: 0
Ticket price: €19.90 and €23 in presale, €29 on the day of the show
One of Slovenia’s most legendary rock`n`roll bands, Big Foot Mama, wrapped up a successful tour for their latest studio album “Važno, da zadane” on May 14 with a sold-out hometown show at Ljubljana’s Križanke. The album came out in October 2007 and, despite all the critics saying the five-piece have more in them, scored an enviable success. The crowd was living proof, singing along with Skočir at the top of their lungs for the entire show.
The night was spiced up by the forty-five-member choir Perpetuum Jazzile under the direction of Tomaž Kozlevčar, football coach Slaviša Stojanović on guitar, Neisha on piano and Ansambel Lojzeta Slaka, but that wasn’t the only thing that made it special … The temperature rose even higher thanks to the fact that the concert was filmed, with script and direction by Benjamin produkcija. Next year, the first documentary about Big Foot Mama is due out, covering 20 years of the band’s career, during which they’ve released six studio albums, a “best of” and a double CD with a live recording of the concert at the Gospodarsko razstavišče for their fifteenth birthday. The setting of Križanke and the stage design got special attention too, with five flags bearing the faces of the main players fluttering in the background.
A few minutes past nine, things really kicked off. The excitement that set the start in motion went from the hand claps and finger snaps of Perpetuum Jazzile to the loud roar of a crowd of several thousand, packed both inside and outside Križanke, as Zoran Čalić (guitar), Alen Steržaj (bass), Danijel Gregorič (guitar), Jože Habula (drums) and Grega Skočir (vocals) walked onto the stage. As at many of their previous shows, Big Foot Mama were joined by Martin Janežič – Buco on percussion, who is otherwise the drummer for Sausages and Tribute 2 Love. A punchy opener with “Še mal` bolj dol” sent the crowd wild and completely off the leash, making it clear this show would be something unforgettable. Enthusiastic yelling, tears, laughter, singing, jumping, goosebumps … feelings that instantly flooded the crowd, swaying with everyone from those who’ve followed the guys since their early days to those who know them a bit less. The rock`n`roll anthems embodied in “Krila”, “Moja tamala”, “Mala nimfomanka”, “Fenomen”, “Zadnji poraz”, “Garbage”, “Nova pravila”, “Sam` prjatlu”, “Nisem več s tabo”, “Črn tulipan” and “Rola se” were joined this night by the ones from the latest album, “Važno, da zadane”.
Most of them weren’t played in their “usual” versions, though. “Razjeda” was spiced up by Slaviša Stojanović, one of the best football coaches Slovenia has had, on third guitar, proving that sports and music go together just fine. Besides Big Foot Mama and their renditions of the epic “Oklep”, “Nov dan”, “Fenomen”, “Garbage” and “Led s severa”, Perpetuum Jazzile also added vocals to “Ona je samo za mene” and “Neki sladkega”. During the latter, Neisha joined them on stage at the piano, and she stayed on for one more song. “Skrit v sencah”, which she played with Skočir on vocals and Čalić on acoustic guitar, was the calmest moment of the night, as the crowd went almost completely silent, lit up their “lights” (lighters, mobile phone screens) and gave in to gentle swaying.
The complete opposite came from another legendary figure who, unlike the other guests mentioned, moves in rather different waters. Ansambel Lojzeta Slaka took the crowd to one of the night’s peaks with their version of “Nekaj sladkega”. For the first time since the Viktors 2007, the crowd got to hear “Pomlad” live. The fusion of Slovenian folk-pop and raw rock`n`roll was perfect!
And even after a solid two hours and almost thirty songs from all six studio albums, the crowd was still hungry and thirsty for rock. Big Foot Mama are one of those bands you never get enough of, even after the thousandth listen. So, as Lojze Slak put it that night: “Long live Big Foot!”
Photos: Miha Mally
Setlist
Intro (Perpetuum Jazzile) 1. Še mal bolj dol 2. Krila 3. Men se trga 4. Oklep 5. Nov dan 6. Moja tamala 7. Brez meja 8. Razjeda 9. Mala nimfomanka 10. Moja mama 11. Mojca, Mojca 12. Fenomen 13. Ona je samo za mene 14. Dolg nazaj 15. Zadnji poraz 16. Mal premal 17. Garbage 18. Neki sladkega 19. Skrit v sencah 20. Nova pravila 21. Sam prjatla 22. Vrn se k men 23. Nekaj sladkega 24. Pomlad 25. Nisem več s tabo —– encore —- 26. Led s severa 27. Črn tulipan 28. Važn` da zadane 29. Rola se
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