Location: Ljubljana / Biljardna hiša / Slovenia
Concert date: November 13, 2014
Attendance: 300
Ticket price: €0.00 (free admission)
There’s a well-known Slovenian saying: little money, little music. But last Thursday the guys in San Di Ego proved that’s not always true, throwing a free release party at Biljardna hiša in Ljubljana for their self-titled debut, San Di Ego.
A whole herd of music fanatics was already jostling outside Biljardna hiša. I couldn’t help wondering whether there’d be such a crush if the show had an entry fee, but let’s leave that aside. The club itself was packed with people hungry for good music, too. A look around offered an interesting cross-section of the Slovenian music scene, which had come out to check out and back the supergroup San Di Ego.
The four guys in San Di Ego don’t need much of an introduction – the members’ names are actually better known than the band itself. They’ve all played in other well-known bands, and in early 2013 they got together and started their own. The rhythm section of Jure Doles on drums and Martin Rozman on bass is rounded out by Matic Ajdič on guitar and Sergej Škofljanec on vocals, who also occasionally picks up an acoustic 12-string during the set.
Biljardna hiša was bursting at the seams when Aleš Klinar took the stage around half past nine in the evening and announced San Di Ego’s show. The guys opened with the original Izbrisani, tactfully and skillfully weaving in Extreme’s Get the funk out and then circling back to Izbrisani at the end. Right at the start, Sergej said they’d first play all the tracks from the just-released album, then take a short break, then come back on stage and party until the early morning hours. Next came the tender Sonce je tam, kjer si ti, followed by the punchier latest single To je to (za ta denar). The crowd backed the guys noisily the whole way through, and really came alive during the Bee Gees cover Stayin’ alive. By then the sound across the room had been sorted out too, so even in the back we could hear all the instruments evenly, while the temperature in the hall climbed steadily to its max. The foursome on stage nevertheless marched uncompromisingly through the rest of the songs on the CD, in the exact same order as on the record. The humor and irony in the lyrics came through in the band’s stage antics too, especially in the facial expressions of frontman Sergej, who explained the backstory of each song before launching into it. The original part of the set wrapped up with Zadnji cent, a fitting nod to the state of society, during which the tireless Jure Doles showed that even after a full hour of playing he had enough energy left for a drum solo.
The band left the stage for a few minutes and the stuffy atmosphere in the hall eased up a bit, as people used the break to go get some air. The break really wasn’t long – the guys were soon back on stage and carried on with a medley of Queen hits. The second half of the show was given over to evergreen creations of the world’s rock giants. The gig rolled on routinely, with the guys sinking their teeth into all kinds of rock-legend reinterpretations – firmly, confidently and relaxed all at once. They touched on Bon Jovi, Police, Whitesnake, Boston, circled back to Queen, Led Zepplin,… There was no end to the big names. The guys weren’t scared of anybody. It made no difference whether a song put the spotlight on the bass lines, which Martin pulled out of his Music Man as if from his sleeve, or on the outstanding guitar solos coming from Matic’s golden Les Paul. Jure behind the drums carved out his own show and drew eyes by twirling his sticks whenever the rhythmic pauses between songs allowed. The cherry on top of the instrumental performance was Sergej’s vocals, which defied every pitch and rhythmic fusion. In our little sub-Alpine country, you’d be hard pressed to find a rock caliber that could measure up to San Di Ego’s outstanding singer. And the other members proved they’ve got vocal harmonies down too, with tightly coordinated backing vocals.
After an hour and a half of non-stop playing and singing, concentration on stage started to slip a little, but the crowd was still having a blast and singing along to the classic rock hits. During the opening riffs of Highway to hell, Matic’s knees wobbled a bit and he briefly lost his footing, which was no obstacle to carrying on with the show. The guys then took on Led Zeppelin’s Rock and Roll with a drum add-on from Jure Doles. It was already past midnight, so the guys sang it out once more: that’s it for this money. They worked Journey’s Anyway you want it into the song, and right at the very end they played Stayin’ alive once more, arranged the San Di Ego way. The audience rewarded the guys with a big round of applause and again stepped out to catch some fresh air, later joining in the relaxed chat with the foursome, who came down to hang with the crowd below the stage right after the show.
So San Di Ego more than did their debut justice. The guys promise this wasn’t their last show this year, so if you missed this musical treat, there will be a few more chances to fix that mistake. One of them is December 27, 2014 in Velenje, where you can get the whole rock package – San Di Ego will share the stage with the legendary Šank Rock. But we hope to catch them somewhere before that date.
Setlist
1. Izbrisani, Get the funk out (Extreme)
2. Sonce je tam, kjer si ti
3. To je to (za ta denar)
4. »Cupata«
5. Stayin’ alive
6. Pompin
7. Domina
8. Od nebes do pekla (in nazaj)
9. Naš Šef
10. Zadnji cent
11. Queen medley
12. You give love a bad name (Bon Jovi)
13. Pretty woman (Van Halen/Roy Orbinson)
14. Eye of a tiger (Survivor)
15. Roxanne (Police)
16. Političen song (Martin Krpan)
17. Wish you were here (Pink Floyd), Amanda, More than a feeling (Boston)
18. Here I go again (Whitesnake)
19. Is this love (Whitesnake)
20. Hush (Deep Purple)
21. Living on a prayer (Bon Jovi)
22. A kind of magic (Queen)
23. Walking by myself (Gary Moore)
24. Highway to hell (AC/DC)
25. Rock and roll (Led Zeppelin)
26. To je to (za ta denar), Anyway you want it (Journey)
27. Stayin’ alive
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