Mary Rose and a Top-Notch Rock ‘n’ Roll Blowout in the Heat of a Saturday Night at Žusterna (2025)
Mary Rose
Saturday, 18 January 2025
Koper / Snack Bar (Aquapark Hotel Žusterna) / Slovenia
Mary Rose are Slovenian rock legends. The confirmed gig at Koper’s Žusterna came almost tailor-made for the classic post-New Year concert lull — and not just here in our region; you could say the same for the whole of old Europe. Every January is like that. Mary Rose haven’t exactly been a regular sight on stage in recent years either, though some pretty significant things have happened for the band lately. In 2022 in Postojna they celebrated their 30th anniversary, and just under a year before that came a reissue of one of the most important albums in Slovenian rock and roll history — ‘Rocks Off’ — RockLine review. The concert at Koper’s Žusterna was, however, also a very significant event for Mary Rose for another reason entirely. But more on that later in this review.
Three of the iconic quintet’s lineup are highly seasoned veterans — the band’s permanent fixtures! And that remains the case in 2025. They are: the unwavering guitar ace, the man, the myth, the legend — Eki Alilovski; one of the finest rock and metal vocalists in our region, Žanil Tataj Žak, who has just released his second studio album and a killer one at that, ‘Coda’ (2025, RockLine review); and of course the battle-hardened former Tabu member and keyboardist Sandi Trojner. Bassist Anže Stegel, who first played with the band at the hugely important Postojna concert where Mary Rose marked their 30th anniversary in autumn 2022, is becoming an increasingly vital building block of the band’s sound — but on drums, for the first time, David Debevec wasn’t there. Come again? That’s just how it goes. The band was reinforced for the Koper gig by a new member! That’s Gian ‘Gico’ Žgur Islami. A fully-fledged new band member, no less!
The Snack Bar was packed to the rafters that evening. There was no room at the bar, let alone at a table, even if you’d shown up an hour and a half before showtime. The venue drew not only a crowd of rock faithful and Mary Rose supporters, but also a fair few familiar faces who’ve been fixtures on our music scene for years — musicians, journalists, or simply those key figures and music enthusiasts who also take on management and label duties. Great energy on the Slovenian coast, then, on a Saturday evening that was getting hotter by the minute!
When the Saturday night fever climbed toward boiling point, our legendary Postojna hard rock and glam metal matadors hit the stage at exactly 10 PM. To genuinely enjoy decent sound this time around, you had to stand well back — a few metres in front of the mixing desk, which sits against the wall on the opposite side of the Snack Bar from the stage. But standing there meant a pretty poor view, thanks to the pillars supporting the building’s structure, which inevitably cluster right in your sightline. Up front, you shared the energy more directly but heard things less clearly. We, hardened by years of this, preferred to move to the back, prioritize the listening experience, and genuinely enjoy ourselves. Back there, the individual elements of the sound were nicely spread out, with vocal apostle Žak coming through clearly — and Sandi’s keyboards sounded great too, keys that often get the short end of the stick in the mix at Mary Rose concerts. In that regard we particularly got our money’s worth in the big finale, when the band fired off four classics from the iconic debut ‘Rocks Off’ one after another — a record in which those very ’80s Van Halen-style synths played an important part in the group’s arrangements of the time.
Alongside Žak’s always breathtaking contributions and his trademark stage presence, the increasingly assured Anže confidently owning stage right with his voluminous bass lines, the indestructible talent of the one and only — the band’s original icon, guitar virtuoso Eki — and the ever-attentive, refined and committed Sandi, our main focus this time was Gico. David is one of a kind. Truly one of a kind. You won’t find his double anywhere. It would be a colossal waste of time if the band tried to find a drummer just like David. And Gico is a different kind of drummer — but he justified his place in every way. A perfect fit. Precision, explosive power, every fill and transition executed. And bear in mind this was his first gig — yet the lad came across as supremely confident and convincing across the board, which tells you the band worked him in very, very well in rehearsals beforehand! And for the new band member, this is just the beginning.
The energy of a venue where the smell of the restaurant’s deep-fryer has long since replaced those thick clouds of cigarette smoke from the dingy dives of twenty-plus years ago — fuelled by phenomenal riffs, a cannon-fire rhythm section, Žak’s killer performance, and above all by the superb audience involvement that brought a whole load of good cheer and a relaxed vibe — was exactly that certain something we increasingly miss amid the daily madness, and genuinely what you come to events like this for. The barriers disappear, you feel the brotherhood, you feel connected. Among the chosen. In one place. That’s rock and roll. Nobody can take that away from you!
Mary Rose played a set that evening with the main focus on the third album ‘Resnični svet’ (2019, RockLine review), rounded out by the no-less-excellent ‘Feniks’ (2006, RockLine review) and, in the big finale, the high point of four classics from debut ‘Rocks Off’! The song selection was, naturally, the cherry on top — though also quite similar to the setlist we heard last July at Postojna’s main square. The band was assured in every way, as we’re used to — perhaps only in the closing stretch did a slight fatigue start to show, with the solo in Action briefly drying up. In case anyone somehow still doesn’t know, I’ll point it out again: we should count ourselves very lucky that, given Eki’s serious health issues, we can still watch Mary Rose on stage at all. The revered guitar legend, and of course the other four, once again left their hearts on the stage — as they always do, when it’s not just the performance itself that floors you, but the staggering realization of what a powerful arsenal of songs this band has to its name!
The refreshed quintet delivered a superb show in Koper and marches on undaunted. Onward to new adventures. Mary Rose made a brilliant start to the new year 2025! They delivered a gorgeous display of top-calibre playing, born of talent, years of experience, and confident devotion to musical magic. All in one piece. No wavering. At the highest level throughout, riding the wings of the great energy flowing back from a packed house! Nothing could go wrong that evening. Well, only that one ungrateful realization — that it was all over far too soon!
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik & Edita Klemen
Setlist:
1. Preteklost
2. Vizija
3. Kralj za eno noč
4. Nagon
5. Paranoja
6. Kje si zdaj
7. Sam
8. Stampedo
9. Planet
10. Krivda
11. Ko tako objame
12. Ples
13. Hold On Baby
14. She’s Run Away
15. Rocking Pneumonia
16. Action
