Location: MC Kotlovnica / Kamnik / Slovenia
Concert date: January 21, 2010
Attendance: 50
Ticket price: free entry
The celestial moonlighters, who have presented themselves as a trio since keyboardist and vocalist Andraž Kržič left, have now crossed the threshold of Kamnik’s Mladinski center Kotlovnica for the second time. The first was on April 23, 2007 (as a quartet), the second just under three years later, on January 22, 2010. I can’t tell you anything about their first show, but there’s an awful lot to say about their second visit to this cultural shelter for young people.
Ever since they started working as a trio, the Petric-Moder-Kožar lineup has played mostly instrumental music, with an acoustic guitar keeping the electric one company. In no time, the guys clicked phenomenally without a fourth member, and they clearly enjoy the extra elbow room they’ve gained for their musical expression. If I’m going to slap a label on it, I’d say they’ve swum out of progressive rock into somewhat more fusion-flavored waters, where the vocals are replaced by even more experimenting with all sorts of genres. The instruments carry even more weight now, and each of the “musos” has to go one step further to get the desired effect. But for masters like our Moonlight Sky, that’s no trouble at all – and if it is, you definitely can’t tell.
During the show I got the feeling that as a trio they actually enjoy themselves even more, that they can sink into the moment better and in doing so produce wonderful, even better results. Since they switched to a completely different direction after Kržič’s departure, they have a surprising amount of new material; although we should perhaps take the word “new” with a pinch of salt, because their set also included reworked old tracks and endless medleys of fantastic interpretive ideas. And as a fully instrumental band, this time they pulled out a vocal surprise: the charming Tanja Kropivšek joined them on stage for a short while and sang absolutely fantastically. At moments the show came off like a “jam”; there was so much unmatched improvising that all we could do was sit there with our jaws on the floor. Every single musician blew us away in their own way – though Petric on guitar perhaps stood out a little. You could write a whole feature about him alone – about his unique playing technique (he’s also a master of guitar gear, since he builds his own effects), about his passion for music and his fire while playing. The guy is a living symbol of the complete musician – you can see he enjoys playing more than the audience does. You get that impression mostly from his facial expressions, as he somehow “sings” what he plays. And of course the other two members of the trio deserve no less credit, Moder and Kožar. The former’s refined bass lines dictate his body movement, as he literally “grooves” while playing, whereas the drummer is, well, a classic drummer – energy personified with a huge smile on his face.
Even though the crowd hadn’t come primarily to see Moonlight Sky, nobody was left sitting on a chair when it was over. These guys don’t stop anywhere or for anyone; from folk-ish ethno (they draw a lot from Macedonian traditional songs, “Kalajdžisko oro”, “Ne si go prodavaj” …) through improvisational jazz (mainly the newer original tracks that don’t have names yet, and “Chautauqua”, a song off the album “I Am”) to bluesy melancholy, there’s no obstacle that can stop them from wanting to beef up their rock foundation. Petric alone earned enthusiastic applause right at the start, when he played “I Am”, the intro of their self-titled album, solo; the clapping continued after every composition, and the final reaction was of course even bigger, since the musicians ended their set with an incredible improvisation-inspired sonic “boom”. That proved they are even better live (as far as that’s even possible) than they sound on their studio recordings (RockLine’s reviews of the albums “Demo 2004“, “Moonlight Sky” and “I Am“).
After almost an hour and a half of musical orgasm, I went up to the trio and we talked about their future. They say they’re working a lot, they’re thrilled with this new project, and a new album will probably be recorded within a year. For now, they plan to record a small collection of polished new tracks and then set off on a troubadour tour of Slovenia. They’re even negotiating gigs in England.
I can only wrap up by saying that, at least in my opinion, we have in front of us one of the most creative and flat-out best Slovenian bands, not just in this kind of genre but on our music scene in general. They’ve already got the drive for hard work and the excellent music, and success will definitely follow. They’re surely already written into the hearts of those who have heard them, and I believe every new listener turns into a new “lover” for them.
Photos: Tine Kolenik
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