Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / SNG Drama / Slovenia
Concert date: 12.01.2014
Attendance: 250
Ticket price: 8,00€ / 12,00€
It’s been a good year since her debut »Še ena pomlad« (RockLine review HERE), and Nana Milčinski is already back on the scene with a new studio album to take us »Od tod do vesolja«. It’s a fresh batch of songs set to music from the rich arsenal of poetry created by her grandfather Fran Milčinski Ježek, who, had fate allowed, would have turned a truly biblical hundred this year on December 14th!
No need to waste words on the Milčinski family. With their boundless creative and artistic talent, they’ve left a mark on generations of Slovenes. A piece of the one-of-a-kind genius of Fran Milčinski Ježek, probably the greatest all-round Slovenian artist of our age, lives on in Nana. There’s no doubt about that. The girl is surrounded by musical collaborators, advisors, even sound gurus (if you prefer), who have a feel for polished musical arrangements in their left pinky. The album »Od tod do vesolja« has indeed grown in arrangement complexity compared to its predecessor.
As part of SNG Drama’s Acoustic Sundays program, one of the available slots went to none other than Nana Milčinski! In a practically sold-out venue. The occasion: presenting her newest record »Od tod do vesolja« in full.
The place was packed with festivity and a sense of elation! On stage: musicians from the Big Band and the RTV Slovenija Symphony Orchestra with conductor Tadej Tomšič, plus a crew of backing vocalists, Gregor Gruden, Gregor Strasbergar, Eva Gorenc and Manca Bukovec, and closer to Nana her actual backing band, which this time around consisted of a towering Black giant on guitar, Femi Temowo, keyboardist Marko Crnčec, bassist Robert Jukič and drummer Sergej Randjelović »RunJoe«. Yep. That’s what the character of the album »Od tod do vesolja« demands. With her new album, Nana Milčinski has »grown up a little«, matured a little. And her music has right along with her.
The show delivered the entire new album »Od tod do vesolja, and in the middle of the concert Nana slipped in two songs from the previous record: the mischievous Dragi, followed by the mystically wistful and shy Pesem o vetru. We went back to the »Še ena pomlad« album in the obligatory encore, when the crew of musicians played two more songs, Pisemce and Zaljubi se v življenje. For the vocal duet on the new Ljubezen naj gre vedno v cvet, Klemen Slakonja jumped onto a stage strewn with blood-red roses to join Nana. And of course the show couldn’t skip Juš Milčinski, who once again added some salt to the setlist with satirical recitals, among them »Birokratizem s kravato« and »Psihiatrija«. A charming bit of comic relief, then. Besides Klemen Slakonja and Juš Milčinski, there was one more special guest of the evening right at the finale, when the entire Bee Geesus choir, led by Matej Virtič, came up on stage for the closing song, E Lon Lan Ler.
The performance? In a room with perfect acoustics, it’s hard to hide from the sound of a pin drop. The set delivered an outstanding reinterpretation of the album »Od tod do vesolja«, with especially strong contrast in the vocal backing and the string & wind sections, but up in the balconies the sound was acting up. Femi Temowo’s solos weren’t clearly audible, while this time maestro Randjelović was very loud, downright too loud.
Nana is blessed with a gorgeous voice, and it hypnotized the audience too, caressing and spoiling us with lovely shades of soulful, character-rich interpretation. Even so, the girl, otherwise used to every kind of exposure under the spotlights, perhaps felt a bit of stage fright this time. Her vocals shone with a hint of uncertainty a few times. More of an observation that probably adds points to the charm of the event than anything else. In any case, the musical backdrop, provided by the excellent musicians of the evening, gave Nana total security and the confidence to fully surrender to the joy of interpreting the material. Still, that little bit of nerves may have crept in anyway.
The song Party kot za sodni dan is obviously one of Nana’s favorites on the new album and will most likely come out as a single in the near future, since it was played a second time in the encore. There’s no shortage of candidates on the new album, like the cheeky socially engaged Stol and a real »little ode« to cold beer called Poletne impresije. Of course, the more intimate tracks on the album, like Še to noč and Beli kurir, work especially infectiously, with the sensuality of Nana’s vocals having an especially captivating effect.
We absolutely can’t skip the invisible member who was present throughout the whole evening at SNG Drama. Tangible, really. No, no. Nobody was using holograms, don’t worry. I’m talking, of course, about the one and only Fran Milčinski Ježek, without whom we surely couldn’t have enjoyed the show so much. The stories, tales and poetry of Fran Milčinski Ježek are immortal creations. But that usually only happens when you hear them anew, ideally in a never-before-heard cabaret chanson rendition like the one Nana Milčinski provides. She has breathed a new dimension into her grandfather’s poetry, and the depth of Ježek’s spiritual breadth and enlightenment comes alive especially intensely in its directness, inwardly fulfilling and enriching the soul and heart of any listener. The audience at SNG Drama felt it that evening too, as they just wouldn’t let the musicians, with Nana at the helm, leave the stage.
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