Author: Primož Novak
Video: Primož Novak
Venue: Gromka / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 20.09.2015
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: 10€
You’d probably never have imagined that bands like Greenleaf and Stoned Jesus could fill Gromka on Metelkova right to the back wall. But it happened. Sweden’s Greenleaf finally made it to Slovenia after their first date got cancelled. Ukraine’s Stoned Jesus were already familiar faces for some, since this was the band’s third visit here.
Greenleaf were first on stage, and they kicked off their set in front of a half-empty room. But the emptiness only lasted two songs, and then Gromka filled up properly. The band seemed a bit worn out from the long tour promoting last year’s release Trails & Passes, but given the size of the crowd, they quickly showed they could dig up a ton of energy. Even though the heat in Gromka got more unbearable by the minute, Greenleaf powered through their set to the end. Their music doesn’t bring anything new to today’s flood of stoner rock bands, but they go at their stoner and hard rock riffs convincingly, and with a song here and there they showed a knack for punchiness that felt closer to a more metal approach. In the slower stretches, a feel for psychedelia came through as well. If we’re talking influences, you could name plenty of bands, Clutch and Orange Goblin among them. The singer added to the authenticity too, with his funny moves, his look and his »soulful« singing, which made Greenleaf one of a kind. The guitarist helped with that as well, with a few interesting, bluesier-tinged solos. There’s nothing to complain about in the rhythm section either, which has to be rock solid for this kind of style. Greenleaf won people over with their show and also made it clear that interest in the stoner rock/metal scene has finally grown in Slovenia, a scene that somehow hasn’t gotten too much attention until now.
With Stoned Jesus the picture shifted a little, even though the atmosphere stayed in stoner waters. The Ukrainian trio, who released their third full-length The Harvest this year, surprised quite a bit with their song selection. They started by playing almost the entire debut First Communion, followed by a handful of songs from the other two albums. Stoned Jesus’ tempo is a bit slower than Greenleaf’s, though a livelier number turned up here and there. With this band it’s more obvious that they drew a lot of inspiration from doom metal. The Black Sabbath influence is unmistakable, of course, but with all the repetition of a single riff that stretches the songs out to serious lengths, you can also hear the likes of Sleep and Electric Wizard. You could accuse Stoned Jesus of imitating those bands, but their songs don’t sound as gloomy and bleak as theirs, so the whole thing comes across a little brighter and more positive. Maybe the mood at the show helped with that too, along with the fact that Stoned Jesus got a few puffs of »the green stuff« from someone in the front row. Stoned Jesus are undoubtedly an interesting band, but probably not for everyone, given the sprawling songs and the occasional monotony. But judging by the turnout, this Stoned Jesus show was more than a success. Then again, just making it through the whole set in that heat was a success in itself.
On Sunday night, a jam-packed Gromka finally gave the impression, with Greenleaf and Stoned Jesus on the bill, that interest in the stoner scene has woken up in Slovenia too. The scene boasts plenty of quality bands, even if none of them are commercially recognizable yet. We’d undoubtedly like to see more shows like this. They’d simply spice up the already nice lineup of alternative gigs here, and at least we wouldn’t get the feeling that the same bands keep visiting us over and over.
