Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Jernej Vene
Location: Pungert / Kranj / Slovenia
Concert date: 13.09.2007
Attendance: 300
Ticket price: 0.00€ (free entry)
It was late afternoon. I’m slumped in front of the computer. “Mama mia”, it’s Friday, am I really such a washed-up wreck that I don’t know what to do with myself on a Friday night? Then the phone rings. A few minutes later I’m half-dressed and dashing to Celovška in Šentvid, where the indestructible rocker Jernej scooped up my out-of-breath self and saved me from any further running.
Ten to eight, and we’re sitting with beers by the cute little church in Kranj’s Pungert when a familiar face walks onto the stage. A face that’s been with us for years, whose songs those of us born in the early seventies sang as teenagers, a man who left a mark on the Slovenian pop scene that’s impossible to overlook. His Excellency, today surely the honorable Mr. Aleksander Mežek. Where and when did I ever dare think I’d be putting together a report from an Aleksander Mežek gig? Funny how exciting a little guy’s life can get.
Anyway, Sašo turned up that evening, in our company and on stage, with a properly signed travel order, strictly on business, since he used the show to present his fresh new solo studio release “Tečem skozi čas”, his twentieth studio album in a row, recorded in London and self-released. Keeping Sašo company on stage was none other than guitarist Dave Goodes, who also played on the record “Tečem skozi čas”. And who’s that, now? Well, Dave gets taken along on tour by Germany’s Alphaville. Whoa, Alphaville of all bands, almost unbelievable! Dave is their live guitarist.
So we witnessed a full performance of the album “Tečem skozi čas”, which officially came out on 17.09.2007. The point of the record? Where there’s an end, there’s a new beginning, and vice versa. A short, condensed book of memories by Aleksander Mežek, wonderfully appealing to the ear and worth the time of every curious soul! Goodes simply adapted with his combo amp to the basic structure of Mežek’s songs, adding cosmetic touches on the fly, either built on a delicate fold-out of flowing collages of atmospheric sounds, fitting gently around the natural sound of the acoustic guitar – Sašo’s standard companion throughout his career – “doubling” Sašo on a second acoustic guitar, and also letting rip with a few short semi-acoustic solos wherever the songs demanded it. Sašo tied the show together in his trademark way, witty and sparkling, always with a smile, that famous healthy smile and laugh that simply disarms and thaws even the iciest heart. True, the voice no longer serves the veteran with its former ultra-feathery lightness and freshness, but Aleksander Mežek’s vocal is, was and remains in its essence that one-of-a-kind sound that gives his singer-songwriting its famous magical stamp, impossible to tune out. It’s hard to find a voice so pure and clear, almost angelic in its naturalness, as if cast for the equally natural sound of the acoustic accompaniment. That voice always makes the whole thing magically captivating in his hands, and Pungert was no exception.
After an hour of the regular set, we watched a video projection for the song Tečem skozi čas, and then the man played the evergreen Julija twice in a row, since no live show of his is complete without it, plus a reprise of Na dlani mesta, before which he had to work hard to call Dave back onto the stage from the crowd, where Dave had meanwhile settled deep into a personal moment of off-stage relaxation.
They say the years pass in silence. But not for everyone. Sašo hides them brilliantly. It was an evening of exceptional togetherness, with a crowd of every age and then some, which must be hugely encouraging for the forever-young elder statesman of Slovenian singer-songwriter music.
Setlist
1. Polet I. 2. Polet II. 3. Prepih 4. Utrip 5. Kamnita ograja 6. Tečem skozi čas 7. Žarek 8. Najina pesem 9. Na dlani mesta 10. Konc —encore— 11. Julija 12. Julija 13. Na dlani mesta
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