Opća Opasnost
April 9, 2011
Brežice / MC Brežice / Slovenia
Croatian hard rockers Opća Opasnost are back from the dead. They made a spectacular comeback on July 10, 2008, opening for the legendary Whitesnake in Osijek alongside Divlje Jagode, and now they’ve finally made it to Slovenia for the first time. After releasing their third studio album “Ruski rulet” (1997), the band more or less vanished from the radar and settled into a long break. But when the spark of interest in the classic approach to hard rock came back, it also rekindled the fire in this band from Županja, Croatia. Just how hot Opća Opasnost are back home right now is clear from the fact that, according to a few polls, music fans named them Croatia’s band of the year for 2010.
The reunion also brought the band onto Slovenian stages for the very first time. After their show in Postojna on April 8, 2011 was canceled, they still had one more iron in the fire, and they made the most of it, finally booking their historic debut in front of a Slovenian crowd.
Even though the band was kept waiting until ten in the evening, and even though they picked a Saturday, no more than about 100 souls hungry for a rock party showed up to welcome them. The youth center in Brežice boasts a really charming, nicely done-up concert space, and let’s hope it gets put to better use in the future, and gets better crowds too. It has serious potential to bring back the rock pulse in this corner of Slovenia.
Opća Opasnost hit the stage as a sextet, with Pero Galić (vocals), Slaven Živanović (guitar), Igor Kolić (bass), Vlado Soljačić (guitar), Josip Kamenski (drums) and Branimir Jovanovac on keyboards. They made no secret of being in great spirits from the moment they walked on, and came out swinging with a new song, Vritualni novi svijet, which also gives its name to their upcoming studio album. That one is supposed to drop this very April. The stage caught fire, and the next track, Ruski rulet, poured oil on it. It turned out that half the audience was actually Croatian, since they knew the lyrics down to the letter, and they didn’t let up on the songs that followed either. The Croatian fans took up the first half of the crowd, from the stage back into the depths of the hall, while from about the middle of the hall back toward the door and the mixing desk, the Slovenian crowd stood.
The band carved through their marathon set of a whopping twenty-four songs with total confidence, remarkable tightness, plenty of experience and a masterful grip on the craft of stage presence. The stage dynamics and the interplay between the musicians really stood out, and the guys looked hungry to play and prove themselves, as if they were walking onto a stage for the first time in their careers. Pero Galić had the crowd eating out of his hand in no time, and with his commanding, clean, melodic voice and polished stage act he played the charismatic frontman to perfection. He held up great vocally throughout the show and never sounded “worn out” or tired for even a moment.
The new hits Uzalud sunce sja and Tri rijeke were a must, firing up the crowd and shamelessly announcing that the new album “Virtualni novi svijet” is going to be a real smash in Croatia in 2011. The band mixed songs from all their albums into the setlist and took us on a historic journey through their own musical legacy. A true Opća Opasnost fan would have had a hard time asking for much more this time. In fact, the band basically ran through the repertoire of their recent “Best of…” album from 2009 in Brežice, firing off one hit after another.
Now, with all that idyllic stuff out of the way, there was only one thing worth wishing for this time: better sound in the hall. It was awful, no matter where you stood to watch the band. The guitars were muddy, the keyboards were only audible during the ballads, and the drums were way too loud. Luckily Pero Galić’s vocals sounded great, loud enough and commanding, and that managed to cleverly mask the weaker sound picture in the hall.
To close, the band repeated the two excellent new songs Virtualni novi svijet and Uzalud sunce sja, wrapping up their historic first Slovenian show in grand style. Judging by the reactions of the small crowd, which was anything but reserved, with the first few rows going completely wild with excitement, it was more than clear that Opća Opasnost completed their mission in Brežice with flying colors. They’re hot in Croatia, the new album is right around the corner, the live DVD “15 Godina – Live Županja” was nominated for a Porin (the Croatian version of the Grammy)… so the freshly revived Croatian hard rockers are enjoying their mature years, a second bloom.
Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist:
1. Virtualni novi svijet
2. Ruski rulet
3. Ti
4. Uzalud sunce sja
5. Put Another Dollar
6. Amerika
7. Progoniš me
8. Čudan ples
9. Mesečar
10. Ti mi nečeš reći zbogom
11. Rock N’ Roll ne trpi mol
12. Nisam rođen pod sretnim zvijezdama
13. Trerba mi nešto jače od sna
14. Opća opasnost
15. Mačka
16. Ratujem sa ženama
17. Doktore
18. Nebo
19. Grad
20. Tri rijeke
21. Srce zna
22. Jednom kad noć
—encore—
23. Virtualni novi svijet
24. Uzalud sunce sja
