Event: Pelhan Headline Show, Support: Harpier
Date: 19.9.2024
Venue: Orto Bar, Ljubljana, Slovenia
On Thursday, in the intimate atmosphere of Orto Bar, Harpier opened the night as support and Primorska hard rockers Pelhan headlined.
Since Ljubljana is basically a slightly bigger village where the aunties and uncles like to call it a night early, the two-band show was squeezed into the window between eight and ten in the evening.
Harpier cheated a little and kicked off about five minutes early to, unfortunately, an absolutely empty club. The guys treated us to a selection of tracks from their debut short release “Ali je kdo”. They’re your typical indie rock band riding that rock-for-introverts sound. The image hits you right away — all four were dressed in dark-colored jumpsuits. Can’t say they lit the room up with their color choices, but it’s definitely an interesting pick for stage gear. Introspective rock crawled off the stage, laced with short bursts of energy that strongly reminded me of the Australians The Screaming Jets. These are genuinely great musicians — singer Mitja especially stood out with his anguished vocal tone, and drummer Nik, who livened up an otherwise simple rhythmic base with slightly oversized fills and mini solo inserts. Harpier is a quality outfit with polished material that genuinely suits an intimate setting like this autumn evening at Orto Bar. I can easily picture the four of them spreading their melancholy through a smoky living room full of dreamy girls. Gloomy.
After a short break, Pelhan took the stage. The club had filled up a bit, and the guys launched into the set with such energy that the crowd got moving and you could feel real concert vibes in the air. They served up a cherry-picked selection from both albums (with an emphasis on the current “Zgrabi me”, Rockline review), and true to the occasion mostly played high-energy stuff — with the exception of the terrace-friendly “Priznam”, which even got a dancing couple spinning on the floor in front of the stage. Pure metal, I tell you.
Jokes aside, bangers like “Nov človek”, “Narava kaže zobe”, and “Na dnu flaše” seriously hit hard and rattle your bones, while the cheerful mini summer anthem “Mrzlo pivo na soncu” met with universal approval from the male contingent of the crowd.
Pelhan are a well-oiled live machine, which is no surprise — every member is a veteran of countless gig battles and a master of various genres (punk, HC, symphonic power/prog, speed metal, hard rock — you name it). The sound was proper club material — cranked up and dirty — and the guys played and sang their parts without a hitch. I saw and heard the band up close for the second time, right in your face, and you notice the absence of a second guitar. Aleš (vocalist and guitarist) won’t admit it, but that’s the reality. On a bigger stage with a fuller sound it’s not as noticeable, but an experienced ear hears what it hears.
The turnout showed that Ljubljana just isn’t a rock ‘n’ roll town. Shows this good and this energetic should be pulling in a lot more fans of guitar-driven music, but clearly that’s not something Ljubljana — or Slovenia at large — is going to deliver any time soon. It was tasty, punchy, and powerful. More of this!
Text and photos: Igorac
