Location: Orto bar, Ljubljana
Concert date: 23.04.2008
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: 8 €
After a flop of a show (and not the fault of the organizer or the bands, but of an uninterested crowd) on Tuesday, April 22 in Maribor (you can read the report from that gig HERE), Canadian Zeroscape and local heroes Leaf-fat took another shot at waking up the crowd on Thursday, April 24 at Orto bar. This time they pulled it off, because Orto was packed to the last corner. Why? We don’t know. Maybe Tuesday just wasn’t the right day for a party, the traditional Cvičkarija was also going on in downtown Maribor, maybe Maribor just isn’t the right place for this kind of show. But that’s all guesswork. In Ljubljana, people party every day, and Thursday is the real turning point, since the gigs at Orto are followed by the traditional 80s night, with music from those years, of course.
Zeroscape came to play in Slovenia at the invitation of Leaf-fat, whom they know from the guys’ Canadian tour a couple of months ago. In true “give it everything you’ve got” style, Zeroscape had already played Maribor, and this time was no different. At Orto, the guys mainly presented their latest studio release, “…And If This Is The End I Will”, which, among other interesting tracks, includes the title song. “Uncle Bush Wants You” definitely stands out from the rest. I probably don’t need to explain the title, since you’ll get the logical meaning if you just use your little gray cells a bit. In a set of just under fifty minutes, besides the already mentioned “And This Is The End I Will” and “Uncle Bush Wants You”, the guys also played “Till Death Do Us”, “Skunk And Live” and “Outnumbered”. With an interesting and, above all, well-balanced mix of Binski’s reggae, metal and screamo-punk, Zeroscape are a real feast for the ears. And the guys aren’t “weak” in the looks department either. Besides the drummer, most eyes were drawn to Speshalizt’s guitar, painted in a paint-brush technique.
If the crowd in Maribor was listless, that was definitely not the case at Orto. With the very first riffs the guys got people moving, and it only settled down once Zeroscape finished their part of the show and the stage had to be prepared for Ljubljana’s Leaf-fat. They’re old acquaintances of Orto bar, and on top of that it’s their home turf, where they surely have the most fans. They won the crowd over with their debut “Underworld Kingdom”, released in 2005, and it seems their second album “RockPaperScissors”, which came out last December, is doing even better. No doubt about it, since the guys were among the first in Slovenia to go for this kind of music.
As we’ve gotten used to from their past gigs, the guys again opened with the single from the new self-titled record, “RockPaperScissors”, whose video you can watch on their website www.leaf-fat.com. The front row was once again (just like in Maribor) taken over by the most active members of the Leaf-fat street team, who can be spotted at absolutely all of their shows. The first song hadn’t even finished properly when the guys were already strumming the second one – “Choose your reality”. When I looked around the venue, I didn’t spot a single head that wasn’t moving. And Šero, with his goofy appearance, had some people cracking up a bit too. “XP” followed and the crowd went even wilder. After the song with perhaps the longest title on the new record, “Unfortunate Event On Its Way To Nothing (Infinity)”, it was time for their first hit, “Individual Happiness”. As it turned out, it’s also one of their most recognizable songs so far. Big Foot’s eighteen-year-old “Mala nimfomanka” sounds just as good coming from Šero as when Grega Skočir sings it. People go wild for both versions anyway. “Better Still”, a.k.a. “izica”, rocked us into a slightly calmer mood, and then it was back to full speed with the meaningful “Burn Bitch Burn”. “U.K.” as in “Underworld Kingdom” was just the lead-in to the end of the night with three more punchy tracks. “Idols Like Icarus”, “Il Mallochio”. The roughly fifty minutes of Leaf-fat jumping around the stage flew by so fast, and suddenly there was the last song – “Celebrate A Brand New Wave”. And one last time, it was time to go crazy.
After Tuesday’s fiasco (as far as attendance goes) in Maribor, Orto was much better. Both bands played with a bit more drive this time, since the crowd gave them extra motivation. If their faces were gloomier on Tuesday, at Orto every one of them wore a smile. That’s also much nicer to watch. Here’s to many more successful gigs!
Text: Lea Lesar
Setlist
1. RockPaperScissors
2. Choose Your Reality
3. XP
4. Unfortunate Event On Its Way To Nothing (Infinity)
5. Individual Happiness
6. Mala nimfomanka
7. Better Still
8. Burn Bitch Burn
9. U.K.
10. Idols Like Icarus
11. Il Mallochio
12. Celebrate A Brand New Wave
