Venue: Orto bar / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 18.12.2007
Attendance: 50
Ticket price: 0,00€
Caught up in the pre-Christmas frenzy, Slovenian prog rockers Moonlight Sky treated us to one last Orto bar show this year. Fried by all the December running around, I was chasing the final minutes of the day and walked into Orto well past 22.00, where the band’s gear upstairs was already showing off, all pampered, under the shyly timid glow of the stage lights. Upstairs, Orto was pretty empty again. Luckily, the band took a good few minutes beyond the academic quarter-hour to hit the stage, which gave them a bit of extra time to get psyched up.
At 22.30 the boys, our old friends, are already on stage and open the show with a brand-new track that hinted at an even deeper dive into the creative potential of a band already defined by the recognizable sound and style of their debut album “Moonlight Sky“. Yep. Judging by what I heard, the direction is clear after those opening minutes, and as far as the band’s continued blossoming goes, that’s very encouraging news. These fresh, young Slovenian prog rock riders prove once again that they don’t lack positive provocation or guts when it comes to showing off their chops! So the creative engine keeps driving Moonlight Sky forward.
Two covers follow, both staples of the band’s shows, and Jovano Jovanke (Leb i sol) in particular confirmed how tight the crew is. The first cheers and applause confirmed how popular this cover is with the crowd, which had finally, in a show of support and encouragement for the band, filled the upper room of the club to a respectable degree. It came after the band’s usual stage mayhem, trading solos between keyboards, guitar and bass, played with high precision. The song grabbed the audience for its entire run. Bor Zakonjšek, the returnee in the lineup, felt right at home again behind the drum kit and filled the gap, proving he’d by no means forgotten his old bandmates or the band’s material during his absence. The boys then masterfully built on the power of Moonlight Sky’s jazz-rock fusion in their own original Devet, osem, after which the band could afford to send their brains out to pasture for a few minutes and tackle the punchy ballad So Hard To Leave Someone You Love. That one brought the first surprise of the night, as Andraž invited his cousin Saška on stage to join him on vocals. The girl surprised everyone with the wonderfully endearing warmth of her soulful voice. Bringing in a female vocal turned out to be a pretty bold move by the band, adding color to the performance and to the stage sound of the song itself.
That night the guys had a day of extra-generous decibel release. You could generally tell that Miha’s guitar was very loud. Of course, the empty space didn’t help, with a 10-meter gap in front of the stage, since everybody was crowding from the bar back toward the stage. Bor’s drums added a bit to the loudness too, as he’s a somewhat rougher drummer than Aleš Kajtna, which gives Moonlight Sky a bit more rock edge in the overall sound. On top of that, Andraž was nowhere near his best on vocals, and the vocal performance barely scraped a passing grade. But in this very respect, with such a seriously weak vocal showing, it was actually no bad thing that the guitar was pushed forward a bit and took over some of the spotlight. It made Moonlight Sky sound unbelievably sharp (compared to the studio sound), which is definitely a great platform for creating that rock juice we music lovers come for, and it also shifts the focus away from the average vocals.
Moonlight Sky have of course developed their signature moment, the one that sweeps you away into a state of rapture on contact. It’s their own special trump card and one of the most important elements through which Moonlight Sky convince you of their uniqueness, or in other words, progressive adventurism – I love you! Those moments dominated the rest of the show, especially in the brand-new creation Deset, osem, then in the post-Genesis neo-prog touch of the punchier How Much?, and in a great surprise, the excellent new song Corto Maltese, with Andraž’s hot Mediterranean-Eastern keyboard motif opening the track, backed by the night’s second guest, flutist Asja, who unfortunately couldn’t come through in the harmonies this time because of how loud Miha’s guitar was. Next came the stellar blues rock fusion of Riggs Family Shot, which underlined the band’s colorful steering through all sorts of captured moods, and then the big finale with the crowd favorite Moonlight Sky. To close, the guys served up a phenomenal cover of the Hendrix classic Red House, in which Miha really puffed himself up and went completely wild on guitar.
This evening with Moonlight Sky was once again a one-of-a-kind experience. What always hits me personally after seeing their gig is the fascination that lingers once it’s over. These guys leave you with a bone to gnaw on after the show. Yep. I’d say it’s a kind of enchantment that holds on to you afterward. Once again, Miha Petric’s guitar, his playing and stage presence, together with the excellent soloing slalom of Andraž’s keyboards and the tight, melodic rhythm line between Moder – Zakonjšek, were the band’s main attraction.
For the encore the boys came back to make the crowd happy once more and let loose with a daring cover of Billy Cobham’s classic Stratus, taken from the even more classic album “Spectrum” (1973)! Miha as Tommy Bolin, Bor as Billy Cobham and so on… Hats off, guys! Without the thundering The Groove the crowd would surely have gone home unsatisfied, so with this raging psychedelic rock number, conducted by a massive half-step riff, the guys said their goodbyes in a blaze of rascally rock racket.
After this return visit to Orto bar, Moonlight Sky remain one of the main rock attractions for music gourmets in Slovenia. Their legacy and guiding principle are originality and quality, embodied in masterful original songwriting with a high musical intellect and a broad musical vision, the pursuit of sonic perfection, and the band members’ strong chemistry with each other. Moonlight Sky confirmed that over an hour-and-a-half set, especially with the original material from the self-titled debut, as well as in Jovano Jovanke and Red House. And it’s no good messing with these guys, as shown by the fact that the band’s debut was picked as album of the month for December 2007 on the foreign online music portal www.progressiverockbr.com. “Merry Christmas and a healthy New Year, guys!”
Setlist
1. When I Look Into
2. Dirty Diana
3. Jovano, Jovanke
4. Devet osem
5. So Hard To Leave Someone You Love
6. Deset osem
7. How Much?
8. Corto Maltese
9. Riggs Family Shot
10. Moonlight Sky
11. Red House
—encore—
12. Stratus
13. The Groove
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