Author: Sebastijan Videc
Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: Orto bar, Ljubljana
Concert date: 23.12.2017
Ladies and gentlemen, do you still remember Ljubljana venues like Kra Kra and Sodček, where carefree souls could still party to rock and heavy metal in the late nineties and at the turn of the millennium? No? Yeah, quite a bit of water has flowed under the bridge since those two hugely popular joints closed for good… But back then a new scene was taking shape, one that turned out to be the flagbearer of the club rock scene, and which, especially lately, with a colorful palette of gigs across all sorts of rock and metal subgenres, keeps confirming its status as the capital of our capital’s club scene. I’m talking, of course, about Orto bar, which last Saturday celebrated a rather venerable 23rd anniversary. As a celebration like that demands, things were going on in every corner of the place – in the Klub, fans of rock’n’roll and its related genres got their fill, in the Bar two DJs tore into a rich harvest of hard rock and heavy metal hits, and what we were really there for was the show in the Hala – the inimitable turbo-folk metal maniacs from Vojvodina, Pero Defformero.
Pero Defformero are old friends of Slovenian stages, and quite a few of us were at their first show at Ljubljana’s Gala Hala some six years ago. A fair bit of time has passed since then, and the band has become hugely popular, not just in Slovenia but across the whole Balkans. Packed club halls, despite several gigs a year here, from Primorska to Štajerska with Ljubljana in between, are proof that people don’t just want to satisfy their musical taste buds, but to combine that pleasure with some proper Balkan/Serbian comedy. If you’re already an old friend of the band, you can safely skip the next sentence, but if you’re hearing about them for the first time, read on. Pero Defformero are an extraordinary fusion of hard rock/heavy metal (Iron Maiden, Mötorhead, Metallica, even Rammstein) and classic Balkan comedy (remember the film hits ‘Ko to tamo peva?’ and ‘Maratonci’?); so if you love both kinds of music and film, Pero Defformero are the band for you.
The right band for the right birthday bash, then, and once again the »lads« proved that their popularity is no fluke or flash in the pan. At ten in the evening the show kicked off with the standard intro – a parody of the 20th Century Fox opening, which quickly morphed into the band’s just-released new single Trebalo bi. Biške sings in the chorus that ‘trebalo bi da sviram samo narodnjake’, but with their one-of-a-kind style, the band probably wouldn’t have reached such popularity, either as pure-blooded narodnjaki players or as pure-blooded metalheads. Even though it hasn’t been a full three weeks since its release, the crowd’s reaction proved the guys have cooked up a new hit. The band is announcing a new studio album for the coming year, and after the already released singles ‘Trebalo bi’ and ‘Hipster’, we got to witness two more new tracks this evening – ‘Lola’ and ‘Noč u Guči’. The instrumental side of the band still works brilliantly – I’d almost dare say this was one of the best gigs we’ve had here so far. Saša Friš, the excellent guitarist and mastermind of the band, doesn’t let his guitar catch its breath – from hard-hitting rhythms to lightning-fast solos, he stays uncompromising. That Hungarian guy in the band who only understands Biške – Andras Ispan – tirelessly and playfully backed Friš’s soloing with his bass, that is, when he wasn’t busy giving Biške an electric shock. And Jure, Svaka čas’, the only one playing a real instrument – a wooden one! – masterfully dictated the tempo. This time the band even served up a jazz interlude, comedic, of course! And Biške, well, Biške – an excellent frontman who never disappoints with his comic bits, his commanding stage presence and delivery, and his funny lyrics, which are often socially critical too.
Even though the band has only two albums out in its current incarnation, they delivered a two-hour show with more than twenty songs. The Vojvodina phenomenon once again lived up to its reputation, or notoriety if you like, in a packed Hala, and more than successfully helped celebrate Orto’s anniversary as well as the merry December madness!
Setlist
1. Trebalo bi
2. Ferrari
3. Ostavljen sam ja
4. Silvana
5. Preko brega
6. Odlaziš
7. Metal sviraču
8. Hipster
9. Čerka đavola
10. Fejsbuk Stana
11. Sedmica na lotu
12. Gastarbajter
13. Lola
14. Volim te
15. Na dan, kad si pošla za toga čoveka
16. Kauboj
17. Žalim draga, ispalo je sranje
18. Došli smo do kraja puta
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19. Noč u Guči
20. Extra
21. Gotičarka
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