Location: Ljubljana / Cvetličarna / Slovenia
Concert date: 14.11.2014
Attendance: 1800
Ticket price: €18.00 (first 100 tickets) / €20.00 (presale) / €24.00 (day of show)
Croatia’s Parni Valjak helped round out a packed November of gigs. The band loves playing here and tours Slovenia often. They’ve hit our big arenas a number of times, but this time they went for a more intimate show at Cvetličarna, and they packed it to the rafters.
Parni Valjak have been going since 1975, so next year they’ll mark 40 years together. Along the way the lineup has seen a few changes, and in 2005 they took a four-year break before getting back together in 2009. Since the reunion they’ve put out two studio albums, proving once and for all that they’re back among the active musicians and not just coasting on old glory. So far they’ve picked up 15 Porin awards, Croatia’s most prestigious music prizes, along with a few other trophies. In almost 40 years they’ve released 18 studio albums and 5 live albums. Over the years they’ve played all across the former Yugoslavia, plus the rest of Europe and even across the pond. A few days ago they sold out their shows in Vienna and Zagreb too, so the »sold out« sign at the Cvetličarna box office came as no surprise.
Cvetličarna opened its doors only a few minutes before nine in the evening, by which time a long line of fans was already snaking through the parking lot. Once the whole crowd had squeezed into the club, some people were already staking out spots right under the stage. But a solid hour went by before anything happened up there. Well, before that we got to watch a fair few crew members on stage checking the instruments and electronics. Parni Valjak leave nothing to chance and rarely let any slip-ups through, so the check took a good while. Finally, a few minutes past ten, Aleš Uranjek (Coverlover, ex-Šank Rock) walked out and announced the Croatian giants. A few moments later the band members marched onstage one after another. The already packed front of the stage got even tighter as a few latecomers tried to push their way closer. Meanwhile the legends up there kicked off with the first song, Nema predaje, from their latest album. Some of the most devoted fans have learned to sing along to the newer songs too, but the real vocal explosion from the crowd came with the older hits, especially those from the hugely successful live album Bez struje. Next came Ljubavna, Zastave, Gledam je dok spava, the now folk-classic Jesen u meni… It was wonderful to hear the crowd’s excitement after every song, so guitarist Hus’s words came as no surprise: he said they’d take an audience like this along to every show, because at times they couldn’t even hear themselves on stage. The crowd really was loud, which is only fitting for a sold-out club.
Aki didn’t talk much between songs, so the show kept moving. All the instrumentalists, with a practiced hand but still plenty of feeling, built up sonic harmonies that bounced off the walls of Cvetličarna straight into the nerve endings in your ears, which carried the harmony on to your brain, where real musical rapture kicked in. Right in the middle of this experience, Tina Kresnik stepped up to the lead mic and sang Dok je tebe with Aki, with the crowd bellowing along, of course. To bring everyone back down to earth they played the newer song Nakon svih godina, followed by a few more older hits. Even though Aki’s vocals were in great shape, we sang a good chunk of some of the hits ourselves along with the rest of the crowd, which gave the night its own special vibe.
Throughout the show the band balances professionalism and looseness just right, and they pull it off beautifully. They also manage to balance the setlist with the right mix of older hits and songs from newer albums, keeping things fresh at every show over the years. To close out the main set they literally set the crowd on fire with Lutka za bal and Ugasi me, so much so that Hus actually covered his ears because of the crowd’s loud singing below the stage. After a good hour and a half the seven-piece left the stage for the first time. The ringing-eared Cvetličarna showed off its vocal chops once more and with loud shouts called the band back out. For the encore they played Ivana, Uhvati ritam, U prolazu, and of course they didn’t forget the staple Sve još miriše na nju. It’s probably the only song I’ve heard at literally every Parni Valjak show in almost 20 years and roughly 30 gigs. After the song ended, a closing backing track should have kicked in, but it never came, so the band took a bow to the crowd’s shouts and said goodnight.
True legends and true pros. All that stage mileage means they can fully relax at their shows and pour their heart and soul into it, for themselves and for the crowd. If you missed out on a ticket this time, you can still grab one quickly for their show in Maribor on 29. 11. 2014. And if you want to catch them on home turf, Zagreb has added another date, on 17. 12. 2014. No matter how many times you’ve seen them live, they’re always worth seeing again.
Setlist
1. Nema predaje
2. Ljubavna
3. Zagreb ima isti pozivni
4. Zastave
5. Godine prolaze
6. Gledam je dok spava
7. Jesen u meni
8. Dok je tebe
9. 700 milja od kuće
10. Nedelja
11. Neda
12. Aleluja
13. Dođi
14. Stranica dnevnika
15. Sunčanom stranom
16. Mijenjam se
17. Samo da znaš
18. Ja u ljubav vjerujem
19. Lutka za bal
20. Ugasi me
—encore—
21. Ivana
22. Uhvati ritam
23. U prolazu
24. Sve još miriše na nju
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