Location: Ljubljana / Križanke / Slovenia
Concert date: 24.09.2015
Attendance: 3300
Ticket price: €20.00 / advance sale, €30.00 / day of the show
It’s hard to say exactly how much steam it takes for a conglomerate like the Croatian band Parni Valjak to keep scrambling along the music scene for 40 years. Sure, there have been a few short breaks and some lineup changes along the way, but over all four decades they’ve slalomed successfully between various popular music styles and stayed at the top of the popularity charts among bands from the former common country. In Slovenia too, where Parni Valjak show up several times a year, there’s no shortage of fans – the sold-out Križanke is proof of that.
In their 40-year history, Parni Valjak have released 18 studio albums, 5 hugely popular live albums and quite a few compilations. And they’re not resting even now. They’re working on new material for a new album, and we got to hear the first seeds of it in Križanke with the single Samo ti. The steam clearly hasn’t run out yet.
The Križanke venue was literally bursting at the seams when the band members came out one after another at a quarter past nine. The atmosphere under the stage was phenomenal, and the musicians quickly caught the good mood of the crowd. With a stroll through old hits like Ima dana, U prolazu, Zagreb, … they really whipped up the audience too, who sang along as a third backing voice all night, on top of the two ladies on stage.
The tightness on stage bordered on perfection. No two ways about it, guys with this much experience know their craft, and the good vibes of everyone involved only added to the atmosphere in Križanke. The guys made an effort and dressed some of the older tracks in new arrangements, which was a pleasant surprise for those of us who go to Parni Valjak shows often. Aki’s voice held up through the whole repertoire without any trouble, even though the show was pretty long. But we’re used to that from Parni Valjak. During Stranica dnevnika, Aki even sat down at the piano this time.
Next came a seriously long acoustic part, with songs on the setlist from Vrijeme ljubavi all the way to Ljubavna, during which Aki climbed up above the crowd in Křižanke and walked along the lighting rigs. He probably had a pretty nice view, while the audience followed his careful steps on the way down with bated breath. The acoustic part always adds a touch of tenderness and calm to a Parni Valjak show and underlines the sensuality of the lyrics, which the crowd belts out at the top of their lungs.
After the acoustic set they plugged back in with Dođi, which the audience knows well, so the third backing vocal was added again. In the last set we also heard the new single Samo ti, which blends in nicely with all the older hits. Ja u ljubav vjerujem and Lutka za bal followed, then a punchy finish with Ugasi me, and then the speakers went quiet for the first time. That’s when the crowd let loose – the whistling and screaming almost broke the sound barrier, not to mention the stomping on the floor. The whole of Križanke was hit by an earthquake, and of course the guys came back on stage. So we heard and jumped around to Dok si pored mene and then calmed down with Jesen u meni. But the calm didn’t last – as soon as Parni Valjak sneaked off the stage again, Križanke thundered once more. With the same force as before. Of course, every regular at their shows knows the band won’t say goodnight without Sve još miriše na nju. This time, before it, they served up Nedjelja in the second encore, then came the outro and the show finally wrapped up after two hours and 45 minutes.
Parni Valjak showed that after 40 years they’ve still got it. They can sing, play, entertain and get the crowd on its feet. The tightness and energy they bring to the stage suggest we might be able to follow them for another 40 years or so. But don’t wait that long to catch one of their shows. The next chance is already on October 16 in Velenje. You don’t want to miss something like that.
Setlist
1. Ima dana
2. Samo da znaš
3. U prolazu
4. Zagreb ima isti pozivni
5. Godine prolaze
6. Mjenjam se
7. Zastave
8. 80’s mix (Vruče igre, Vrijeme je na našoj strani,…)
9. Kao ti
10. Moje dnevne paranoje
11. Gledam je, dok spava
12. Vrijeme ljubavi
13. Kada me dotakne
14. Dok je tebe
15. Moja je pjesma lagana
16. Neda
17. Ivana
18. Uhvati ritam
19. Ljubavna
20. Dođi
21. Molitva
22. A gdje je ljubav
23. Sunčanom stranom
24. Samo ti
25. Ja u ljubav vjerujem
26. Lutka za bal
27. Ugasi me
28. Dok si pored mene
29. Jesen u meni
30. Prokleta nedelja
31. Sve još miriše na nju
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