location: Cerkno / Bar Gabrijel / Slovenia
date: Sunday, 23.12.2018
What could be better than closing out the concert year in one of the coziest venues around, in the company of one of Slovenia’s hottest bands right now? Cerkno, bar Gabrijel and… Prismojeni profesorji bluesa, of course. This year they put out their second studio album, »Wacky Blues Professors«, which confirms that all the cosmic dust the guys kicked up with their sudden breakthrough, the stellar debut »Family« and everything that followed was no fluke. The band plays constantly. Whenever it can. And it gives everything. It also released a double live album. Through all of it, it keeps a healthy, upright stride on the road of self-evolution, backed by the unbending artistic honesty of every guy in this exceptional quartet.
RockLine caught Prismojeni profesorji bluesa on 24.03.2018 at the spectacle celebrating the release of the band’s new album, at Cankarjev dom. As for the author of this piece, though, he only got to meet the guys on stage for the first time this year in Cerkno. And what else is there left to write that won’t make every review of this band read like one egg after another? So let me try it a little differently.
The famous bar Gabrijel in the middle of Cerkno turns 23 this year. I think the anniversaries of Bar Gabrijel in Cerkno and Orto bar in Ljubljana are suspiciously similar, if not identical. Both venues celebrate their birthdays in the third decade of December every year, and I even think they’re the same age, unless Orto bar is a year older? Gabrijel always celebrates on exactly that “round” day of the year that counts as its birthday. This time it fell on a Sunday. At exactly nine in the evening, in the sold-out venue, the untamable Prismojeni profesorji bluesa started to rowdily “raise hell” in their trademark jam manner.
“The Wackies” are an extra special pleasure to watch in small club venues. The smaller the venue, the more the band’s performance ignites. This gig also stirred up quite a few associations and lovely memories of this author’s first encounter with the band, when Prismojeni profesorji bluesa played Ljubljana’s Prulček on “long ago” 20.12.2014. Sadly, we have no report from that night, because I showed up completely unprepared and with zero expectations. Uninformed, in other words. But I got hit with a serious musical bomb and a portion that made my head spin for good. And not just mine, but the wider Slovenian public’s too, anyone who cares about real musical art.
Miha Erič (harmonica, vocals), Julijan Erič (guitar, vocals), Zlatko Đogič (drums, vocals) and Miha Ribarič (bass, vocals) remain infectious guys. They’re a family and a real team in every sense of the word. They breathe for each other. And no performance can hide the chemistry of that deep camaraderie. At Gabrijel too, the Prismojenci won the crowd over with their cheekiness and sparkle, plus that exceptional tightness, with which, through unsuspected depth of feeling, they always floor their audience and cast a spell on it. Plenty of girls in the venue that night only confirmed that the band has a bright future ahead. Not because the guys are all quite good-looking anyway, but simply because their music is, plain and simple, erogenous and “rides free”, stirring up a whole bag of varied passions and emotions in the listener. It’s wildly rhythmic and full of cheer and positive vibes. Alongside their infectious fun, Prismojeni profesorji bluesa keep an exceptional intuition, sensuality and conciseness on stage the whole time. Things just mustn’t slip out of hand. Once again, interpreting their blues nomenclature didn’t lack for superlatives.
It’s a joy to watch the quartet sense each other on a small stage. How the guys follow one another, how they cue each other with looks or well-rehearsed gestures, how they follow the improvised solo adventures,… Needless to say, the band’s concert repertoire always consists of original material currently on record on »Family« (2016) and “Wacky Blues Professors” (2018), plus a heap of jams of varying length that never stop thrilling. On top of all that, the odd cover can sneak into the set, most often a tribute from Julijan to his idol Jimi Hendrix. Julijan is incredible. He bought a “lefty” guitar, flipped it around (to the right) and then flipped the strings once more. Julijan thought of that detail too. The only thing missing was the stage ritual of burning the six-string beauty. “Hey, good morning!” We’re not at Woodstock and it isn’t 1969, even though the Prismojenci blow you straight back there with ease. They’ve got such big hearts! I hope Hendrix is watching all this from heaven.
Once again they cast their spell on us. The concert was split into two parts and was a bit shorter than we’re used to from PPB, which for Prismojeni profesorji bluesa still means it was long. Two and a half hours in total. Near the end we also enjoyed a cleverly reworked Run Hilda Run, which got Slovenian lyrics in its new variation, and because of the changes in meter they had to partly adapt the rhythm and phrasing too. Insane, in other words. You barely figure out it’s an adaptation and not a brand-new original song
In every respect, a collision of spontaneity and devilish technical electricity that drives this machine, this musical body. Unique in every respect. Nobody comes close. And that counts. This brand of homegrown uniqueness. No matter what you are, who you are, what you play. As long as you are what you are. The thing we lack the most, the thing we’ve lost, forgotten and drifted furthest from in this crazy world and these crazy times. Our primal essence. Holding on to honesty and living with it. And Prismojeni profesorji bluesa keep their essence, nurture it, and mature with it, both artistically and personally. Not just their homegrown blues bible, but the character essence of this musical creature too. That’s what wins you over and gives you not only a top-notch concert, but a personal lesson at the same time. That’s why they’re also a kind of preacher. Guys, thanks for the fact that you ARE. I just don’t know how else to put it.
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
photos: Nataša Pišljar & Aleš Podbrežnik
