Psihomodo Pop at Cvetličarna (2007)

 The already pretty warm spring overture got an extra kick from Psihomodo Pop announcing a gig at Cvetličarna in Ljubljana, which has lately been doing the capital proud by taking in plenty of musicians who, thanks to the lobbying of Slovenia’s big shots, would sadly have strolled right past our little garden. So alongside Majke and the Serbian Partibrejkers, announced for the end of April, the Psihoti have brought back memories of those good old Yu-rock days… Ah, remember, comrades in arms…

As usual, the gig didn’t start at the announced time. At nine the burly security guys only just opened the doors of Cvetličarna, and moments later, visibly dehydrated and true to Slovenian custom, we made a beeline for the bar, where another wave of surprise awaits. Used to the worst by Slovenian standards, we happily shell out up to 2.5€ for a beer and stay perfectly calm about it. Clearly, Europe has done its thing. The organizer then left us waiting for a good hour more, diligently filling their pockets selling drinks. Nobody knew when the show was officially supposed to start, not even the sound guy. According to unofficial info, the boys were supposedly hungry and had to refuel first. Well, the road from Zagreb to Ljubljana is long and tiring… At exactly 10 p.m. the boys, “visibly refueled”, finally showed up on stage and, with a classic Zagreb-style opener of “Ljubljana, kak ste kaj?”, took us off into the world of uncompromising rock`n`roll. Psihomodo Pop have long been claiming that this kind of RNR is their way of life and not just the music they play. The lineup is still made up of the unbeatable, indestructible frontman Davor Gobac, guitarist Brado, bassist Šparko, drummer Tigi and the man for everything, Kuzma (keyboards, accordion, saxophone). Their sound remains recognizable and raw, and if you didn’t know better, you might at moments think you were listening to our own Big Foot Mama. Their music was always a kind of mix of cheeky blues rock with a touch of funk, topped off with an energetically schizoid chorus. Translate that into musical waters and you get a blend of the Ramones, the Stones and The Stooges. Vocalist Gobac is the one who has always put the main stamp on the band; given his excesses and the way he dresses and carries himself, the easiest comparison is the chameleon Bowie, while his stage act reminds you most of Iggy Pop.

The gig itself flowed smoothly and was as routine as their mileage would suggest. There were none of their typical old stage excesses in the style of Jim Morrison. To the general astonishment of the crowd, Gobac, narcissistic as he is, kept his shirt on this time, depriving the ladies of the pleasure of feasting their eyes on his Iggy Pop-style chiseled body. Well, we’re all getting older, Gobac included, and it’s best if certain things stay as they are, partly covered up

Gobac is truly a big mouth, and between songs, in the sometimes unintelligible rambling, the guy didn’t forget to brag about his 13-year-old son and the punk band the kid is supposedly running in Zagreb, he praised Kuzma’s daughter, who is queen of the World Cup in skiing, and he sarcastically remarked of guitarist Brado that he doesn’t even know him that well. Maybe that goes back to the days when Gobac, for one reason or another and thanks to various substances, wasn’t quite aware of reality and what was going on around him. But those times are gone, and today the band stands firmly on solid ground. The only thing they get criticized for, and which could be felt at this gig too, is that it’s about time the guys took a step forward musically as well, since what they’ve been showing us on stage for almost 25 years now (since 1983) stays more or less the same.

The Psihopop crew strung together all their bigger and slightly lesser hits, and the smash “Frida” even earned a double performance. An hour and twenty plus a 15-minute encore, and the rock`n`roll as Psihomodo Pop understand it was over. The best of…LIMITED EDITION show left us only partly satisfied, and that’s pretty much the verdict on their “reserved” performance. Maybe LIMITED EDITION means a creative pause and a run-up to the next album, and it would be about time, since a solid three years have passed since the last album (the “newest” one by their own reckoning!?), titled “Plastic fantastic”. And that’s about the stretch when, to stay in shape in this kind of music genre, you slowly have to start thinking about a new recipe and a new stew.

So, Psihomodo…?

Text: Thomas Breznik
Photography: Jani Lah