Location: Štuk, Maribor
Concert date: 21.04.2008
Attendance: 70
Ticket price: 12 € in advance, 15 € on the day of the show
“Punk is dead!”
We went looking for an answer to that claim on Tuesday, April 22 (Earth Day) at Štuk in Maribor. Even though this was one of my most anticipated gigs of this April, the disappointment when I got to Štuk was indescribable. The fact that the traditional Cvičkarija was happening in downtown Maribor the very same night was unavoidable, and the result was far fewer people at Štuk. Such a shame, because it’s not every day you get to see five excellent bands with plenty of promise on the same stage for a measly 12 €. The show was originally announced for 8 p.m., but according to what I heard, only a handful of people were hanging around outside Štuk at that time. And even a bit after nine, when I showed up on my own, it was no different.
So Zeroscape started playing at 9:30 p.m. in front of twelve people. Sad, because these guys mix reggae, screamo punk and metal in an interesting way. Definitely worth a listen (by the way, at Leaf-fat’s invitation the guys also played as an opening act on Thursday, April 24 at Orto bar). During their good thirty-five minutes on stage, they mostly played tracks from their latest record “…And If This Is The End I Will”, the most talked-about of which is “Uncle Bush Wants You”. I don’t think I need to say much about that one, since the title says it all. But also “Till Death Do Us”, “Skunk And Live”, “And This Is The End I Will”, “Outnumbered”. Binski, with his interesting vocals, got the few people there (if not exactly sober ones) moving pretty soon. I don’t get how folks can stand still at a punk rock gig when music like this gives you goosebumps. Not from chills, but from sheer enjoyment.
Up second, at 10:20 p.m., were local lads Multiball, who played for barely fifteen minutes. One reason was that the guys were playing a stripped-down lineup. Jan had handed the drums over to Matej, otherwise the drummer of Killing Option, because of an injury. Just like the day before at Orto, he did a great job (you can read the report on the Vanilla Sky and Multiball gig at Orto HERE). The crowd did its part too – but there weren’t enough of them, and above all they had no ear for the local musicians. A sad but true fact: Slovenia just doesn’t give enough support to its promising local musicians. Still, we got to hear a few of their hits, like “Friday Night Anthem”, “When I`m Done” and “At Last!”.
At exactly 11 p.m., a stage-load of some eight good-looking young guys marched on under the name Guadalajara. They’d been regulars at a number of Slovenian clubs over the past few months. In their eight years together the guys have put out three studio albums, the latest this past March, titled “Weapons Of Mass Seduction”. Interesting album title, but do the guys actually have something to say about “weapons of seduction”? We got to find out during their forty minutes of hopping around the stage. With their easygoing ska-pop-rock they literally got under your skin within the first few songs and got the crowd (by now there were “already” around forty people in the hall) moving again. Music you follow without even realizing it. “I`ll Be Alright”, “Turn Up”, “Dreamcatcher”, “No Mater”, “Short Time Romance” are just some of the tracks the guys put in their set. They were a real balm for the soul. Songs that fill you with joy and happiness. And guys who are easy on the eyes, it’s just hard to decide which one to watch when there are so many of them in one spot.
At midnight we gave ourselves over to the wild rhythms of Ljubljana’s Leaf-fat. After their new album, which came out at the end of last year and is called “RockPaperScissors”, and a successful tour of Canada, we got another chance to hear them tonight on home turf. To kick things off, the guys fired up their current hit from the self-titled album, “RockPaperScissors”. The front row was taken mostly by members of the Leaf-fat Street Team, and the madness began. The rest of the crowd spread out nicely across the hall and everybody had enough room to get up to their own shenanigans. So, no crush. They went on with “Choose your reality”, another promising track. Leaf-fat managed to lure a few more people into the hall. Well, maybe things are looking up a bit after all. “XP” and “Unfortunate Event On Its Way To Nothing (Infinity)” were the next songs played. The crowd was getting crazier and crazier. Leaf-fat simply know how to set the stage for a party. Next came a slightly mellower track, a “reggae” one in Leaf-fat terms, from the first record, “T.W.T”. Then the guys hit us with the first single off their debut “Underworld Kingdom” (2005), the song “Individual Happiness”. Like the good old days. Or as we’d say here – it hit the spot. When Big Foot Mama celebrated their 15th anniversary in November 2005, they marked it with a huge concert at the Gospodarsko razstavišče. The show was made up of two parts. In the first, fifteen bands performed, Leaf-fat among them, who put together a cover of Big Foot’s “Malo nimfomanka” for the occasion, while the second part belonged to BFM. And three years later, “Mala nimfomanka” in Leaf-fat’s hands still sounds as fresh as it did back then. Then came the “easy one”, “Better Still”. After the song with the slightly provocative title “Burn Bitch Burn”, it was time for something older and mellower – “U.K”. No, that’s not “United Kingdom” but “Underworld Kingdom”. The guys then hit us with “Idols Like Icarus” and “Il Mallochio”, and wrapped up their set with “Celebrate A Brand New Wave”. And so another solid gig of theirs was in the books. See you again on Thursday at Orto.
Personally, I’d been waiting all night mostly for them – Vanilla Sky. After Monday’s show with Multiball at Orto, I still couldn’t get enough of them. And at 1:20 a.m. I finally got my wish. To warm up, they played “Nightmare” for a crowd of around seventy heads, followed by “Your Words”. After “Cut Away”, Brian and Vinx swapped places as lead vocalist. Vinx sang “Se Vuoi Andare” even better than the day before at Orto, and he always gets especially into it during that song. No question of standing still. Then Brian took the mic again. “Distance” and “On And On”, “Xmas Girl” and “Gotta Believe” were the next songs played. The crowd loosened up a bit in the meantime, too. There weren’t many of them, but it was still nice to see heads bobbing. Vanilla Sky once again chose to cover Vanessa Carlton’s “Thousand Miles”. Just like the day before, they ran into a lukewarm response at Štuk, so the guys decided to take matters into their own hands. Luca swapped drums for bass, Brian swapped guitar for drums, Cisco picked up Brian’s guitar, and Vinx stuck with his. Then they called two young guys up from the crowd. The guys had barely stepped up when the riffs of Blink 182’s “All The Small Things”, a song everybody knows, rang out. The two confidently and fearlessly sang the whole song, moving around the stage like they’d been doing it for ages. Bravo! The crowd started singing along right away and kept going when Vanilla Sky took their own instruments back and played “Thousand Miles” through to the end. From that song on, the crowd let itself be led much better. After a bad start, a better finish was finally in sight. “Letargo”, “Devastante” and “Break It Out” were the next songs played. To close, the guys played Rihanna’s well-known hit “Umbrella”, for which they’d even shot a low-budget video – a parody of Rihanna’s (you can watch it HERE). A total riot! After about an hour of playing, Vanilla Sky said their goodbyes, since it was already well past 2:30 in the morning.
So the show ended late at night. Leaf-fat and Vanilla Sky nailed their sets, and the other three bands weren’t bad either. But you could feel that the crowd wasn’t giving anyone a chance to shine. Such a shame, because for a measly 12 € you don’t often get to see this many promising bands in one place. Anyway, as they say: next time will be better!
Text and photos: Lea Lesar
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