Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Velike Malence (Brežice) / Slovenia
Concert date: 17.08.2012
Attendance: 1000
Ticket price: 0.00 € (free entry)
August is usually the month when festivals dominate the concert calendar and standalone shows are so rare you can count them on one hand. But if a biker event comes around, it always pays to keep an eye on who the bikers invite to spice up the evening hours with some music. The folks at MC Škorpijon sure know how to throw a proper party. The idyllic spot on the left bank of the Krka river at Velike Malence (picture it a bit west of where the Krka flows into the Sava near Brežice, upriver along the Krka) is where we already enjoyed Divlje Jagode last year, and this Friday night of this year’s biker get-together, organized by MC Škorpijon, brought the Slovenian hard rockers Requiem to Velike Malence. They finally put out a new studio album this year, »Fallen Angel«, and keep gigging diligently all over Slovenia, which is why they often end up in front of the RockLine lens. Why wouldn’t they? Real quality is always worth every bit of attention.
The RockLine crew doesn’t exactly live by the classic biker philosophy, so what interested us at this event was first and foremost the music. Even the opening set by the Croatian outfit The Trio, who played ZZ Top covers in the first half of their show, decked out in long beards, and AC/DC covers in the second, came off as extremely convincing and confident. It was honestly striking how you can play the repertoire of two such different bands in an extremely short span on the same night and pull both off so confidently. That went especially for the vocals.
The clock was creeping toward midnight when it was time for Requiem to take the stage. The band looked like it felt great: they were welcomed by a spacious stage and a solid crowd, especially of younger folks who’d come to Velike Malence from the surrounding villages just for this show. And what gave the event a special charm, besides the stage itself, was the excellent sound system and the play of the stage lights.
Right from the start the band showed plenty of experience and seasoning, the result of the nice string of gigs behind them. The revamped lineup, led by the unshakable guru of the band Marko Slokar, has really gelled over the past year or so, so on stage there’s no hesitation, indecision or clumsiness. What’s more, the chemistry in today’s Requiem is excellent, especially thanks to the young-wave duo of Matjaž Marin and Miha Nedoh, while the latest addition, the slightly older but extremely experienced bassist Martin Rozman, quickly caught the Requiem groove, boasting serious musical credentials earned in the past playing bass with Bad Nest, Kantor and Billysi. Of course, most eyes were once again glued to Sergej Škofljanec’s one-of-a-kind vocal performance, with the whole stage once again full of him. The man confirmed yet again that he’s a vocal figure carved out for stage entertainment. On top of his explosive vocals and feather-light command of a wide range of tones, Škofljanec takes over the stage with an authoritative presence and above all an extremely inventive, fully immersed show in which he makes the most of every situation to bring the message of Requiem’s poetry to the crowd in the most genuine way.
During the song Gospa, which Škofljanec introduced with »Do you know what they call girls over 40?«, Rozman vanished from the stage. Škofljanec, who is also known as a multi-instrumentalist, picked up the bass and for most of the song »made happy« his bandmate, so that he could dash off for a quick bathroom break. The band had to split the show into two parts, as is always the custom at this kind of event. Between the two halves, a hot striptease took place.
The band lined up a tried-and-tested repertoire that included: Let It Hurt, Slovenska, All Night Long, Little Princess, Red Leather, Fallen Angels, Pekel in raj, Začaraj me. So Requiem once again played most of the new album »Fallen Angel«, and spiced up the set with a mostly thoroughly beloved run of their own classics: Pozabi na vse, Mr. Twister, Zvezdno nebo, Ti in jaz, Gospa, Heroji, Križarji, Kaja, Čarovnice, Ogenj zbudi se, 12 let, Udari nazaj, Amsterdam, Rock’n’roll naj živi and of course Stare device, the song without which the crowd would have undoubtedly lynched them.
Another great Requiem show, proving that they’ve kept their excellent stage form even in the lazy days of August. Another great experience of shared interplay between band and crowd. Although most of the bikers watched the concert from a safe distance, and only a few found themselves right in front of the stage during Requiem’s set, and even those were swaying badly, the bulk of the crowd, as mentioned, was made up of young people from the surrounding villages. A super Friday opener, then, to the peak of the weekend at the biker gathering, which the next day in Velike Malence saw a performance by the Yugo rock legends Riblja Čorba.
Photo Gallery
