Venue: Borovnica (Arterija) / Slovenia
Concert date: 09.02.2008
Attendance: 30
Ticket price: free admission
After ages, a properly stretched-out weekend brought, on top of its usual relaxing effects, a chance to visit the Borovnica center for rehabilitation from the onslaught of modern musical trends on deformed youth, whose psychomotor skills have been well and truly eaten away over the course of the incubation period. Arterija, a small but extremely friendly gathering spot for fans of alternative healing methods against the aftereffects of this kind of torture, hosted two old acquaintances last night, Lybra and Rock Shock. Over a long but extremely friendly evening packed with excellent music, they kindly endowed everyone present with a certain dose of immunity to the relentless stench that spread across Slovenian soil during the reign of madness.
LYBRA
And it’s true! These days, the music scene on the sunny side of the Alps all too often sours the everyday lives of ordinary people by pushing a whole swarm of vocal-instrumental acts that put the movement of shapely female bodies front and center, ahead of actually conveying anything with their own expression. Well, to everyone’s general relief and joy, Lybra, despite having not one but two representatives of the fairer sex, don’t burden us with that kind of marketing makeup. This is a young, promising band that loves to flirt with a hugely entertaining mix of genres, from country rock and pop all the way to choppy funk rhythms. In the company of outstanding musicians, where the inspiring playing of tireless guitarist Gašper Kržmanc deserves a special mention, Lybra are hiding a genuine vocal pearl: young Nina Virant! The girl has an exceptional vocal range. Her voice carries even the most demanding moods of songs like Cochran’s Life Is a Highway or What’s Up by the once-famous 4 Non Blondes with unbelievable ease! Nina is tireless, maybe a little shy, but she still convinces as Lybra’s most dominant element. The vocal sorcery she serves up so confidently can easily make you lose sight of the universality of the band’s instrumental frame. That spontaneity and impulsive reaction to every rhythmic leap in the turbulent interplay showed its full grandeur in the song Jutro, where the infectious rock catchiness breaks in the middle and crosses paths with sharply dictated funk elements, a solo gallop of bass and drums. It all gave the impression of a very effective intermezzo showing off each musician’s individual chops, which never at any point slips out of control of the path Lybra have charted. Nicely rounded, with a heaping dose of quality that guarantees Lybra a bright future!
ROCK SHOCK
Now a leap to the stars of the evening, the heavy rock troubadours Rock Shock. I first had the honor of seeing the guys at the Christmas bash in Postojna, or a concert if you like (RockLine report here), where their room to maneuver was shamelessly squeezed down to just four songs, three of them originals and, as it turned out against all expectations, one of the real gems of the whole night, an above-average Hold The Line. Feeling out the band’s natural pulse therefore quickly became one of my top priorities for the near future. And now here they are. A quintet of simple lads, already during the early prep for Saturday’s raising of hell, quietly signaled with their gentle swaying to the rhythm of Bon Scott’s sermons that the long-awaited tilt of the evening toward harder musical spheres was coming. Rock Shock spent the whole night pressing hard on the gas pedal, from their springy backsides all the way down. You could hardly accuse them of any willingness to compromise, either. The guys are in superb form. On the wings of an extremely tight, maybe at moments even slightly overly cranked stage presence, that form walked us through a medley of rock evergreens that I’m sure most people know, predictably cut through with convincingly delivered original material, which, understandably, would also be the smartest thing to build on in the future!
The Rock Shock formula stays fairly simple: cultivating sharply flavored, straight-to-the-point rock & roll crops that, to be honest, turn their little green stalks a bit too often toward playing hits of the biggest caliber. Opinions on the boldness of taking such a road, of course in terms of measuring real reach and, as a result, the band’s popularity, are probably still divided. Rock Shock are no exception here either. After six years of grinding away at their own repertoire, the guys got used to rattling the walls in a style that would probably scare most Slovenian bands to the bone. They cut into covers with a clearly visible share of confidence and courage, which can ultimately be an encouragement when presenting their own material too. No doubt about it, these guys have rock & roll in their blood! Don’t believe it? If Proud Mary doesn’t do it, Rebel Yell and Tush will quickly dispel any doubts you have. The enviable range of handling different musical approaches is definitely one of Rock Shock’s main aces, and the only thing that seems left to prioritize is crowning it all with a slightly more confident image for the band. Which, up front, of course means unconditionally pushing the original material. After half a dozen years of sweating it out, the guys probably should have taken that more seriously long ago. Of course it’s never too late, but time can run out awfully fast. Rock Shock are promising the release of a debut album in the near future. I can only hope they mean it!
Text: Daniel Pavlica
Photography: Mojca Perdih
Setlist
Lybra: 1.Če bi po moje blo 2.Kt Tunstall 3.Radio 4.Greva k men 5.Pot domov 6.Jutra 7.Anouk 8.Live Is A Highway 9.What’s Up/Don’t Worry 10.Ironic 11.Povej 12.Konec je 13.Ven iz mesta 14.Kadar skupaj sva Rock Shock: 1.Otroci sonca 2.Long Train Running 3.Rebel Yell 4.Čakam te 5.Runnaway 6.Proud Mary 7.Hold The Line 8.Johnny B. Goode 9.Pravljica o mavričnih ljudeh 10.Zdaj letim 11.Tush 12.I Love Rock & Roll 13.You Realy Got Me 14.It’s My Life 15.Ne poznam te 16.Kreni prema meni 17.Knocking On Heavens Door 18.Here I Go Again —-dodatek— 19.Ne spavaj mala moja 20.Walking By My Self 21.Gremo na pir 22.Enter Sandman 23.Smoke On The Water
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