Ronnie Romero and Gus G. (support: Flesh)
Ljubljana / Orto bar / Slovenia
Wednesday, 12 Nov 2025, from 20:00
Two top-tier musicians joined forces for a co-headlining tour. You might call it a team-up of two musical supermen — one on guitar, the other on vocals.
Gus G. is a musician who made his name above all when he joined the legendary ‘Prince of Darkness’, the one and only Ozzy Osbourne. He played guitar with Ozzy for nine years and recorded the album “Scream” with him. Among power metal devotees, Gus G. is a well-established name. We got to know him very well back around the turn of the millennium, when he collaborated with Dream Evil and founded his own band Firewind, which has remained active and highly regarded ever since.
Ronnie Romero is a Chilean vocalist who has few peers among singers of his generation. When the world heard his voice on the records of his home band Lords Of Black, suddenly everyone wanted him on their albums — or at least on their tours. Among them was the ‘man in black’ himself — one of the most important guitarists in rock and roll history, Ritchie Blackmore. Yes, really. Ronnie sang on Rainbow’s most recent tour. Given how meticulous and temperamental Ritchie is, the fact that Romero rates so highly with such a demanding musician says everything. Earning that kind of standing from Blackmore would be a mission impossible even for Chuck Norris. The ever-sought-after Ronnie has also appeared on records by the CoreLeoni project — the brainchild of Gotthard singer Leo Leoni — recorded an album with the cult Dutch hard rock outfit Vandenberg, and crossed paths with another extremely discerning and, in his own way, no less significant musician than Blackmore: Michael Schenker, who invited him to contribute to his album “Immortal” (2021) and with whom he subsequently worked through a solid run of concert stages. Add to that at least the projects The Ferrymen, Sunstorm, and Elegant Weapons (alongside Judas Priest guitarist Richie Faulkner). The list goes on, but that’s enough for now.
These, then, are two musicians who have plenty to show and plenty to say. And it’s brilliant that they made their way to our neck of the woods, where this genre chronically suffers from a lack of visits by artists of this calibre.
At eight o’clock, Croatian outfit Flesh hit the stage. The band released their self-titled debut not long after forming — but that was back in 2014, which is a long time ago. New material is in the works, though, which is a good sign. Alongside the driving force of the group, bassist Rok ‘Rökindje’ Nikolić, the trio is rounded out by guitarist Mötej Van Matanović and drummer Krešimir Špoljar. Rockline already caught the three of them at the Dirkschneider show back in February (club Boogaloo, Zagreb) and even then the guys put together a very solid warm-up. Tonight was no different — they were a blast. If the guitarist embodies the band’s static anchor, the bassist/vocalist is his exact opposite. He owned the stage completely, venturing out into the crowd more than once. The wireless mic is a nice touch too — on a small club stage it frees up a surprising amount of real estate since there’s no need for an extra mic stand. Tailor-made for Orto bar, in other words. The result was a performance that felt dynamic and fully committed, with a decent sound picture to match. And then there were the gleeful doses of nonsense the likeable ‘motor-mouthed doctor’ peppered us with between songs. For a cover of the Iron Maiden adaptation Bring Your Daughter, Jan Leščanec (SkyEye) jumped up on stage as a guest. Given that the two hadn’t rehearsed the song together beforehand, it came off perfectly acceptably — even if the opening bars saw the first vocal line and the guitar accompaniment drift slightly out of sync. What followed was a textbook completion of the arrangement. The band wrapped up their ‘Conan the Barbarian’ set with Easy Rideth – Heavy Striker.
Just after nine, Gus G. bounded onto the stage — joined by two fellow Firewind members: drummer Johan Nunez and bassist Petros Christodoulidis. That gave us three-quarters of Firewind right there on the spot. An instrumental trio, then! The opener was two of Gus G.’s solo tracks. There was nothing to say about their tightness — everything clicked instantly. No grey areas between these three musicians. Gus G. was jaw-dropping from the very first note, and that was barely the beginning. The trio radiated a fantastic mood and complete ease. Then Ronnie Romero slipped onto the stage, and the band launched into two tracks from his album “Too Many Lies, Too Many Masters” (2023) — Castaway On The Moon and Chased By Shadows. A perfect fit. By this point the band had warmed up to full working temperature. The explosive power of Romero’s vocal character is simply extraordinary. Then came the proof of why Ronnie functions as a genuine little Chilean Ronnie James Dio — the kind of singer every band wants. Next they tore into the raging Black Sabbath classic Mob Rules before riding on through the Rainbow classic Kill The King. Vocally, Romero came within a hair’s breadth of the impenetrable vocal charisma of the late Dio.
Gus G. and Ronnie Romero also premiered their joint original My Premonition. Perhaps it’s the foundation for something bigger — a full album together. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if Gus G. ends up inviting Ronnie into Firewind proper. After two numbers without Ronnie (Redemption, I Am the Fire), Gus cheekily used the pause to introduce the band as: “Please welcome Ronnie Romero’s Firewind!” — and the crew then launched into the Firewind classic Destiny Is Calling, where Ronnie’s voice slotted in perfectly once again. The show ran at a cracking pace for a solid hour and three-quarters. When the band dived into the fairly predictable choice of Highway Star (the Deep Purple original) — with Gus’s mid-song and closing fireworks seemingly endless — plenty of people assumed it might be wrapping up the main set. But no. What came next? Another Rainbow track, and not Man On A Silver Mountain either, but — Stargazer! For many, the finest thing Blackmore ever wrote. Incredible. That’s the kind of moment you genuinely don’t see coming — especially given how complex a composition it is. A wild finale to the main set that you wished would never end. Gus’s solos work exactly like that. Nothing stops them.
The encore was genuinely lavish — four more tracks. First, Gus G. put himself through his paces again on the fretboard with his own Fearless, followed by a heartfelt tribute to the Prince of Darkness, who left us earlier this year. And it wasn’t Crazy Train — it was first Bark At The Moon (the piercing punch of that main guitar riff remains as remarkable as ever in this evergreen), then Shot In The Dark, through which the compositional fingerprints of the members of cult British AOR outfit FM quietly crept onto the stage. A track with that unforgettable, outrageously catchy singalong chorus that never fails to give you goosebumps. One last time, the two heavyweights rallied the crowd. Around 150 of us had gathered. It was War Pigs (Black Sabbath). The stage bathed in red light, the band drove the show — fuelled by passion and flawless execution — to its thunderous close, with the crowd roaring them on every step of the way. There wasn’t a soul leaving who wasn’t glowing with post-concert euphoria. People kept the party going in Orto bar well into the night, while the two of us immediately pointed our compass west and looked forward to meeting the coastal motorway — because on this particular occasion it was, miraculously, completely empty.
Text: Edita Klemen & Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik & Edita Klemen
Ronnie Romero & Gus G. – setlist:
1. Force Majeure
2. Quantum Leap
3. Castaway on the Moon
4. Chased by Shadows
5. The Mob Rules
6. Kill the King
7. Cold Sweat
8. My Premonition
9. Redemption
10. I Am the Fire
11. Destiny Is Calling
12. Highway Star
13. Stargazer
—encore—
14 .Fearless
15. Bark at the Moon
16. Shot in the Dark
17. War Pigs
Hvala za izvrsten zapis o vrhunskem koncertu!!