Author: Urban Bolta
Location: Vinica / Bela Krajina / Slovenia
Concert date: 03.08.2012
Attendance: 5000
Ticket price: €25 (one-day ticket) / €55 (three-day ticket)
And here comes Shengenfest! In the sea of mid-sized festivals that has flooded Slovenia in recent years, the southernmost of them all, Shengenfest, has started to stand out with its lineup. It takes place right on the Croatian border, a stone’s throw from Vinica, an idyllic little village in Bela Krajina, a land of good wine and friendly people.
The fifth edition of the festival on the Kolpa built on the previous year’s success and offered visitors a more interesting bill than its rival festivals on the Sunny Side of the Alps – I’m thinking mainly of the indie rock outfit Kaiser Chiefs on the third day, who played the closing ceremony of the London Olympics a week after their Shengen show – and we all know that only a handful of the biggest acts get to play such prestigious events. Year after year, the Shengenfest organizers are deliberately expanding the festival, luring in bigger and bigger names and growing the recognition of their own brand, and in five years they’ve rightfully earned the title of the most promising festival of its kind in the country.
Arriving at the festival grounds in the afternoon, we were greeted by a gorgeous setting: friendly staff, a crowd of young people in a great mood, scorching sun, a cool Kolpa and, of course, even cooler beer. Schengen can boast every attribute a good festival needs!
Shengenfest has two stages. The main stage hosts the rock-flavored program, while the smaller electronic stage on the other side of the grounds draws in fans of non-organic rhythms. At six in the afternoon the festival was opened by the Kočevje rockers Charlie Butter Fly, followed by the seasoned musical tomcats Relight. Sadly, the opening sets suffered from the usual problem: a deserted area in front of the stage, since the kids, per the old recipe, put more trust in names they already know than let themselves be surprised by one of the yet-unestablished bands. ČAO PORTOROŽ proved that it often pays to try your luck blindly! This foursome of diverse musicians, unknown to the wider crowd, swears by a strong dose of psychedelic elements in an essentially punk style. Čao Portorož dressed up their garage sound, full of punk arrogance and more melodic indie rock moments, with vocal lines that sounded raw on first listen, so comparisons to the veterans of Slovenian punk, Otroci Socializma, are fitting. Punchy, interesting, original! Half an hour with Čao Portorož flew by in a flash, and I promised myself we’d meet again soon!
Next up was the darling of the Slovenian rap scene, the mascot of Trnovo, Klemen Klemen. Backed by the band Dubzilla, he drew an incomparably bigger crowd in front of the stage than the acts before him and told them never-ending stories from the dark streets of Ljubljana. Although I’m not a fan of this kind of musical interpretation, credit goes to Klemen Klemen for staying true to his recognizable life philosophy, but sadly that was also the only bright spot I managed to decipher in an hour-long recital of rhymes of one sort or another.
Next came the favorites of the youth from a decade ago, a stylistically self-made band that stirs up debate every time they announce a new project – SIDDHARTA! The Ljubljana band has come a long and successful way since their debut album »Id« (1999), and this year they’re more active live again; after all, a short European tour of Germany and Poland awaits them in October. Siddharta threw a proper mass party at Shengen, even though, hand on heart, the loudest cheers went to the hits from their first three albums. For all their stature, Siddharta have spent recent years unsuccessfully trying to push some bigger hit onto the radio stations, one that would bring them closer to the glory of ten years ago, when around this very time they managed to fill the Central Stadium in Bežigrad. In Vinica, riding on the hits Na Sonce, B Mašina and Pot v X, they managed to conjure up that magical concert atmosphere with a thousand hands in the air, and they successfully slipped newer songs from the latest album »VI« in among the evergreens. Seasoned frontman Tomi Meglič has learned over the years how to work a crowd, and the other band members are no strangers to an utterly professional approach to performing either. For the farewell to the Kolpa they smashed out Od višine se zvrti, and Siddharta once again proved they’re one of the tightest and most professional bands we have.
Then came the American band VIZA, an interesting nine-piece collective who had already played Ljubljana’s Trnfest two days earlier. Viza (they performed as Visa before the release of their current album »Made in Chernobyl«) are locked in the grip of basic rock, but their special trait is an experimental flirtation with Eastern European ethno / folk motifs, thanks to the international lineup of this America-based band. Viza showed up as a prolific outfit with no musical inhibitions, flirting with all kinds of genres, so everyone who’s not averse to experimenting all the way to gypsy ethno could enjoy their set. Although there were a few fewer people in front of the stage, I still warmly applaud the organizers’ move to slot the American band between two names well established on our turf, giving them a chance to introduce themselves to the crowd at a favorable late-evening time.
Like it or not, bands from the territory of the former common state are a traditional part of the lineup – not that I dislike their music, it’s more that the organizers’ lack of originality gets on my nerves, since they’d rather bet on a thousand-times-proven name than bring in something fresh. Anyway, in front of us stood RIBLJA ČORBA, the rock’n’roll old-timers from Belgrade, who will celebrate 35 years of existence next year. Bora Đorđević was in a good mood and, right after the opening song Ostaću slobodan, dragged out a book of poetry and mocked gay people in his old manner. Čorba strolled through hits from the eighties, with a strong presence of songs up to and including 1986 and the album »Osmi nervni slom« as always, though apparently enough time has passed since their latest record »Minut sa njom« (2009) that the setlist only had room left for the song Radicu Šta God Hoću. Čorba won over the Bela Krajina crowd without major trouble, and it included visitors from neighboring Croatia, where Čorba haven’t played since the fratricidal war because of Bora’s radical principles. For Croats, catching a Čorba show in Slovenia remains the only option if they want to hear the evergreen hits Nemoj Srećo, Nemoj Danas, Amsterdam or Lutka sa naslovne strane live. A routine and satisfying set from the Belgrade legends, who, hand on heart, don’t have to stretch themselves too much for the desired euphoric response thanks to their cult status.
Last to take the stage, at a late two in the morning, were LENINGRAD COWBOYS, a numerous Finnish collective who smash the stereotype of Finnish reservedness and calm with a proper party show. Just think of the ski jumper Janne Ahonen, hehe. Anyway, the Leningrad Cowboys are a relatively well-known name in the rock’n’roll world, though I haven’t the faintest idea what they did to earn it. First, their nostalgic flirtation with Russian heritage and history is downright bizarre, especially considering that the Finnish and Russian nations have been at each other’s throats throughout history. Second, the Cowboys have built their whole career on playing covers and making fun of themselves, so we music gourmets will never be able to understand their fame. It was no different in Vinica. Covers of bands from completely different musical spheres (The Offspring, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Lenny Kravitz, Mary Hopkin…), wrapped in the cellophane of their trademark clowning, did give party-hungry folks a bouncy dance beat, but sadly left a good chunk of the crowd cold. The only bright spot of the set was the vocal interplay between lead singer Ville Tuomi and the dancers Anna and Hanna, and in the future I’d recommend that the Leningrad Cowboys put more music into their overall expression instead of fussing over their own hairdos, though I fear I’m already too late… Simply put, everyone found their own recipe for fame, and the Leningrad Cowboys picked the one I like the least.
Photo Gallery
