Shark Island Get a Facelift in Zagreb (2013)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Location: Zagreb / Vintage Industrial Bar / Croatia
Concert date: 02.11.2013
Attendance: 80
Ticket price: 20,00HRK

Just 2 days after the commercialized, Americanized »holiday« of Halloween, our neighbors were craving some proper hard rock. And this time not in Italy, but in Croatia. The place was hungry for the eighties, big hair and loud guitars, because Zagreb was hosting the most recognizable piece of Shark Island.

Shark Island may not be as well-known a band as many of the (maybe not even so deservedly) big names of the hard rock scene of that era, but that makes them no less worth listening to and seeing. The band started taking shape at the end of the seventies under the baton of singer Richard Black, and in the early eighties it was considered one of the most popular bands on the Los Angeles hard rock scene. It’s no secret that even the notorious Axl Rose of Guns N’Roses copied the dance moves that gave him his signature stamp at live shows straight from frontman Richard Black. At the end of the eighties, the bonds in the band began to crack, mostly because of the poor sales of the album Law of the order, and the members each went their own way. They got back together in 2005 and put out an album of previously unreleased recordings and some new material under the title “Gathering of the Faithfull” (2006), but after the album came out the band members once again turned to their own projects.

If you know Zagreb even a little, you’ll have no trouble finding Vintage Industrial Bar. You drive past the Zagreb Arena toward the center, turn onto Savska cesta and park in front of the bar. The place, which will celebrate its first anniversary next month, stands out with a 20-meter bar counter, a great soundtrack for chatting, and a cozy club atmosphere with a separate concert space in a former button factory. The wide choice of drinks and friendly prices are a treat too, whether we’re talking liquid substances or entrance fees. For Shark Island the listings put the price at 20 Croatian kuna, but in the end they didn’t collect even that at the venue, so we got to see the show for free. Judging by its packed monthly lineup, Vintage Industrial Bar is definitely a place we’ll be visiting again.

The show, of course, started late. Nobody probably expected the organizer to stick to the announced schedule and start the show at 21:00, given that it was happening on a weekend, but at least most of the Slovenian-speaking crowd didn’t figure we’d have to wait more than 2 and a half hours for the famous Richard Black performance. But good things come to those who wait. And it’d be hard to say it wasn’t worth it. A few minutes after half past midnight, the musicians finally took the stage and jolted the crowd awake with the energetic Make a move.

The instrumentalists stepped onto the stage first, and after the intro, Richard came out last, pretty theatrically, as befits proper eighties-spirit hard rock, wearing a white wig, as if he wanted to relive the last gasps of the Halloween spirit. One look at the stage made it clear that this wasn’t the Shark Island lineup up there, yet the band was so tight that you never felt the members had maybe only met a few times at rehearsals before the show. On Richard’s left side was his good old friend and Croatian guitar virtuoso, who has lived in Los Angeles for many years, Damir Šimić Shime. Shime has put out three studio albums in his career, the latest, titled “Demonstratus”, in 2006, and he also presented it at shows in Slovenia. Back then Shime played as a trio, accompanied by bassist Ricky Riccardo, who plays in Tony MacAlpine’s band, and drummer Jeff Bowders, who plays in Paul Gilbert’s band. How highly regarded a musician Damir Šimić Shime is, is also confirmed by the fact that the following musicians have so far played on his albums or onstage with him: Eddie Van Halen, Tony MacAlpine, Mike Terrana, Rudy Sarzo, Richard Black and Steve Stevens. The famous Miek Terrana plays drums on all his albums. On bass guitar was an old acquaintance from Prljavo kazalište, Dubravko Dudo Vorih, and behind the drum kit sat Alen Srljak from Inciter. The four of them made their way through the setlist like a perfectly synced quartet, which was surely down to the mastery and excellence of each musician individually. With fast fingers and melodic solos, Shime let the audience know he’s a huge rock fan. And of course, there’d be no real show without Richard Black, the only representative of the original Shark Island, who put his stamp on the performance with his dancing around with the mic stand and his excellent vocals. The Slovenian part of the crowd seemed really fired up, and it was nice to see that hard rock has its devotees in Croatia too. Richard rushed through the short setlist with no unnecessary chatter, and so, sadly, the show was over after barely an hour. For the last song, Father time, another great musician joined those onstage, Beroslav Blažević Bero, a familiar face from Parni Valjak, on keyboards, which added even more fullness to the sound of the other pros. Then the main set came to an end, the crowd modestly demanded an encore and got one, and after that the hanging out with Shark Island was truly over. After a short break, a band of local musicians took the stage, while we, worn out from the waiting but with happy musical souls, slowly headed home.

The question is when we’ll next get to hear a Shark Island tune live anywhere near us, so the trip to Zagreb was absolutely worth it, even for those coming from farther afield. A flawlessly tight performance showed that the lineup could play more shows with this repertoire elsewhere too.

So, to finish, a question pops up that turns the whole story on its head: can we even talk about the real Shark Island without guitarist Spencer Sercombe? Very hard. Actually, we can’t. The last official Shark Island lineup, in 2007, counted Sercombe on guitar, Black on vocals, plus drummer Glen Sobel and bassist Chris Heilman in its ranks.

Since Richard Black has Croatian roots, this performance under the “Shark Island” name felt more like a “party thrown by Richard Black” as a thank-you for a lovely holiday stay in Croatia. Definitely a sin worth committing, since the show was excellent, and with the support of three top-notch Croatian bandmates, Black really couldn’t have delivered a bad gig. Still, this time we can’t talk about a real Shark Island show, but about a show by “Richard Black of Shark Island and friends”