Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Ljubljana / Studio 1 Televizije Slovenija / Slovenia
Concert date: April 29, 2014
Attendance: 200
Ticket price: €0.00
The years keep rolling by. Quietly and quickly. You can’t see them, you can’t hear them, even though you live through them. That’s how anniversaries pile up, too. We lived to see one on April 21, 2014, when the Val 202 show called Štos hit its »fat« first 35 years. The special event at Studio 1 of Televizija Slovenija was pushed back a week, and the show was airing its, believe it or not, round 1470th episode.
Its mastermind, the great music guru of our time, sworn to the magic of rock ‘n’ roll, Dragan »Dr. B« Bulič, brought together a handful of bands for this event that you’d never have thought would step on a stage again. They played their last gigs more than ten years ago.
The show could of course be heard in a live radio broadcast by everyone who tuned their radios to Val 202 at the right time in the right place. And since the show was diligently filmed with several cameras set up in the studio, there’s also a promise that it will air on TV one day.
Off to the venue. A nicely packed room! Dragan invited a bunch of longtime friends he’s been friends with, ripened and grown alongside for years. Of course, like Dragan, they’re all tied to music. Many of them wrote the bulk of Slovenian music history, both rock and mainstream. In the crowd you could spot plenty of eminences, from Aleksander Mežek, who supposedly traveled straight from London just for this event, to Jernej Jung, Lado Leskovar, Janez Zmazek Žan,,…
The event was opened by San Di Ego. A new lineup of seasoned musicians. On this occasion San DI Ego got a special assignment. Along with Rok ‘N’ Band later on, they were the only ones that evening to play just one song. A cover, too. The Police’s Roxanne. Once again the one and only Sergej Škofljanec grabbed most of the attention. The guys studied the demanding song nicely. They were also the only band in the show to skip the alphabetical order of the thirteen performing bands in total. Next up: Babewatch. The surprise of the night, with brothers Matevž and Miha Šalehar, Blaž Gregorin (drums), Anže »Dagi« Petrovič Langus (bass) and Boštjan Golinar (keyboards). Their first appearance after a fourteen-year break. They fired off Jurja za per and Ladjice, over the years “translated” for new times by Hamo & Tribute 2 Love’s lineup as Rožice. But let’s leave the trifles aside. Just realizing they were standing on stage together again was miraculous. Only Miha Šalehar brought some uncertainty on his otherwise cherry-red Telecaster beauty, which probably reflects the fact that Miha hasn’t stood on stage in front of an audience in a long time, but thanks to the well-seasoned concert form of his brother Matevž, the band did its job with total confidence. Events like this are usually a good cue for restarting a »retired« band. Let’s be surprised. The next band had no less juiciness in store. California. They hadn’t played for years either, which showed during the set when at one point they almost »fell apart«, but luckily caught themselves. They tackled Rad letel bi and Ustavil bi čas, with keyboardists Andrej Volčjak and Uroš Semeja swapping keyboard positions between songs, and the same went for the drum seat, swapped at the same time by Janez Arzenšek and Andrej Hribar.
The first representatives of hard rock cut the Slovenian way, or more precisely the Velenje recipe (rounded out before the end by Wellblott from Vuzenica in Carinthia), were Chateau that night. They too called it quits after the album »Do konca« (2011). But Dragan managed to get them back together for this particular edition of Štos. In great spirits, charged with joyful energy and bubbling optimism, Matjaž Ograjenšek swirled now toward guitarist Zvone Hranjec, now toward bassist Boštjan Časl, and once again proved what a superb frontman he is. He still has that excellent voice, and his stage acting, his movement, his very figure couldn’t fit any better into the genre the veterans of Slovenian hard rock are sworn to. Chateau cut Zaradi tebe and, as expected, a cover of The Kinks’ Lola, which another very important figure on the Slovenian rock and singer-songwriter scene, Tomaž Domicelj, once helped them arrange most tastefully a long time ago. During the Štos show he was somewhere far, far away on a paradise holiday, so his son Urban Weber stood in for him among the guests. The Chateau lineup was rounded out by Janez Marin on drums and Marko Volk on keyboards.
Next up: Drevored. The very same Drevored with an exceptional track record of over 30 years and a sole album, »Dekade«, which only came out in 2010. You could say they’re rockers of refined sonic excellence from Slovenia’s Dolenjska region, with a cut of »heartland rock« rhetoric welded in the spirit of the traditional sensibility of Slovenian melos. They could quickly be crowned some sort of Slovenian version of The Eagles. But this time they ran into some sound trouble. In particular, vocalist Dušan Prosinečki’s Rickenbacker guitar cut through the mix. It was too loud. The band played Daleč od ponorelega sveta and Balkanska dežela. Let’s hope they show up on stages again. It was definitely great to see a set of vintage guitars and a band cultivating a traditional »jangle« sound with a refined mix of infectious, sensual melodicism. Besides Prosinečki on guitar and vocals, the crew includes Tomaž Zorko on guitar, Andrej Zupančič on bass and Alen Tibiljaš, a veteran from the days of the Rijeka new wave, on drums.
Two performances by two reactivated bands follow. The first are true rock veterans. The lineup of Karamela. If you know Faraoni, you’ll know Karamela. It’s made up of seasoned tomcats! Drummer Zlatko Klun, superb guitarist Marijan Maliković girded with a guitar model similar to the one Steve Lukather of Toto uses, then bassist Jadran Ogrin and keyboardist Goran Velikonja. The band played Želja and a brand-new single, Jaz bi še. The other reactivated bands to turn up on Štos were Lačni Franz! Of the legendary faces, the irreplaceable Zoran Predin of course remains, while the lineup is filled out by representatives of the young guard of rockers, eager to prove themselves. These are Luka Čadež on drums, Boštjan Artiček on keyboards and Klemen Lombergar on guitar. Anej Kočevar was replaced at the last minute on this occasion by another face on bass, whose name I unfortunately failed to catch. Zoran is Zoran. What you see is what you get. The unique and elemental trademark of Lačni Franz’s character and work. No less, no more. His voice and charisma ripen with the years like good old wine, and this time was no different. The surprise was especially Zanzibar (the famous flirty blues), which in the past wasn’t a fixture of the band’s iron concert repertoire. To it they added the classic Ne mi dihat za ovratnik, delivered in an almost mischievous salsa variation. During the set Zoran and Dragan traded a few mischievous remarks about Santa Claus, though Dragan expected Sean Connery to join the discussion circle too.
After marking 20 years of activity in 2010 with two shows, Lintvern from Žiri renamed themselves Lokal Patrioti in 2011. That didn’t stop them from turning back into Lintvern for a moment. The lineup of Robert Križnar (guitar, backing vocals), Drago Kramperšek (vocals), Katarina Premožič (keyboards, backing vocals), Andrej Jereb (guitar, backing vocals), Matjaž Zabukovec (guitar), Marko Marovt (bass) and Daniel Podobnik (drums) performed Nedelja je lep dan and Če padel bi na glavo. Then comes yet another »Precambrian« band! Peter Pan with the famous hit and a rock rendition of the Slovenian folk song Kje so tiste stezice. Peter Pan hadn’t stood on stage together for years either. The quartet of Jure Zdešar (keyboards), Tomaž Grubar (bass, vocals), Borut Debevc (guitar) and Janez Nared (drums) was also among the nicer surprises of the show, especially if you didn’t know the running order in advance. The band also played Ostani mlad with a special greeting to Dragan Bulič. Rok ‘N’ Band, led by the famous, inconsolable »Elvis guy« Rok Ferengja, also took the stage for just one song. Besides Rok, the sextet had Stane Vrbek on guitar, Tomaž Repinc on bass, Ivan Gorenc on keyboards, Blaž Črnivec on guitar and Tomaž Ferenc on drums. The A-Kamela vocal choir kept them company, made up of Barbara Grabar, Kristina Strašek, Samo Vovk and Matej Virtič. The band played a juicy cover of I’ve Got A Thing About You Baby by Tony Joie White, which the famous Elvis Presley also performed in his day. In his hands it’s an interpretation of a lesser-known song, which brought an all the nicer surprise and spice to the show itself!
The reunion of Ultimat for this Štos was also an event of historic weight. The only lead vocalist of the evening from the fairer sex was Simona Vodopivec (also the famous voice of Tof’s Botique Show), and on this occasion Dragan invited her husband Jure Franko to the mic — the winner of the famous giant slalom silver medal for Yugoslavia at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo — and the two traded some funny memories while looking at the cover of Ultimat’s first album. It wasn’t Moški čaj, Danes je petek or Prihaja oktober; instead the band performed Usoda ženskega rodu followed by Pokaži nam Eddy. Alongside Simona on vocals, Ultimat were rounded out by guitarist Bojan Simončič, bassist Mirko Bogataj and drummer Jani Košir. Bojan ran into a bit of unpleasantness: someone had carried the real amp head off the stage before the set, so »in an unexpected but required improvisation of Bojan’s emergency solutions« the guitar buzzed like a »sneaky little bee«. All the more reason we enjoyed the prominent sound of Mirko Bogataj’s bass lines. And Simona simply can’t be beaten on vocals! Despite the sound troubles, Ultimat took all the unpleasantness in stride like true professionals. Things got properly rumbling once Wellblott were on stage. One look at Matjaž Steržе says it all. Especially when he grabs his famous Hammer guitar and plugs into his Mesa Boogie amp. No joke. He’s one of the most accomplished hard rock guitarists in Slovenia. Matjaž currently lends his services to Danilo Kocjančič Friends, together with his colleague and bassist Jadran Ogrin, who played shortly before him with the again-active Karamela. Wellblott have clearly outgrown Maya the Bee and went for the original song Tam si ti. For this song Mate Brodar took over vocal duties, who has been trying his hand for years in musical waters where rock ‘n’ roll serves only as a seasoning, as his »baggy« stage outfit reflected, not least. He’s an excellent musician, a multi-instrumentalist, who makes up one half of the again-active Da Phenomena together with Dagi, who played two songs for Babewatch right at the start of the show. The quartet was rounded out by Uroš Medved on bass and Grega Gorenšek on drums. For the second song, Zlobna vila, Mate handed the mic to Aleksander Štaher, »pleasantly bald over the years« yet vocally still seriously raunchy. Wellblott’s set too, we can say, was a rare »close encounter of the third kind«. Sterže once again stunned with his wizardry and masterful guitar work, earning special praise from the show’s host Dragan Bulič!
The 1470th anniversary episode of Štos, on its 35th birthday, was closed by 1 X Band. The famous Eurovision traveler from way back 21 years ago with the song Tih deževen dan, Josip »Cole« Moretti (in 2006 a backing vocalist for Buldožer, reactivated for a few gigs at the time), performed alongside Andrej Bedjanič (keyboards), Brane Vidan (bass) and Tomaž Kosec (drums), with backing vocals sung by »Sendi«, or more precisely Sandra Zupanc Klemm, who also energetically shook a tambourine. Cole also tossed off guitar solos! Brave, but nothing outstanding. From Novo jutro to Tih deževen dan! Cole still has an excellent voice!
The marathon was over! At an extremely late hour. Let me also mention that during the breaks Dragan summoned a few famous figures of the Slovenian music scene to the mic. Right before 1XBand’s set, the legendary Lado Leskovar shared a few closing thoughts with Dragan on Tinkara Kovač’s trip to Denmark as Slovenia’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest. In the first part of the show, Dragan also invited another eminence to the mic. Rajko Djordjević, one of the most important pillars who once played a major role in popularizing the rock pulse of the Šalek Valley, founder of the band Ave, manager of bands and performers such as Šank rock, Andrej Šifrer, Pomaranča, Bijelo dugme,… and, last but not least, a successful businessman. If my “hawk eye” didn’t deceive me, not a single one of the responsible heads, neither from the radio nor from TV, could be spotted at the venue that night, which is downright sad.
»Štos, da ga vikaš!« (roughly, “one hell of a gag!”) could be the closing line of this report. Dragan truly thought of everything, even the famous »Veseli tobogan« T-shirts. His devotion to the love of music, which is endless for Dragan, delivered yet another unforgettable event, of historic value in the era of Slovenian rock and »mainstream« music. A few bands performed that you wouldn’t have dared to predict, even in your dreams, would ever share a stage again, and this anniversary show may well be the springboard for a fresh start for the already »retired« lineups. Karamela, for instance, got back together. So did Lačni Franz. Perhaps some similar move will follow from the remaining bands that made this unforgettable evening in Studio 1 of Televizija Slovenija nicer. Thanks, Dragan, for being a great visionary who has for years freely shared your knowledge of the music world with young people and delivered it in a way that wakes a person up, makes them »see«, and draws them into starting to explore in a healthy way, and to sense and feel the magic of rock and roll even more intensely. It was a great honor to receive your invitation and get the chance to enjoy every single second of this unique event! Here’s to the next 35 years of Štos!
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